Journal: Global Journal of Classical Theology
Volume: GJCT 12:2 (Jul 2015)
Article: Book Review: "ZEALOT: The Life And Times Of Jesus Of Nazareth." By Reza Aslan. New York: Random House, 2013. 296 Pages. Paper. $27.00.
Author: Alvin J. Schmidt

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Book Review:
ZEALOT: The Life And Times Of Jesus Of Nazareth.
By Reza Aslan. New York: Random House, 2013. 296 Pages. Paper. $27.00.

Alvin J. Schmidt

Emeritus Professor of Sociology
Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois

Abstract: Reza Aslan is a Muslim who says he once was a Christian after he “found Jesus” in his youth when he interacted with some evangelical Christians in California. But later in college he developed “full-blown doubts” concerning Jesus. What he once believed regarding Jesus he does not say, but in his book it is clear he no longer accepts anything remotely related to biblical Christianity, for his book is a diatribe against Christianity.

He argues that we can know only two things for certain about Jesus, namely, that he was a radical Jew and that the Romans crucified him. He calls him “a simple peasant,” “a peasant boy,” “a man of contradictions,” etc. And he has no regard for historical accuracy. For instance, he says some two thousand Christian bishops attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, despite the fact that competent historians estimate there were no more than about three hundred in attendance.

He argues that the Old Testament knows nothing about Jesus. Rather, it was his disciples who projected their beliefs as Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus’ activities. And he makes additional radical assertions, including his claim that Jesus’ bodily resurrection has no historical foundation. Christ’s resurrection is merely a faith phenomenon, devoid of any historical facts. The latter ignores the words of the apostles who said, “We cannot but speak of the things we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). His book gives us a good idea how many Muslims today also see Christianity.

Ordinarily, book reviewers try to say something good or positive about a book, even when it is notably flawed. But regarding Reza Aslan’s book titled Zealot, I find it impossible to say anything positive, for it is replete with undocumented assertions, negative labeling, context violations, contradictions, and historical errors.

Aslan begins his book saying he was raised in a family of “lukewarm Muslims and atheists” that came to the United States from Iran. And at age fifteen, he “found Jesus” while attending an evangelical youth camp in California. A few years later in college he developed “full-blown doubts” concerning “Jesus of the gospels and the Jesus of history.” Regarding the latter, he writes, “There are only two hard historical facts about Jesus of Nazareth upon which we can confidently rely.” They are “that Jesus was a Jew who led a popular Jewish movement in Palestine at the beginning of the first centur...

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