Aaron Simms's Blog, page 27

Review of “Zealot” – Third Installment

This is the third installment of my review ofZealot, by Reza Aslan. You can find the first and second installments here:

http://lutheranchronicles.com/review-of-zealot-first-installment/

http://lutheranchronicles.com/review-of-zealot-second-installment/

The second installment covered Part I of the book, and this installment begins with Aslan’s prologue to Part II.

In his prologue to Part II, Aslan tries to paint Jesus as a “zealot,” using the word “zeal” to understand “who Jesus was and what Jesu...

Review of Zealot – Second Installment

This is the second installment of my review of Zealot, by Reza Aslan. You can find the first installment here: http://lutheranchronicles.com/review-of-zealot-first-installment/

I previously covered the general premise of the book as well as the Author’s Note and Introduction, so I’ll now begin again at the prologue to “Part I” of the book.

Aslan’s prologue is focused on the role of the Temple and of the priests at the time of Christ. He provides a good summary of the Jewish festivals and descri...

Review of “Zealot” – Second Installment

This is the second installment of my review of Zealot, by Reza Aslan. You can find the first installment here: http://lutheranchronicles.com/review-of-zealot-first-installment/

I previously covered the general premise of the book as well as the Author’s Note and Introduction, so I’ll now begin again at the prologue to “Part I” of the book.

Aslan’s prologue is focused on the role of the Temple and of the priests at the time of Christ. He provides a good summary of the Jewish festivals and descri...

Review of Zealot – First Installment

There’s been a lot on the news lately about a new book called Zealot, written by Reza Aslan. I’ve decided to review and split it up into multiple parts due to space (as well as the fact that I’ll be writing the review as I read the book). This installment of the review covers the Author’s Note and Introduction portions of the book. The next installment of the review will begin with the prologue.

If you look at the Amazon.com reviews of this book, people either love it or hate it; it’s either t...

Review of “Zealot” – First Installment

There’s been a lot on the news lately about a new book called Zealot, written by Reza Aslan. If you look at the Amazon.com reviews of this book, people either love it or hate it; it’s either the best thing to happen to the study of the “historical Jesus” or a complete fraud.

A lot of the opposition arises from the fact that Aslan is a Muslim. In the “Author’s Note” in the book he talks about how he grew up as a secular Muslim, “found Jesus” in high school, and then later converted back to Isla...

Ten More Things I Learned Growing Up

This continues the previous list with some additional thoughts.

11. Sometimes bad people win and good people suffer

As a kid, I grew up watching cowboy movies where the good guys always win and the bad guys always lose. But, in real life this is not always the case. In fact, many times the opposite seems to occur. We’ve all seen people who excel in their jobs because they step all over other people to get ahead. We’ve also seen people use force to take what they want. Life isn’t fair and all th...

Ten Things I Learned Growing Up

I was thinking about this topic while jogging yesterday morning and decided to write them down. These “things I learned (or was taught) growing up” deal mainly with what you could call “First Article” issues, meaning how life in this world works, although there are a few exceptions. I don’t claim to fulfill all these things perfectly, but I thought I’d share my thoughts.

1. Only God is perfectly faithful

As people, we are tainted by sin. We will disappoint the expectations of others and will ou...

Book Giveaway

I’m doing two free book giveaways on Goodreads, one for “On this Rock” and another for “To the End of the Age.” Goodreads will track the entries and then pick 5 winners for each book. The entries end on August 26, 2013.

Go to the following links to enter to win.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


On This Rock
by Aaron Simms

Giveaway ends August 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Goodreads Book Giveaway


To the End of the Age
by Aaron Simms

Giveaway ends August 26, 2013.

See the giveaw...

Vegetable Garden

We planted a vegetable garden in our back yard earlier this year. This is the second year we’ve done this. It isn’t a large garden, but we do have cucumbers, zucchinis, peas, beans, tomatoes, and pumpkins. So far this season, the cucumbers and zucchinis have been yielding the most, although the other vegetables are starting to come in.

We planted this garden a couple months ago from seeds. We went to the store, bought a few packets of seeds, and then the kids and I planted them in the garden....

St. Augustine’s Confessions

I first read St. Augustine’s Confessions a number of years ago, and it had a profound impact on me (I’ll get to why in a moment). I recommend reading it.

St. Augustine lived in the late fourth century AD and into the early fifth century (November 12, 354 to August 28, 430). He was born in Tagaste, a town in the Roman province of Numidia. He is best known for serving as the Christian bishop of Hippo, also in North Africa. However, he was not always a bishop, nor was he always a Christian. His b...