Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 16, 2013 Becca rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, history, daily-show-colbert-report

I really enjoyed this one! Again I found myself wavering between ratings and would give this 3.5 stars if I could. It was a great and fairly fast read. I found it interesting to have the life of Jesus and the early days of Christianity put into historical context in a way that was so accessible for a non-academic.

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Jan 19, 2014 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: history, non-fiction, male-author, kindle, religion

I never would have picked up this book if it hadn't been for the Fox News controversy, and even after that I'm not exactly sure why I did.

I found the history of the time and place to be more fascinating than the history of Jesus himself. The descriptions of the temple in Jerusalem and the relationship between the priestly order and the Roman empire were fascinating. I was fascinated by the Romanization of the early church and the power that Paul had in shaping the direction of the church. Some ...more

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Jul 31, 2013 Saima rated it it was ok

Shelves: arc, 2013

More 1 BCE history of Judea/Palestine. Aslan's research is impeccable. His portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth is very different (and yet familiar to me at least) from Jesus Christ. I enjoyed reading it. ...more

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Apr 03, 2017 Jillian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Extremely interesting account of the historical Jesus. Sad in a way that so much history has been lost and suppressed, but also important to reflect on the roots of such a major religion. Most importantly, the writing is accessible, but of course I wanted (perhaps unrealistically) more details.

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