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seafamboonie 's review for:
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
by Reza Aslan
An interesting read; I got wind of this book after watching an interview with the author and newscasters from Fox News, plus I'm curious about historical contexts of events that happened during the time of Jesus.
Things I liked about the book:
Reza Aslan builds an image of the time period, using a variety of sources (and a large notes section in the back of the book) to give us an idea of the life of Jesus, his followers, how the temple worked during his time, common Jewish and Roman practices at the time... it's a very thorough book. His notes and information to back up his point as extensive, and counter arguments to some of his ideas/theories are also noted in the back of the book.
Things I didn't like: Although the book had many moments of greatness, I didn't enjoy the occasional change from a scholarly approach. Every so often, he would mention that "Some people believe X. This is absolutely ridiculous." Saying something is ridiculous doesn't make it so; facts do. Despite his occasional 'outburst' he still puts together an interesting read.
Things I liked about the book:
Reza Aslan builds an image of the time period, using a variety of sources (and a large notes section in the back of the book) to give us an idea of the life of Jesus, his followers, how the temple worked during his time, common Jewish and Roman practices at the time... it's a very thorough book. His notes and information to back up his point as extensive, and counter arguments to some of his ideas/theories are also noted in the back of the book.
Things I didn't like: Although the book had many moments of greatness, I didn't enjoy the occasional change from a scholarly approach. Every so often, he would mention that "Some people believe X. This is absolutely ridiculous." Saying something is ridiculous doesn't make it so; facts do. Despite his occasional 'outburst' he still puts together an interesting read.