
Zealot
The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
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Narrated by:
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Reza Aslan
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By:
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Reza Aslan
About this listen
From the internationally best-selling author of No god but God comes a fascinating, provocative, and meticulously researched biography that challenges long-held assumptions about the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth.
Two-thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher and miracle worker walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the "Kingdom of God". The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was captured, tortured, and executed as a state criminal.
Within decades after his shameful death, his followers would call him God.
Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history's most influential and enigmatic characters by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived: first-century Palestine, an age awash in apocalyptic fervor. Scores of Jewish prophets, preachers, and would-be messiahs wandered through the Holy Land, bearing messages from God. This was the age of zealotry - a fervent nationalism that made resistance to the Roman occupation a sacred duty incumbent on all Jews. And few figures better exemplified this principle than the charismatic Galilean who defied both the imperial authorities and their allies in the Jewish religious hierarchy.
Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction; a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves with swords; an exorcist and faith healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity a secret; and ultimately the seditious "King of the Jews" whose promise of liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his brief lifetime.
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Story
Picking up where Bible expert Bart Ehrman's New York Times best seller, Misquoting Jesus, left off, Jesus, Interrupted addresses the larger issue of what the New Testament actually teaches...and it's not what most people think. This is the book that pastors, educators, and anyone interested in the Bible have been waiting for, a clear and compelling account of the central challenges we face when attempting to reconstruct the life and message of Jesus.
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Take a college course in New Testament in a book
- By R. Reed on 04-09-09
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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Forged
- Writing in the Name of God - Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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It is often said, even by critical scholars who should know better, that “writing in the name of another” was widely accepted in antiquity. But New York Times bestselling author Bart D. Ehrman dares to call it what it was: literary forgery, a practice that was as scandalous then as itis today. In Forged, Ehrman’s fresh and original research takes readers back to the ancient world, where forgeries were used as weapons by unknown authors to fend off attacks to their faith and establish their church.
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Faith shaking
- By Fletch on 09-05-12
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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Jesus Before the Gospels
- How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout much of human history, our most important stories were passed down orally - including the stories about Jesus before they became written down in the Gospels. In this fascinating and deeply researched work, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Erhman investigates the role oral history has played in the New Testament - how the telling of these stories not only spread Jesus' message but helped shape it.
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Insightful, but with limited depth
- By Jacobus on 05-28-16
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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God's Problem
- The Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganzer
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In times of questioning and despair, people often quote the Bible to provide answers. Surprisingly, though, the Bible does not have one answer but many "answers" that often contradict one another.
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Despite "Suffer the little children"
- By Kaeli on 05-03-08
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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The New Testament
- By: Bart D. Ehrman, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Bart D. Ehrman
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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Whether taken as a book of faith or a cultural artifact, the New Testament is among the most significant writings the world has ever known, its web of meaning relied upon by virtually every major writer in the last 2,000 years. Yet the New Testament is not only one of Western civilization’s most believed books, but also one of its most widely disputed, often maligned, and least clearly understood, with a vast number of people unaware of how it was written and transmitted.
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If you want a balanced overview this is not it
- By Amazon Customer on 02-27-16
By: Bart D. Ehrman, and others
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Why Religion?
- A Personal Story
- By: Elaine Pagels
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Why is religion still around in the 21st century? Why do so many still believe? And how do various traditions still shape the way people experience everything from sexuality to politics, whether they are religious or not? In Why Religion? Elaine Pagels looks to her own life to help address these questions. Drawing upon the perspectives of neurologists, anthropologists, and historians, as well as her own research, Pagels opens unexpected ways of understanding persistent religious aspects of our culture.
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Great story but...
- By Juliette on 02-11-20
By: Elaine Pagels
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After Jesus, Before Christianity
- A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements
- By: Erin Vearncombe, Brandon Scott, Hal Taussig, and others
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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From the creative minds of the scholarly group behind the groundbreaking Jesus Seminar comes this provocative and eye-opening look at the roots of Christianity that offers a thoughtful reconsideration of the first two centuries of the Jesus movement, transforming our understanding of the religion and its early dissemination.
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Excellent and informative
- By Claire Z. on 04-17-22
By: Erin Vearncombe, and others
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Greece Against Rome
- The Fall of the Hellenistic Kingdoms 250-31 BC
- By: Philip Matyszak
- Narrated by: Gareth Richards
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Towards the middle of the third century BC, the Hellenistic kingdoms were near their peak. In terms of population, economy, and military power, each was vastly superior to Rome, not to mention in fields such as medicine, architecture, science, philosophy, and literature. But over the next two and a half centuries, Rome would eventually conquer these kingdoms while adopting so much of Hellenistic culture that the resultant hybrid is known as "Graeco-Roman." In Greece Against Rome, Philip Matyszak relates this epic tale from the Hellenistic perspective.
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Really enjoyed the book and snark
- By Chris Smith on 05-27-23
By: Philip Matyszak
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Jesus
- Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In this highly accessible discussion, Bart Ehrman examines the most recent textual and archaeological sources for the life of Jesus, along with the history of first-century Palestine, drawing a fascinating portrait of the man and his teachings. Ehrman shows us what historians have long known about the Gospels and the man who stands behind them. Through a careful evaluation of the New Testament (and other surviving sources, including the more recently discovered Gospels of Thomas and Peter), Ehrman proposes that Jesus can be best understood as an apocalyptic prophet.
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I must read for those whose wanting to expand their insight from a single perspective (devotional) to include historical
- By RGO on 11-25-19
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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The Jesus Discovery
- The New Archaeological Find That Reveals the Birth of Christianity
- By: Simcha Jacobovici, James D. Tabor
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2010, using a specialized robotic camera, authors Tabor and Jacobovici, working with archaeologists, geologists, and forensic anthropologists, explored a previously unexcavated tomb in Jerusalem from around the time of Jesus. They made a remarkable discovery. The tomb contained several ossuaries, or bone boxes, two of which were carved with an iconic image and a Greek inscription. Taken together, the image and the inscription constitute the earliest archaeological evidence of faith in Jesus’ resurrection.
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Intriguing but not conclusive
- By Tad Davis on 03-19-12
By: Simcha Jacobovici, and others
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Beyond Belief
- The Secret Gospel of Thomas
- By: Elaine Pagels
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Spurred by personal tragedy, Elaine Pagels turns to a consideration of the Gnostic Gospels, in particular, the Gospel of Thomas. As opposed to the Gospel of John, which asserted that Jesus was an eternally existing aspect of God who came to earth to save humankind, the "secret" Gospel of Thomas agrees that Jesus was in some sense divine, but says that a streak of divinity can be found in all of us.
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Gospel of Thomas is somewhat a misnomer
- By Buford on 06-08-04
By: Elaine Pagels
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Paul and Jesus
- How the Apostle Transformed Christianity
- By: James D. Tabor
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Historians know virtually nothing about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During this time the man we know as the apostle Paul joined the movement and began to preach to the gentiles. Using the oldest Christian documents that we have - the letters of Paul - as well as other early Christian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor reconstructs the origins of Christianity.
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Paul or Jesus?
- By James on 01-29-13
By: James D. Tabor
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The Bible Unearthed
- Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts
- By: Neil Asher Silberman, Israel Finkelstein
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In this iconoclastic and provocative work, leading scholars Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman draw on recent archaeological research to present a dramatically revised portrait of ancient Israel and its neighbors. They argue that crucial evidence (or a telling lack of evidence) at digs in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon suggests that many of the most famous stories in the Bible - the wanderings of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, and David and Solomon’s vast empire - reflect the world of the later authors.
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Quite Eye Opening
- By K. Walker on 10-11-22
By: Neil Asher Silberman, and others
Would you consider the audio edition of Zealot to be better than the print version?
One of the wonderful things about this audiobook is that it's read by the author, who has a fantastic voice that's very easy to listen to. Even when Aslan is imparting a lot of complex information, he remains perfectly understandable and makes those concepts seem easy.What did you like best about this story?
Although 'Zealot' deals with a lot of questions and ideas that I have personally already encountered, there were a lot of concepts in here that were completely new and entirely engaging for several people in my life who downloaded it at my recommendation. It's an extremely accessible and engaging book, and even if these are ideas that you've grappled with before you'll still find yourself saying 'oh, that's just perfectly put'.Which character – as performed by Reza Aslan – was your favorite?
It was so interesting to learn about Saul/Paul and James in particular, two religious figures I've never put much thought intoAny additional comments?
I listened to the whole thing in two days and didn't regret a moment of it! A fascinating listen, and one I very much recommend experiencing.What a fascinating listen!
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Great book!
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Interesting perspective.
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An interesting perspective.
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Recovering Catholic Loved This Book
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Outstanding book
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Zealot or not?
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Fantastic
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I'll probably listen at least one more time to soak in more if this book.
Maybe Even Better the 2nd Listen
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Reza is a great story teller; that's a fact.
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