REZA ASLAN (Author, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth): I think it’s incorrect to say that the followers of Jesus, and certainly the church fathers in the second and third centuries, changed Jesus’ message. I think that’s an incomplete statement. The fact of the matter is that Jesus’ message was in a constant state of change. Remember, none of these words were written down until, at the earliest, 70 A.D. That’s about 40 years after Jesus’ death when the first Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, was written. And the Gospel of Mark was not written until after the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the period in which Judaism itself had become a kind of pariah religion, an illegitimate cult, in the Roman Empire. So, the Gospel writers at that point began this process that was really, in many ways, already underway, which was to sort of transform and redefine, reapply Jesus’ message, particularly for a non-Jewish audience. And so that process really continued until the middle of the fourth century, when, as a result of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, an attempt was made to actually create a sense of orthodoxy. But really, up until that point, you can’t say that there was any such thing as Christianity. What we really see is Christianities, in fact, many, many dozens of versions of it.
I’ve had a unique experience with Jesus, both as a worshipper and as a scholar studying him. I feel like it’s given me a different kind of perspective. On the one hand, knowing what it is to worship Jesus has given me a profound sense of respect for the faith of Christianity….
As comments on other articles about this book and author have indicated, Aslan’s scholarship and historical knowledge are weak. His perspective is what he wants to see.
Christians still have the best attested writings of anyone in the ancient world. Many writings which are not questioned come from one manuscript dating from a thousand years after the original writing.
Aslan’s book does not make clear any basis for his selection of some parts of the gospels as historical and some not other than his basic assumption that Jesus was an illiterate peasant whose teachings were adopted and adapted by the more educated Hellenists like Paul. The book includes lots of interesting material about the first century but it does not deal effectively with the central point. But if Jesus is not your Lord you need to write a book.