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Regardless of your religious beliefs (I'm a very happy aethist) I found Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth hugely interesting. As a tool to unders
by ljf 7y ago
Regardless of your religious beliefs (I'm a very happy aethist) I found Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth hugely interesting.
As a tool to understand the people of the time, the stories that grew and the 'person' behind the dominant religion of the Western World - there is no book that comes close.
Don't expect to have fun chats with religious (Christian) friends after reading this though, as much of what you learn will differ from the bible that they were taught, or the uniqueness of Jesus as a prophet/zealot.
Still - a book that I found a hugely interesting historical/religious read last summer, and one I recommend to my friends.
- olah_1 7y agoI don't find Zealot any more damning than The DaVinci Code. Jean Danielou wrote a book about the Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran, and the Essenes way back in the 80's that explains how it's all related and what it means for Christianity. I personally had a "not fun" chat with an atheist friend about Zealot because I pointed out how much silly conjecture and assumptions are underlying the book.
- ljf 7y agoLike religion, it is heavily based on conjecture and assumption - but one that I heartily read and enjoyed. It is nice to get a different point of view and a challenge to the stories that I'd been told were 'true' as a child - eg Joseph returning to Bethlehem What specifically did you find silly, if you don't mind me asking? I'll look out for the Dead Sea Scrolls book, I listened to a hugely interesting series of lectures about them on Audible and was left wanting more, but hadn't found a good book yet.