Beverage: diet Rockstar
Toast: let's get this party started!
I'm reading Zealot by Reza Aslan on the iPad.
Here's the premise: what do you really know about the historical Jesus? The actual guy? Even if you also believe he was God, there are a few things that we all agree on. Turns out those couple things tell you more than you might think.
He was a real person. He lived around this time, he had followers and he was crucified. Well, crucifixion was reserved for enemies of the state. Sedition or treason. The times he lived in are well-documented ad explosive. Like, the most turbulent times in the Middle East.
The Jewish rebellion against Rome that ended in Masada was about to happen and the place was awash in apocalyptic fever and murder. A series of would-be messiahs had arisen and been crucified before Jesus.
The historical breakdown of the events and the impact they had on Judaism and the whole region is exciting. He explains a lot of things like how the temple worked, the money changers, and the hierarchy of the culture that are lurking in the narrative, but not always clearly understood.
So you get the story of a poor guy from a backwater town living in a time of rebellion who becomes an itinerant preacher, marches into Jerusalem, trashes the temple and gets executed for treason. Then years later after the Romans smashed the rebellion, the gospels come along and are written in Greek.
It's a pretty swell read so far: snappy and briskly paced. I'm not very far in, but I'm curious how its going to swing around.
Worth a look.
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