NPR interviews Aslan in the nine minute clip below. Aslan concentrates on the tumultuous and apocalyptic period in which Jesus lived. He relies largely on Roman sources about Palestine in the first century and uses the Bible to fill in some gaps. He sees the Bible as sacred history, which reveals certain truths, "...the facts that they reveal are not as valuable as the truths are." The book has gotten great advance reviews and you can pre-order it now.
In addition, here's a great article Reza Aslan wrote for the Washington Post today (7/15/2013) called "What can we know about Jesus." He writes: "It is a miracle that we know anything at all about the man called Jesus of Nazareth. The itinerant preacher wandering from village to village clamoring about the end of the world, a band of ragged followers trailing behind, was a common sight in Jesus’ time—so common, in fact, that it had become a kind of caricature among the Roman elite."
Finally, here are several other links:
- Aslan's interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air
- A short video clip on Huffington Post in which Aslan explains the importance of understanding the times in which Jesus lived in order to understand the man.
- An interview on the Daily Show, on 7/17/2013, in which Aslan disputes the idea of Jesus as a detached, celestial spirit
- Aslan on Morning Joe, along with a short excerpt from his book
- Aslan talking at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California on Sunday, 7/21/13 as part of their summer preaching series
- Aslan's essay on the CNN Belief blog called "Losing Christ and finding Jesus."
- Here is Aslan talking to Rev.Jennifer Crumpton about Jesus and women
- Jesus the Revolutionary: A Q&A With Reza Aslan (this is excellent, worth copying and using in religion class)
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