Reza Aslan

[Exian]

I can't remember what made me buy the book (I think it was a "people who bought this also bought this" suggestion), but I had never heard of Reza. When I began reading Zealot, my first impression was that Reza must be an atheist.

I think the strongest points in Zealot are Reza's ability to recreate the contemporary times surrounding Jesus and the retelling of the life of Jesus to better suit the Roman and the Diaspora audiences by Paul. Assuming any of those characters actually existed.

I would add to your point that not only is Reza removing the hard to believe stuff, he's inserting a lot of damning details about the myth of Jesus. I'm no biblical or historical scholar- ever since I read that book I've been looking to pick somebody's brain who is more knowledgable on the subject.

ETA: Still not knowing who Reza Aslan was, I also read No God but God hoping to see him tear Islam apart, only to find him sucking Mo's dick. I don't know what reputation he has as a religious scholar, but he seemed to give a pretty standard historical retelling of Islam, starting with Mo and moving on through the years with the emergence of the different caliphates and sects. He does tear down a lot of the subsequent Islamic leaders, but in doing so, he does a lot of Mo blowing. All in all, a snoozer of a book. So many names get thrown around to only be relevant for a page or two. You'd have to take notes to keep track.