 |
|
|
|
|
July 20th, 2013
10:00 PM ET
Reza Aslan: Why I write about JesusOpinion by Reza Aslan, special to CNN (CNN) - When I was 15 years old, I found Jesus. I spent the summer of my sophomore year at an evangelical youth camp in Northern California, a place of timbered fields and boundless blue skies, where, given enough time and stillness and soft-spoken encouragement, one could not help but hear the voice of God. Amid the man-made lakes and majestic pines my friends and I sang songs, played games and swapped secrets, rollicking in our freedom from the pressures of home and school. In the evenings, we gathered in a fire-lit assembly hall at the center of the camp. It was there that I heard a remarkable story that would change my life forever.
Through his words and miraculous deeds, he challenged the Jews who thought they were the chosen of God, and in return he was nailed to a cross. Though Jesus could have saved himself from that gruesome death, he freely chose to die. Indeed, his death was the point of it all, for his sacrifice freed us all from the burden of our sins. But the story did not end there, because three days later, he rose again, exalted and divine, so that now, all who believe in him and accept him into their hearts will also never die, but have eternal life. For a kid raised in a motley family of lukewarm Muslims and exuberant atheists, this was truly the greatest story ever told. Never before had I felt so intimately the pull of God. In Iran, the place of my birth, I was Muslim in much the way I was Persian. My religion and my ethnicity were mutual and linked. Like most people born into a religious tradition, my faith was as familiar to me as my skin, and just as disregardable. After the Iranian revolution forced my family to flee our home, religion in general, and Islam in particular, became taboo in our household. Islam was shorthand for everything we had lost to the mullahs who now ruled Iran. My mother still prayed when no one was looking, and you could still find a stray Quran or two hidden in a closet or a drawer somewhere. But, for the most part, our lives were scrubbed of all trace of God. That was just fine with me. After all, in the America of the 1980s, being Muslim was like being from Mars. My faith was a bruise, the most obvious symbol of my otherness; it needed to be concealed. Jesus, on the other hand, was America. He was the central figure in America’s national drama. Accepting him into my heart was as close as I could get to feeling truly American. I do not mean to say that mine was a conversion of convenience. On the contrary, I burned with absolute devotion to my newfound faith. I was presented with a Jesus who was less “Lord and Savior” than he was a best friend, someone with whom I could have a deep and personal relationship. As a teenager trying to make sense of an indeterminate world I had only just become aware of, this was an invitation I could not refuse. The moment I returned home from camp, I began eagerly to share the good news of Jesus Christ with my friends and family, my neighbors and classmates, with people I’d just met and with strangers on the street: those who heard it gladly, and those who threw it back in my face. Yet something unexpected happened in my quest to save the souls of the world. The more I probed the Bible to arm myself against the doubts of unbelievers, the more distance I discovered between the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus of history – between Jesus the Christ and Jesus of Nazareth. In college, where I began my formal study of the history of religions, that initial discomfort soon ballooned into full-blown doubts. The bedrock of evangelical Christianity, at least as it was taught to me, is the unconditional belief that every word of the Bible is God-breathed and true, literal and inerrant. The sudden realization that this belief is patently and irrefutably false, that the Bible is replete with the most blatant and obvious errors and contradictions — just as one would expect from a document written by hundreds of different hands across thousands of years — left me confused and spiritually unmoored. And so, like many people in my situation, I angrily discarded my faith as if it were a costly forgery I had been duped into buying. I began to rethink the faith and culture of my forefathers, finding in them a deeper, more intimate familiarity than I ever had as a child, the kind that comes from reconnecting with an old friend after many years apart. Meanwhile, I continued my academic work in religious studies, delving back into the Bible not as an unquestioning believer but as an inquisitive scholar. No longer chained to the assumption that the stories I read were literally true, I became aware of a more meaningful truth in the text. Ironically, the more I learned about the life of the historical Jesus, the turbulent world in which he lived, and the brutality of the Roman occupation that he defied, the more I was drawn to him. The Jewish peasant and revolutionary who challenged the rule of the most powerful empire the world had ever known became so much more real to me than the detached, unearthly being I had been introduced to in church. Today, I can confidently say that two decades of rigorous academic research into the origins of Christianity has made me a more genuinely committed disciple of Jesus of Nazareth than I ever was of Jesus Christ. I have modeled my life not after the celestial spirit whom many Christians believe sacrificed himself for our sins, but rather after the illiterate, marginal Jew who gave his life fighting an unwinnable battle against the religious and political powers of his day on behalf of the poor and the dispossessed – those his society deemed unworthy of saving. I wrote my newest book, "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" in order to spread the good news of the Jesus of history with the same fervor that I once applied to spreading the story of the Christ. Because I am convinced that one can be a devoted follower of Jesus without being a Christian, just as I know that one can be a Christian without being a follower of Jesus. Reza Aslan is a bestselling author and a scholar of religion. This article was adapted from his newest book, "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth." The views expressed in this column are Aslan's alone. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
While Reza Aslan has written a blasphemous book about why he does not believe the biblical account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, William D.Simpson has authored one of the most interesting accounts of Christianity you might ever read, written from the heart and with brutal honesty about the darker side of life, compassion, and the Christian faith."
Deborah Beeksma – Blog Talk Radio Host
Online Interview Tonight (Tuesday, August 6, 2013 – 10:00 PM EST)
Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/god-discussion/2013/08/07/a-compelling-story-for-compassion-and-the-christian-faith?fb_action_ids=10200980620772054&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.Uf6HqWlhnZ4.like&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
Blasphemous, huh?
The boneheads who invented the notion of blasphemy were the ones burning people at the stake, right? So, barbequeing people who don't agree with you is perfectly okay, while disagreeing with their dogma was "blasphemy"?
Forgive me if I don't light up with indignation, because you think this author is blasphemous.
Still waiting to see a response from Dr. Aslan in regards to the article in First Things which states that Dr. Aslan has misrepresented his credentials and career.
Yesterday morning there was a knock at my door. A pleasant and enthusiastic young couple were there.
John: "Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary."
Mary: "Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ass with us."
Me: "Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who's Hank, and why would I want to kiss His ass?"
John: "If you kiss Hank's ass, He'll give you a million dollars; and if you don't, He'll kick the guts out of you."
Me: "What? Is this some sort of bizarre mob shake-down?"
John: "Hank is a billionaire philanthropist. Hank built this town. Hank owns this town. He can do whatever He wants, and what He wants is to give you a million dollars, but He can't until you kiss His ass."
Me: "That doesn't make any sense. Why..."
Mary: "Who are you to question Hank's gift? Don't you want a million dollars? Isn't it worth a little kiss on the ass?"
Me: "Well maybe, if it's legit, but..."
John: "Then come kiss Hank's ass with us."
Me: "Do you kiss Hank's ass often?"
Mary: "Oh yes, all the time..."
Me: "And has He given you a million dollars?"
John: "Well no. You don't actually get the money until you leave town."
Me: "So why don't you just leave town now?"
Mary: "You can't leave until Hank tells you to, or you don't get the money, and He kicks the guts out of you."
Me: "Do you know anyone who kissed Hank's ass, left town, and got the million dollars?"
John: "My mother kissed Hank's ass for years. She left town last year, and I'm sure she got the money."
Me: "Haven't you talked to her since then?"
John: "Of course not, Hank doesn't allow it."
Me: "So what makes you think He'll actually give you the money if you've never talked to anyone who got the money?"
Mary: "Well, maybe you'll get a raise, maybe you'll win a small lotto, maybe you'll just find a twenty-dollar bill on the street."
Me: "What's that got to do with Hank?"
John: "In this town, Hank is the same as good luck. All good things are attributed to Hank'"
Me: "I'm sorry, but this sounds like some sort of bizarre con game."
John: "But it's a million dollars, can you really take the chance? And remember, if you don't kiss Hank's ass He'll kick the guts out of you."
Me: "Maybe if I could see Hank, talk to Him, get the details straight from Him..."
Mary: "No one sees Hank, no one talks to Hank."
Me: "Then how do you kiss His ass?"
John: "Sometimes we just blow Him a kiss, and think of His ass. Other times we kiss Karl's ass, and he passes it on."
Me: "Who's Karl?"
Mary: "A friend of ours. He's the one who taught us all about kissing Hank's ass. All we had to do was take him out to dinner a few times."
Me: "And you just took his word for it when he said there was a Hank, that Hank wanted you to kiss His ass, and that Hank would reward you?"
John: "Oh no! Karl has a letter he got from Hank years ago explaining the whole thing. Here's a copy; see for yourself."
From the Desk of Karl
1. Kiss Hank's ass and He'll give you a million dollars when you leave town.
2. Use alcohol in moderation.
3. Kick the guts out of people who aren't like you.
4. Eat right.
5. Hank dictated this list Himself.
6. The moon is made of green cheese.
7. Everything Hank says is right.
8. Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.
9. Don't use alcohol.
10. Eat your wieners on buns, no condiments.
11. Kiss Hank's ass or He'll kick the guts out of you.
Me: "This appears to be written on Karl's letterhead."
Mary: "Hank didn't have any paper."
Me: "I have a hunch that if we checked we'd find this is Karl's handwriting."
John: "Of course, Hank dictated it."
Me: "I thought you said no one gets to see Hank?"
Mary: "Not now, but years ago He would talk to some people."
Me: "I thought you said He was a philanthropist. What sort of philanthropist kicks the guts out of people just because they're different?"
Mary: "It's what Hank wants, and Hank's always right."
Me: "How do you figure that?"
Mary: "Item 7 says 'Everything Hank says is right.' That's good enough for me!"
Me: "Maybe your friend Karl just made the whole thing up."
John: "No way! Item 5 says 'Hank dictated this list himself.' Besides, item 2 says 'Use alcohol in moderation,' Item 4 says 'Eat right,' and item 8 says 'Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.' Everyone knows those things are right, so the rest must be true, too."
Me: "But 9 says 'Don't use alcohol.' which doesn't quite go with item 2, and 6 says 'The moon is made of green cheese,' which is just plain wrong."
John: "There's no contradiction between 9 and 2, 9 just clarifies 2. As far as 6 goes, you've never been to the moon, so you can't say for sure."
Me: "Scientists have pretty firmly established that the moon is made of rock..."
Mary: "But they don't know if the rock came from the Earth, or from out of space, so it could just as easily be green cheese."
Me: "I'm not really an expert, but not knowing where the rock came from doesn't make it plausible that it might be made of cheese."
John: "Ha! You just admitted that scientists don’t know everything, but we know Hank is always right!"
Me: "We do?"
Mary: "Of course we do, Item 7 says so."
Me: "You're saying Hank's always right because the list says so, the list is right because Hank dictated it, and we know that Hank dictated it because the list says so. That's circular logic, no different than saying 'Hank's right because He says He's right.'"
John: "Now you're getting it! It's so rewarding to see someone come around to Hank's way of thinking."
Me: "But...oh, never mind.
from Jhuger.com
Breaking News: Pope Francis issues fatwa for the death of heretic Reza Aslan!
This is the real difference between Christianity and Islam in the 21st Century.
Jesus Christ is the ONLY Savior of the world. He came and died for all humanity, including Dr. Reza Aslan. He lovingly bids us to follow Him, all the way. http://bit.ly/14VLZpL
LOLOLOLOL ... that's hilarious!
thanks. I always need a good laugh. 🙂
HOGWASH another lame brain who is scared of his own shadow so he crawls on his belly to a Sky Fairy and would sell his grandmother if it would help him.
Wake up and be a man
STOP PRAYING START THINKING.
Jesus needs to save people because his daddy is an angry, vindictive little pr1ck?
I don't believe you, adventtruth.
That may be the difference between Christianity and Islam in the 21st century, but just give Islam a chance to grow up. Chrisitanity was exactly the same way for the first several hundred years of its existence as well.
Several hundred more years? In the Middle East? The Middle East of the 21st Century?
Let's see a show of hands. Who thinks that's a likely timetable?
I find it incredibly revealing how threatened people feel about this author and his work. If you have "faith" then you shouldn't worry about Mr. Rezlan and his book. If your "faith" is so real, then it shouldn't be shaken by anyone or anything. Did Jesus flip out and take to message boards when he was called a heretic and a liar? Would he today if his teachings were challenged in the same manner? In fact, any Christian who disagrees with Mr. Rezlan should read his book and understand it. If you want to reach out to non-Christians, you're going to have to see things their way first BEFORE you can ever connect with them. Assailing this man's education and character only reenforces what many non-Christians think of Christians – self-righteous and full of hate. I'm speaking as a former Christian so I know these knee-jerk defensive reactions very well. For a religion that believes it's the only truth, they sure do seem nervous. I think this is also the case for many who blindly, unquestioningly follow any religion and hold it as the "only truth". That nervousness stems from a deep unrecognized inner knowledge that the world is not actually black & white, even though their "faith" forces them to say it is. It's the behavior of a hypocrite.
You were never a Christian, brother...hand on the plow, looking back
That's not something you could ever judge, Dan – wouldn't that be up to God, per the Bible? Only he can know one's heart? Perhaps you should take the plank out of your eye...
And I'm not your brother. Or your sister, as would be the correct gender to address.
if you don't recognize the reference, sister, you were a pretty slack Christian...and I can call you sister, because we all have the same Father, no matter who carried the seed
The arrogance is sickening, my real father was NOT A SKY FAIRY, he was a real man and a good man whom I loved very much.
STOP THE INSULTS, if you are sooo stupid as too believe that you came from a fairy so be it just leave REAL PEOPLE out of your disgusting fantasies.
no one was talking to you keith..pay a little more attention before you respond...your psychosis is showing
You are a cheeky fellow aren't you, if you don't have anything sensible or intelligent to say then spare us your puerile sarcasm.
go away, BYE BYE.
and while we're at it, why is an atheist like you trolling on religious boards?...and all that talk about loving your real father, but heavy emphasis on the word FAIRY...poker players call that a tell...
@dan bennett
When you said, "and I can call you sister, because we all have the same Father, no matter who carried the seed"
You hurl a vile insult at the parents of every sane person. That makes you an asshole.
and if the dali lama says we are all brothers, we all have the same source, you're ok with that? no sickening insult there, right?...you pathetic creature...
and again, why is an atheist trolling religious boards? shouldn't you be out drinking to the memory of Christopher Hitchens?
You yet again, you really are a sucker for punishment. Sounds like someone hit a nerve, you may not have noticed which doesn't surprise me, that the Dali Lama is first and foremost a HUMAN BEING, unlike you. He is also an intelligent human being unlike you. Shouldn't you be grovelling in front of a graven image of your dog begging him to save our souls or whatever.
GO AWAY you annoying little man.
Well said, the arrogance of these sheep is mind boggling. They actually think that they are paying you a compliment instead of an insult and when you point that out they turn from a sheep to a deer, you know staring into the headlights.
@dan bennett
You said, "and if the dali lama says we are all brothers, we all have the same source, you're ok with that?"
We all have the same source, you dimwit. Ever heard of evolution?
You said, "and again, why is an atheist trolling religious boards?"
I'm not trolling, I'm educating morons like you. What else?
You said, "shouldn't you be out drinking to the memory of Christopher Hitchens?"
I can multi-task.
you didn't say a thing
@dan bennett
You said, "you didn't say a thing"
And yet, it appears I've got you stumped.
Are you out of fairy tale mumbo-jumbo? No inspiration from your imaginary friend? The Tooth Fairy not helping you? Maybe you should pray even harder. Who knows, maybe you'll increase the success rate to 0.001%.
What an unmitigated pile of HOGWASH.
keith, you're the kind of guy that takes a dump, doesn't wash his hands, then high-fives his buddies at the bar.
Sounds like you know all about it, tell me more.
Personally I don't hang about in bars and my dear mother always made me wash my hands. You wouldn't know about mothers would you or fathers for that matter.
ok keith, we're done...you seem so desperate for conversation you'll continue with someone who pictures you unnaturally attached to your own excrement...physically, emotionally and most certainly spiritually...enjoy hell or come home, keith, but don't treat it as a game...and I am done with this conversation
Any response to the First Things piece regarding the misstatements regarding your academic credentials and responsibilities? http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/07/29/scholarly-misrepresentation/
Follow kenneth chamberland on face book
http://marijuanaken.blogspot.com/
Losing the Cross, finding the Christ!
http://www.holy-19-harvest.com
UNIVERSAL MAGNIFICENT MIRACLES!
http://marijuanaken.blogspot.com/
(Since I'm leaving the following comment on any article about Mr. Aslan's book, I think it appropriate to post it to this site).
N T Wright "The Resurrection of the Son of God"
No discussion of Jesus in the 21st Century can proceed without a point by point affirmation or refutation of this book. Period.
Mr. Aslan can generate enormous revenue and buzz with outworn theories and his own agenda, but no one should take seriously anything he, or other "scholar" for that matter, has to say about Jesus of Nazareth unless they confront this seminal work.
N T Wright "The Resurrection of the Son of God"
Just to be clear. By putting scholar in quotes, "scholar", I wasn't questioning Mr. Aslan's academic credentials, but the diminution of the word itself as a character-revealing noun. Let's reserve the word for those human beings to whom singular dedication–life long dedication–to a very specific subject is the most salient public fact about them. Think absent-minded professor. Mr. Aslan, for all his intellectual and rhetorical gifts, to this observer at least, spends far too much time in front of the mirror, and too much money on hair products, to fit the description.
Let's see if I have this straight: he appears to take care of his hair, therefore his research can be ignored.
I don't know about his scholarship, since I haven't read any of it yet, but I think I have a pretty good handle on yours.
Try again hee hee...you didn't say a thing
http://marijuanaken.blogspot.com/
“Aslan has offered nothing new under the sun when it comes to offering a critique of the historical Jesus,” Craig said in response to Aslan’s book. “In fact, he is attempting to revert scholarship back to the early 1900s by echoing Albert Schweitzer’s book, The Quest for the Historical Jesus. Like Schweitzer, Aslan claims that Jesus is historically unknowable and we can never get back to the real Jesus.”
http://crossmap.christianpost.com/news/william-lane-craig-criticizes-reza-aslans-new-book-zealot-4257
http://crossmap.christianpost.com/news/william-lane-craig-criticizes-reza-aslans-new-book-zealot-4257
I feel very sorry for Reza Aslan. His faith in Jesus has been destroyed without him knowing it and a false Jesus has taken his place. I have a question for him. If Jesus was illiterate how could he have read from Isaiah in the Temple? Jesus was constantly quoting the Old Testament and even encourages us to read Daniel. I have heard this relentless drumbeat for years trying to convince people our God in man's flesh, Emmanuel, was illiterate. Not only does it not pass the biblical test its also illogical, unless Jesus is demoted. Its seems the exalting our own creative ideas over God's clear word is part of overly embracing our fallen nature. Jesus also warns of adopting and creating our own religious traditions in place of the plain spoken word. Reza, I have no doubt that your new type of faith brings you joy. I wonder if you are valuing the ideas of men more than being faithful to Jesus. Christ warns of embracing false christs and I strongly suspect you have been charmed by a man-made counterfeit.
slight correction, synagogue and not Temple... obviously
Charmed by a man-made counterfeit.Who'd of thought it possible?Are you sure your views are not man=made?.are you sure?
Correction, as Jesus never existed then it follows that all references to Jesus are to a FALSE Jesus.
How can anyone read this hogwash especially when it states that he found Jesus at the age of 15 at an evangelical brain washing camp. Aren't those kinds of camps called MADRASSAS.
_______
... sorry ....................... but - JESUS IS IMAGINARY .....
... because ......... http://www.GODisIMAGINARY.com and ...
........thank goodness because he emanates from the ...
...................................................... http://www.EVILbible.com
_____________________
... sorry ....................... but - JESUS IS IMAGINARY .....
... because ......... http://www.GODisIMAGINARY.com and ...
........thank goodness because he emanates from the ...
...................................................... http://www.EVILbible.com
_____________________
... sorry ....................... but - JESUS IS IMAGINARY .....
... because ......... http://www.GODisIMAGINARY.com and ...
........thank goodness because he emanates from the ...
...................................................... http://www.EVILbible.com
______________
_______
... sorry ....................... but - JESUS IS IMAGINARY .....
... because ......... http://www.GODisIMAGINARY.com and ...
........thank goodness because he emanates from the ...
...................................................... http://www.EVILbible.com
______________
Isn't it interesting that if a Christian wrote the same kind of book on Mohammad, there would be a contract on his life and would more than likely be murdered. Mention the name Jesus to almost any individual it does not faze them, mention his name to a demonic spirit and they tremble with terror because they know who he is, the Lord God of heaven and earth.
Amen arty. The media seems to be utterly blinded as to this double standard.
There is a scholarly book about Muhammad by a non muslim. Read "The First Muslim, The Story of Muhammad" by Lesley Hazleton, and check out the extensive scholarly bibliography in the back. It tells the whole story of Muhammad, good and bad. And I have heard nothing of anyone trying to behead Lesley Hazleton. She identifies herself as a jew, per Wikipedia. People all over the world are rationallly discussing their differences, it is just that the screamers are the only ones generally heard