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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. |
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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.  |
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It seems that very few people are actually commenting on the article or the book. I'm reading it now, and I have read two of Aslan's other books. So far it is a good book, and I see nothing that should be overly offensive to anyone. I do wish we could respect each others beliefs and at the same time have a little bit more courage to ask and be asked critical questions about each others positions and beliefs.
Well, I won't respect any "Religion" or any Woo-Woo until it gets OUT of the Political System.
I will "respect" Christianity when every single Senator and Congressman is a CONFIRMED Atheist.
Are you Christians game?
Doesn't it make your blood boil when these people bleat about getting RESPECT when their respect for people like us has ranged from torture to burning at the stake.
These people are insane and dangerous.
Yes, and Agreed!
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August 17, 2013 at 5:49 pm | Report abuse | Reply
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Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. He died before he ever reached Canada.
Makes a hell of a lot more sense than the version I read.
A new extensive report released today says atheist or more intelligent than religious believers. It was reported in major news outlets today. Just saying!
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This I am sure of:
EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tounge shall confess that... "Jesus Christ is Lord"
In your dreams, I wouldn't bow down to anyone especially a vile creature such as your god.
Keith, instead of criticizing others faith you should find something to believe in for yourself. How does telling people what the believe in most is a lie? Do you think telling people that they are ignorant makes you a better person? Stop being disrespectful and do something productive with your life rather than be a smart ass making negative remarks on a comment page.
Oh here we go again another sheep from the flock. I should show respect, respect is a 2 way street, there are not enough days left in my life to tell you of all the hatred, threats, disrespect and demeaning remarks that I have received from the faithful over the years. Yet you think that I should have respect for the fairy tales that you call faith.
Show ME some respect, you have obviously never considered this HAVE YOU. What does it feel like to be on the receiving end of the disrespect for a change? well now you know how I have felt for the last 60 years.
Go on apologize.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING
it's not the faith, it's the implied threat
Agreed.
it's only a lie if people knew if was false, and pushed it off as true.
like the other posters have stated, it is not the faith, it is the implied threat
how can someone, even if they tried, fear (or have any feelings toward) a being in which they do not believe?
can you?
Keith, sorry I call BS. Take the time to read the comments and then tell me who is starting the insults.
Jim, You only need to read the bible to see the destruction and violence performed by and incited by the god described there. Those not on Noah's Ark, Lot's wife, and many, many more.
Personally I prefer to believe in the Easter Bunny or Mother Nature. although ever December I switch to Santa JUST IN CASE.
Not mine!
This Primate Bows to NO-ONE.
Well said, count this primate IN.
If these people want to debase themselves by grovelling in the dirt before a graven image of an Easter Bunny wannabee then words fail me.
Amen!
Some will bow out of love, honor and respect and some will bow unwillingly out of His sheer presence...but make no mistake about it...every knee shall bow.
Hogwash, I would rather bow to the Easter bunny. I can ASSURE you that I will NEVER bend a knee to that vile critter you call a god. In fact your god had better get his running shoes on IF I ever meet him because he will get the hiding of his life when I kick his scrawny rear end from here to kingdom come.
If you are the terrified coward you appear to be remember there are millions of us who are NOT.
STOP PRAYING START THINKING
Reza Aslan lied about his credentials, lied about what the Bible says, and engaged in rather shoddy "scholarship." Scholars have torn his book apart.
Oh yeah, buddy? Who? Not one "scholar" has done any such thing. Almost everything in the fact has already by published, vetted and re-vetted by other historians and Biblical scholars. There's a word for your kind of bald assertion: LIE.
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25:70 – Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
25:71 – And whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds, then verily, he repents towards Allah with true repentance.
25:72 – And those who do not witness falsehood, and if they pass by some evil play or evil talk, they pass by it with dignity.
25:73 – And those who, when they are reminded of the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord, fall not deaf and blind thereat.
25:74 – And those who say: "Our Lord! Bestow on us from our wives and our offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders for the righteous"
25:75 – Those will be rewarded with the highest place (in Paradise) because of their patience. Therein they shall be met with greetings and the word of peace and respect.
25:76 – Abiding therein; excellent it is as an abode, and as a place to dwell.
12345.6789 HOGWASH,
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
which is what Satan has been telling people for thousands of years. Some listen to Satan. And Some dont.
Satan doesn't exist outside of your religion, so no Satan hasn't been telling anyone anything. If you're hearing god or satan speak to you then you seriously need to seek mental health help.
And those amongst us who are sane listen to NEITHER because they only exist in your addled brain.
The author makes this statement nearing the end of his article:
"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."
Yet earlier in the same article he writes this about his encounter with Jesus, his introduction to Jesus:
"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........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."
This is who he was introduced to...nothing "detached" about the language he describes...intimate, friend, personal! He has nailed it, that is who Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the image of the invisible God is!
This "Jewish peasant and revolutionary who challenged the rule of the most powerful empire" does much more than that, he challenges and overthrows the empire of the human heart and restores it for love of God and love of neighbor. The Bible may have questions in particular historical accuracies or any of the like as the author briefly referenced, but the narrative is inerrant, the love of God for humankind even as humankind recklessly pursues the self interest of the heart, that story is True and his love is a "never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love." (Lloyd-Jones) It is a story that is intimately real and I pray that Aslan's heart will be reminded of the deep love of the person, Jesus Christ, who, as he correctly asserts, is fully man and yet mysteriously and wonderfully fully God. Grace and peace to you.
Why won't he write a book about the muslum's? the day's after Allah. Oh wait he might get killed for writing about his history. All I need to know about Jesus is in the bible, not some muslum take on an religion when he can't write about his own.
Are you really that IGNORANT, please tell me that your spelling of "Muslim" as "Muslum" was deliberate, you did it twice.
Also you should know that the bible should NOT be taken literally much of what is in there is flat lies, conccocted by religious organizations with AGENDAS.
Much of the story of JC is fiction there is virtually NO other independent evidence that would stand up to rigorous investigation as to the existence of any character like JC.
Even what IS written in the bible is contradictory, there are NO eyewitness accounts whatsoever and the accounts that do exist are very dubious and self serving.
So when you say "All I need to know about Jesus is in the bible" you should be very aware that everything that is in the bible is most probably FICTION. The mere fact that you misspelled "Muslim" tells me that you are NOT a critical thinker or reader
Not everything you read in books IS TRUE.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
Why do chastise someone so much for mere spelling errors? they could be chalked to auto correct or not? Let me get these stmts straight so I'm hearing you:
"Much of the story of JC is fiction there is virtually NO other independent evidence that would stand up to rigorous investigation as to the existence of any character like JC."
Even what IS written in the bible is contradictory, there are NO eyewitness accounts whatsoever and the accounts that do exist are very dubious and self serving.
So when you say "All I need to know about Jesus is in the bible" you should be very aware that everything that is in the bible is most probably FICTION."
Do you feel that : tacitus, Lucian, josephus, various jewish sources who some of don't particularly like jesus, etc etc support history for JC? I could list alot more. If I remember right there is over 24,000 extra biblical docs that back the N.T. alone. If I remember right the N.T. has more than any other ancient text.
"Even what IS written in the bible is contradictory, there are NO eyewitness accounts whatsoever and the accounts that do exist are very dubious and self serving.
So when you say "All I need to know about Jesus is in the bible" you should be very aware that everything that is in the bible is most probably FICTION."
I read your post and I ask myself why someone appears to be so angry at JC, while painting JC as essentially historically irrelevant? If he is irrelevant why do you care? Why came to a belief blog and verbally assault people? If you feel its all "FICTION"?
you seem to have an issue putting apostrophes where they don't belong
try writing better. you won't look like such an imbecile
Jesus was a Muslim and only a Prophet. God showed his power, by creating him without father. As he created Adam & Eve without parents. That is the Power of one and only God. Neither he is in human form nor shape. Nor has the habits of mankind being the Creator himself of everything on this planet and hereafter.
Where on Earth did you come up with that trash? did you read it on the back of a cereal packet. You should go immediately to a health professional for psychiatric treatment.
Jesus never existed and neither did your dog, sorry god. They are just fairy tale characters made up to scare the daylights out of idiots like you.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
I have a better idea...why dont you start thinking a little more with your heart and not your pointy head. there were and are folks much smarter than you as a result. The bandwagon of dawkins and other so-called "enlightened" one I suggest you get off at the next station and really do your own research..and I dont mean the internet..fool.
For your information I am 71 years old and I have had these same convictions for over 50 years long before Dawkins or the internet. I don't believe in fairy tales which is what religion is, I use the best standard that exists to judge the veracityof religious belief namely COMMON SENSE. If it sounds ludicrous then it almost certainly is, gods, goblins, ghosts and things that go bump in the night are LUDICROUS.Everlasting life is LUDICROUS, I have asked hundreds od people to tell me about everlasting life and guess what I never get an answer that passes the laugh test. Everlasting life the ultimate central belief of christianity so you would expect the faithful to know all about it but THEY DON'T, no THEY DON'T. NO ONE can give any kind of rationale explanation but they all believe in it.
As for using my heart, I use my heart every day and I use it to guide my reasoning as well as logic and science. My heart aches when I see normally intelligent people park their brains at the church door and go blindly accept insane beliefs that NO ONE in the right mind would accept. religion is a fairy tale that was designed to scare the daylights out of poor ignorant people. Religions has NO ANSwERS to anything it never has and never will.
Religion has more excuses than it has answers, I cannot tell you how many times I have been told that "god does not work like that" but then they cannot explain how god DOES WORK. I am sick of the endless biblical quotes because with a little effort I can invariably find a quote that says the opposite, the faithful do not want to know.
The only hope for mankind is the truth of science and mathematics and the HUMANITY OF MANKIND.
Prayer DOES NOT WORK, thinking is the basis of everything mankind has achieved in its history.
I know some very religious people but when they are sick they RUN to a doctor or a hospital and don't bother to take a bible or prayer book with them.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING and start using your brain, your heart has NO ability to recognize the hatred, lies, blind obedience and enslavement of the human mind that is the basis of all religions.
the fact that you think people can think with their hearts condemns the rest of your post to inane claptrap
Reply to Sam stone, what a silly childish comment, perhaps a I put it badly perhaps I should ave said my compassion and my humanity guide my decisions.
If that is all you can criticize me for then you are pathetic
1John 2:22 calls you Anti-Christ. Your words sound inspired by the spirit of Antichrist. The Holy Spirit always confesses Jesus is Lord. The spirit of Anti-Christ denies Jesus came as a Man. The more you rage on about your supposed superior intellect the more you sound like that spirit. I pray the grace of God, the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit delivers you. In the name of Jesus. Amen
This book is nothing more than the Muslim slant on Jesus. Nothing new to see here. He does not have a Doctorate degree in Biblical history and said in one online press video that he believed the New Testament was a myth.
It's all just a fairy story.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
No he didn't. What he said was that a lot of the facts about Jesus' life and mission were distortions and myths. Big difference. And he was right, by the way.
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What are you babbling about? typical christian terrified of losing a SALVATION whatever the hell that is and needs a fairy tale character to save him. You might just as well call mickey mouse for all the good it will do you. Why don't you call the Easter bunny or Santa Claus.
This is the insidious evil of religion it turns normally intelligent people into blithering idiots frightened of their own shadows.
Grow up and be a man not a mouse. The cross is a graven image which from what I can remember you are forbidden to worship, did you forget that?
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING
JC isn't coming and you can hang a cross in the bathroom for all the good it will do, THINKING and COMMON SENSE are the only things that will save your sanity
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Anybody else sick of this particular brand of atheism? THE IGNORE THE DEBATE AND SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT your personal outrage?
Because you can't grasp an idea, you claim it can't be true. This is known as the argument from personal incredulity.
It don't mean squat.
Are there any, I mean any, serious atheists on these boards, or is it just the mental masturbators?
Dear Christopher Hitchens, please reach down from heaven and smite your incompetent followers
Because you can't grasp an idea, you claim it can't be true. This is known as the argument from personal incredulity.
I can't speak for other atheists, but my lack of belief in a deity isn't due to a feeling that "it can't be true". My lack of belief stems simply from the fact that no one has provided evidence to support it.
I don't have a belief that there is no god. I just don't yet have a belief that there is.
Well said. The default hypothesis is that a thing claimed to exist does not exist merely because someone claims it does. Lacking convincing proof, it is folly to believe unsupported claims.
You're not an atheist, you're an agnostic. Agnostics aren't sure, just like you said you are. Atheists are sure there is no God. The atheist position is irrational because they are SURE of their position, and their position CANNOT be proved, not because they have doubts whether God exists or not.
@jjflores11
You said, "You're not an atheist, you're an agnostic."
To not understand atheism and agnosticism is typical for a believer.
Gnosticism and agnosticism are about knowledge. Theism and atheism are about belief. They are not mutually exclusive.
Whether you choose to believe, or not, based on the available evidence, or as the case may be despite a complete lack of it, is the realm of theism. Atheists tend to come in two flavors. Those that don't believe in god(s) (weak atheism), and those that believe there are no gods (strong atheism). You may even be both at the same time.
You can, in light of the absence of even so much as a shred of evidence, simply not believe there are any gods, like most people will not believe Loch Ness houses a monster, or that the Tooth Fairy is real. While these creatures may have a non-zero possibility to exist, there is no reason to believe they do. A belief in them is unreasonable.
You can at the same time be strongly atheistic about gods that are impossible to exist. Contradictory attributes commonly attributed to the christian god, for instance, make it outright impossible to exist. A belief in it is not only unreasonable, but irrational.
The complete absence of any evidence in favor of any gods, makes everyone agnostic, whether they will admit to it, or not. Some simply choose to believe the fairy tales they were fed as a child and claim to have knowledge of their favorite god. Funnily, these people tend to be strongly atheistic regarding every other god.
Your arguments are about as stupid as bishop Ushers proof of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It is ALL HOGWASH.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
I am an atheist and I am SURE because the law of COMMON SENSE say it is all a bunch of HOGWASH.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
jj: existence of a god cannot be proven, either, but does that make it irrational. not all atheists feel the same.
I wonder why this author is afraid of bob dutko on wmuz?
I'm wondering why this author has even heard of bob dutko on wmuz?
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