listen

audiobook

Reza Aslan books

Religion lectures

In a probing and personal conversation, Reza Aslan opens a refreshing window on religion in the world and Islam in particular. It’s a longer view of history and humanity than news cycles invite — certainly when it comes to the Arab Spring, or to ISIS. His life is a kind of prism on the fluid story of religion in this century. But in a globalized world, we all have a personal stake in how this story unfolds.

See more at www.onbeing.org/program/reza-aslan-on-islams-reformation/7039

Reza Aslan — Islam's Reformation

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Good Housekeeping &bull; Booklist &bull; Publishers Weekly &bull; Bookish From the internationally bestselling author of No god but God comes a fascinating, provocative, and meticulously researched biography that challenges long-held assumptions about the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth. &#160; Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher and miracle worker walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the &ldquo;Kingdom of God.&rdquo; The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was captured, tortured, and executed as a state criminal. &#160; Within decades after his shameful death, his followers would call him God. &#160; Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history&rsquo;s most influential and enigmatic characters by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived: first-century Palestine, an age awash in apocalyptic fervor. Scores of Jewish prophets, preachers, and would-be messiahs wandered through the Holy Land, bearing messages from God. This was the age of zealotry&mdash;a fervent nationalism that made resistance to the Roman occupation a sacred duty incumbent on all Jews. And few figures better exemplified this principle than the charismatic Galilean who defied both the imperial authorities and their allies in the Jewish religious hierarchy. &#160; Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction; a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves with swords; an exorcist and faith healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity a secret; and ultimately the seditious &ldquo;King of the Jews&rdquo; whose promise of liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his brief lifetime. Aslan explores the reasons why the early Christian church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary. And he grapples with the riddle of how Jesus understood himself, the mystery that is at the heart of all subsequent claims about his divinity. &#160; Zealot yields a fresh perspective on one of the greatest stories ever told even as it affirms the radical and transformative nature of Jesus of Nazareth&rsquo;s life and mission. The result is a thought-provoking, elegantly written biography with the pulse of a fast-paced novel: a singularly brilliant portrait of a man, a time, and the birth of a religion. Praise for Zealot &#160; &ldquo;Riveting . . . Aslan synthesizes Scripture and scholarship to create an original account.&rdquo;&mdash;The New Yorker &ldquo;A lucid, intelligent page-turner.&rdquo;&mdash;Los Angeles Times &#160; &ldquo;Fascinatingly and convincingly drawn . . . Aslan may come as close as one can to respecting those who revere Jesus as the peace-loving, turn-the-other-cheek, true son of God depicted in modern Christianity, even as he knocks down that image.&rdquo;&mdash;The Seattle Times &#160; &ldquo;[Aslan&rsquo;s] literary talent is as essential to the effect of Zealot as are his scholarly and journalistic chops. . . . A vivid, persuasive portrait.&rdquo;&mdash;Salon &#160; &ldquo;This tough-minded, deeply political book does full justice to the real Jesus, and honors him in the process.&rdquo;&mdash;San Francisco Chronicle From the Hardcover edition. Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080419257X?tag=pgus-20">Amazon - Audiobook (CD format)</a><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?ISBSRC=Y&ISBN=9780804192576&cm_mmc=Random%20House-_Zealot-CD-1-9780804192576-_-Zealot-CD-1-9780804192576-_-Zealot">Barnes & Noble - Audiobook (CD format)</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2665379-10876509?SID=Zealot-CD-1-9780804192576&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Zealot/Reza+Aslan/9780804192576">Books A Million - Audiobook (CD format)</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780804192576?aff=PenguinGroupUS">IndieBound - Audiobook (CD format)</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780804192576?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=Zealot-CD-1-9780804192576">Powell's - Audiobook (CD format)</a><a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&subid=&offerid=183959.1&type=10&tmpid=273&u1=Zealot-CD-1-9780804192576&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780804192576%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart - Audiobook (CD format)</a><a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/advancedSearch?term=Zealot&entity=audiobook&at=11l3IH&ct=Zealot-DN-1-9780804148740">Apple - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://www.qksrv.net/click-2665379-10273919?url=http://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=Zealot+Reza+Aslan&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=Zealot-DN-1-9780804148740">Audible - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2665379-11117375?SID=Zealot-DN-1-9780804148740&url=http://www.audiobooks.com/search/book/Zealot">audiobooks.com - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://www.downpour.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Zealot">downpour - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://www.qksrv.net/click-2665379-10273919?SID=Zealot-DN-1-9780804148740&url=http://www.emusic.com/listen/#/search/book/Zealot">eMusic - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a>

Zealot by Reza Aslan, read by Reza Aslan

Read by Joe Barrett

About the Book

The bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus, one of the most renowned and controversial Bible scholars in the world today examines oral tradition and its role in shaping the stories about Jesus we encounter in the New Testament—and ultimately in our understanding of Christianity.

Throughout much of human history, our most important stories were passed down orally—including the stories about Jesus before they became written down in the Gospels. In this fascinating and deeply researched work, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Erhman investigates the role oral history has played in the New Testament—how the telling of these stories not only spread Jesus’ message but helped shape it.

A master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman draws on a range of disciplines, including psychology and anthropology, to examine the role of memory in the creation of the Gospels. Explaining how oral tradition evolves based on the latest scientific research, he demonstrates how the act of telling and retelling impacts the story, the storyteller, and the listener—crucial insights that challenge our typical historical understanding of the silent period between when Jesus lived and died and when his stories began to be written down.

As he did in his previous books on religious scholarship, debates on New Testament authorship, and the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, Ehrman combines his deep knowledge and meticulous scholarship in a compelling and eye-opening narrative that will change the way we read and think about these sacred texts.

JESUS BEFORE THE GOSPELS by Bart D. Ehrman

Why Didn't The Plagues Work?

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot and host of Believer explores humanity&rsquo;s quest to make sense of the divine, and sounds a call to embrace a deeper, more expansive understanding of God. &#160; In Zealot, Reza Aslan replaced the staid, well-worn portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth with a startling new image of the man in all his contradictions. In his new book, Aslan takes on a subject even more immense: God, writ large. &#160; In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as one long and remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes, &ldquo;Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless of whether we&rsquo;re believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves.&rdquo; &#160; But this projection is not without consequences. We bestow upon God not just all that is good in human nature&mdash;our compassion, our thirst for justice&mdash;but all that is bad in it: our greed, our bigotry, our penchant for violence. All these qualities inform our religions, cultures, and governments. &#160; More than just a history of our understanding of God, this book is an attempt to get to the root of this humanizing impulse in order to develop a more universal spirituality.&#160;Whether you believe in one God, many gods, or no god at all, God: A Human History will challenge the way you think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives. Advance praise for God &#160; &ldquo;Breathtaking in its scope and controversial in its claims, God: A Human History shows how humans from time immemorial have made God in their own image, and argues that they should now stop. Writing with all the verve and brilliance we have come to expect from his pen, Reza Aslan has once more produced a book that will prompt reflection and shatter assumptions.&rdquo;&mdash;Bart D. Ehrman, author of How Jesus Became God &#160; &ldquo;Reza Aslan offers so much to relish in his excellent &lsquo;human history&rsquo; of God. In tracing the commonalities that unite religions, Aslan makes truly challenging arguments that believers in many traditions will want to mull over, and to explore further. This rewarding book is very ambitious in its scope, and it is thoroughly grounded in an impressive body of reading and research.&rdquo;&mdash;Philip Jenkins, author of Crucible of Faith

God by Reza Aslan, read by Reza Aslan

Penguin Random House Audio is the market leader for adult and children's audiobook publishing. Follow us on Twitter @PRHAudio.

God by Reza Aslan, read by Reza Aslan

PRH Audio