That part is nothing less than a literary drive-by shooting of the apostle Paul. The surprising part is the second part, which goes entirely unmentioned in the title (as well as the reviews, the professional summaries, and the interview).
But that is just the first part of the book. So one does not expect accuracy or even serious competence from a popularization, and Aslan does not disappoint in that regard. with its regular Christmas and Easter Jesus covers. Jesus is always a bestseller, a fact that has never been forgotten by Time, Inc. It is certainly that, and there would certainly be nothing new about that. I began reading this book thinking of it as a popularization of Jesus. Aslan conveniently neglects to mention this clear scholarly antecedent as it would undercut his appearance of scholarly originality and intellectual courage.
Brandon argued this thesis 47 years ago in his book Jesus and the Zealots, which is well-known to Jesus scholars but the thesis of which has never gained much traction among them. Reza Aslan’s book first came to my attention via The Daily Show, where he was interviewed by John Oliver, who gave the book a high recommendation: “It’s a fantastic read – You’ve got to get it.” Despite Aslan’s claim to intellectual originality this is not at all a new thesis.
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