Reza Aslan's Zealot: the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth [View all]

If the subject interests you at all, read this book. I ordered it thanks to Fox's attempt to mischaracterize it as "anti-Christian," and can confirm that they were wrong.

Much of the book covers some fairly familiar territory. Aslan sets up the historical context very much as Dominic Crossan does, and agrees with Crossan pretty closely on what is known to be known (almost nothing) and what can be logically inferred from social context (quite a bit) about Jesus' youth and upringing. We can be certain that Jesus came from a poor family in a poor village, that he and his father and probably his brothers, found work as tektons (construction workers) in Sepphoris, and that Jesus was originally a disciple of John the Baptizer. One can infer from the names of Mary's and Joseph's sons that the family was nationalist and had no sympathy either with the Romans or with the wealthy upper classes who collaborated with them. This would include the religious establishment of the day, from the High Priest down to the tax farmers and other governmental bean-counters. The difference between Aslan and Crossan on these points is mainly one of style. Crossan is hard slogging and tends to get entangled in details. Aslan's style is readily accessible, even slangy in a few places, and his narrative moves along at a good clip.

Where they differ is on the purpose and effect of Paul. Crossan once noted that commenters on his work tend to regard Paul as either "an appealing Apostle" or "an appalling Apostle." Crossan finds him appealing. Aslan falls into the "appalling" camp. He argues that the religion preached by Paul had next to nothing in common with the actual message or purpose of Jesus. (James Tabor has taken a similar position in his recent Paul and Jesus.) It is in clarifying the depth of that distinction that Aslan's book makes its most original contribution. I've never before seen the rift between Paul and the Jerusalem church led by Jesus' brother James, Peter and John so vividly set out. For this section alone, book would be well-worth the read.