I am reading this one at a snail’s pace… sorry! Chapter 5 deals with the Roman governors that were placed in Palestine around and after the time of Jesus. In his clever way of retelling history to meet his thesis’ needs, Reza gives a very scaled back version of the various events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and seemingly lumps Jesus into a group that likely did not even exist yet – the zealots. Here, he states emphatically that the Gospels’ description of Pontius Pilate could not have been accurate (he uses the phrase “pure fiction”) due to the fact that Pilate dealt so harshly with so many other revolutionaries.

One thing that is not shown here, and something followers of Jesus are usually quick to state, is that Jesus was not a violent revolutionary. He did not attack the governing bodies, the leaders or anyone else for that matter. While these “zealous messiahs” rose and fell by the sword, Jesus was different. There is no record anywhere of Jesus being anything close to a violent person. In fact, most accounts of Him marvel at the fact that this entire movement did not seem to want to strike at the iron of destruction and freedom for the Jews, but a freedom for all, by following God and His forgiving ways.

With this truth concept in mind, there is another way to view Reza’s statement. While Reza refuses to believe that a heartless, ruthless, but effective governor like Pilate would ever “wash his hands” of a conviction like Jesus, it is more than possible. Let’s assume Pilate heard of Jesus and then inquired of Him to see what this “rebellion” was all about. Let’s assume that Jesus, unlike others, would have stated that His kingdom was not of this world (I shouldn’t need to cite this) and that He was not after the emperor or anyone else’s head for that matter. Would Pilate have dealt with Jesus so ruthlessly? At this point, if I were Pilate, I would be stunned and want nothing to do with this. No one could state what Jesus had done that was evil and the entire notion that Jesus’ head was better served detached from His body would have made little to no sense. This seems more than likely and is another interesting factor not even considered in his book.

Reza Aslan has written a book about Jesus. Some consider it controversial because of the fact that Reza is a Muslim man. While this makes news, there are other issues within Reza’s arguments that must be dealt with. If you will allow me, as I read the book, I would like to point out some of the questions I feel arise.

First, in the introduction, Reza starts to show his colors in his perspective about Jesus. He holds to the Gospel of Mark as being written sometime after 70 C.E. This is believed in part because the “most widely accepted theory on the formation of the gospels, the ‘Two-Source Theory’ holds (kindle loc 155)” this view. Someone once said that the narrow road would be found by few, which suggests it is hard. Perhaps this was not because it is hidden or difficult to see, but difficult to follow in a seeming tsunami of “scholarship.” There is a lot of good writing on the early date of Mark’s Gospel (before 60 C.E.). I found a fun example here (http://tinyurl.com/kgzz73m). Just because something is new or seemingly compelling may not make it right. Further, Reza uses this whole concept to suggest that Jesus was but a man who was made into the Christ by the early church (after the rebellion leading to the temple’s destruction in 70 C.E.) to separate themselves from impending Roman judgment. I don’t know how one can come to the conclusion that Jesus was not seen as God until the writing of the Gospels (late writing at that) when Paul makes no mistakes in being bold with his claims of the Christ. Reza has some interesting dating for Paul’s letters, but they are written in the 40s and 50s in his opinion, so that is problematic at best to Reza’s position that Christians colluded to build Jesus into deity.

Second, Reza makes a claim that his entire book is to be the biographical look at the man of Jesus. When one makes that claim, facts must be immaculately recounted. A recent criticism of this kind has come out, but I will let you read that on your own time (http://tinyurl.com/lz9k4n9).

This is a start to my reading the book. It is definitely challenging me, but these are the issues I see at first glance.

As my new office comes together and I start doing the “work” that is this amazing job called ministry, I can’t help but consider how unsettling following God can be. He keeps things interesting for sure, and I continue to find myself dependent on Him. We wait for our house to sell. Pray. I wonder what the next steps will be. Pray. I wonder how I will fit in. Pray. I am eager to see some of these dreams come together. Pray.

As uncomfortable as a new start can be from time to time, I am excited to see what He wants to do in and through me. So, we pray and carry on.