In fact, Jesus’s advocacy for the “poor and the dispossessed,” as Aslan documents throughout “Zealot,” is, in my view, yet another driver of the conservative Christian push-back against “Zealot,” in addition to the well-known Islamophobia message machine of the right.
The life and teachings of Jesus, understood in their historical context, are about feeding the poor, housing the homeless, caring for the sick and loving the neighbor as yourself.
That’s Jesus.
‘How can a Muslim write about Jesus?’ The controversy over Reza Aslan’s ‘Zealot’.
Word.
The entire article by Susan Brooks Thistlewaite, Professor of Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary, is well worth a read.
Thoughts?