IRB Intro for Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan

Like many religious figures, the true story of Jesus Christ has long been hidden. However, in his new book, religious scholar Reza Aslan tries to tell His story by using stories from the Gospels as well as information discovered by historians and archaeologists. Though I'm no longer religious myself, I've enjoyed learning about various belief systems since attending catechism as a child and later reading Dan Brown's novels featuring religious iconographer Robert Langdon. I also greatly enjoy history in general; one of my favorite books is a double biography of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Consequently, when I heard about Zealot from interviews with Aslan on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, I thought it sounded very interesting, a book I could learn a lot from. From Zealot I hope to gain a more complete understanding of the life of Jesus and of His original teachings, as accounts of both have been twisted and changed throughout the centuries. I also want to see what research methods Aslan used to gather his information, since I am interested in becoming a historian or archaeologist; I'm wondering how Aslan could have possibly gathered enough information from thousands of years ago and compile it into a book with a logical and factual message. I'm hoping that Zealot isn't written in such a way that it focuses too heavily on the teachings of the Gospels, as they have been altered and translated countless times since they were written, which, anyway, was decades after Jesus died. Either way, the reviews have been very positive, so I'm hoping this book will live up to them!