Is it possible that Jesus, unlike 98 percent of his fellow Jews, was literate and educated? Yes, it's possible. Reza Aslan More Quotes by Reza Aslan More Quotes From Reza Aslan The key to recognizing who Jesus was is to recognize this fundamental truth: He was a Jew. Reza Aslan keys fundamentals jesus I have to say that it's a weird feeling to have to respond to a Christian leader of an anti-Muslims organisation - it would be like having to respond to a Muslim leader of an anti-Jewish organisation about Judaism so the whole thing is kind of weird. Let me just say it's kind of convenient to simply pick and choose whatever violent bits and pieces one finds in the Koran and ignore the equally important versus that talk about compassion and peace. Reza Aslan leader compassion christian When you're a brown Muslim from Iran talking about Jesus on TV, you need to keep your cool at all times, OK? That's not rocket science. Reza Aslan iran talking jesus The idea that education will lead to a lessening of bigotry is just factually incorrect. Reza Aslan bigotry ideas It is the job of the historian to say what is likely, and of faith to say what is possible. Reza Aslan historian jobs We have to remember that the United States has certain principles, certain values that bind us all together, that make us all American. And if we allow those values, those rights to be rescinded for one group of individuals, then we are essentially opening the door to having all of our rights, all of our privileges rescinded. Reza Aslan rights together doors For an academic to launch a public conversation about journalistic integrity, the role of religion in society, scholarship and faith is a dream come true. These are the kinds of things that we sit around talking to each other about in our dusty libraries. To see these conversations take place in popular culture is the best thing that could have ever happened. Reza Aslan dream talking integrity What's happened in the United States is something that has already happened in Europe and that is that Islam is become 'otherised', it has become a kind of receptacle into which fears and anxieties about the political or economic situation, about the changing racial landscape of this country are being thrown. Reza Aslan anxiety europe country The religiously observant is lumped in with the nominal Muslim, the nominal Muslim is lumped in with the non-Muslim and the radical. If we want to make sense of this mess and stop pushing Muslims into the arms of the extremist, we need to make meaningful distinctions between the religion of Islam that a billion Muslims follow and see as a guidance as a peaceful righteous moral life and the puritanical Islam of a minority which so captures the media's attention. Reza Aslan religion-of-islam media meaningful Well, to be clear, I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament and fluency in Biblical Greek who has been studying the origins of Christianity for two decades who also happens to be Muslim. Reza Aslan biblical greek two In times of economic distress, it's only natural for people - and Americans have done this for many years - to look for a scapegoat. Depending on where you live in this country, the scapegoats are either, frankly, Mexicans or Muslims. So, you know, God save you if you happened to be a Mexican Muslim in America right now. Reza Aslan country america years Even the Quran, which Sufis respect as the direct speech of God, lacks the capacity to shed light upon God’s essence. As one Sufi master has argued, why spend time reading a love letter (by which he means the Quran) in the presence of the Beloved who wrote it? Reza Aslan light reading mean Indonesia, women are absolutely 100 percent equal to men Reza Aslan indonesia equal men The only question that matters with regard to a religion and its mythology is “What do these stories mean? Reza Aslan matter stories mean There is absolutely no difference between religion and politics at all in Jesus' time. In other words, every seemingly religious word that came out of Jesus' mouth had very clear and unmistakable political connotations to it. Reza Aslan differences religious jesus God doesn't make you a bigot. You're just a bigot. Reza Aslan bigots You can be a follower of Jesus and not necessarily be a Christian. Reza Aslan followers christian jesus I'm interested in the origins of the religious experience, how the history of religion has evolved over the last umpteen thousand years, and where religiosity is going in the future. I think that's a topic I've been chewing on for a few years; I would love to eventually work on and produce a book out of it. Reza Aslan religious book thinking In the history of the prophetic biblical canon that starts with Genesis, the Koran is by far the most tolerant of the views of other religions. Reza Aslan canon biblical views The idea of literalism in the Bible is a very new phenomenon. In many ways, it's a product of the scientific revolution. Reza Aslan revolution way ideas
