JESUS talk by our favorite Muslim (video)

Eds., Wisdom Quarterly; RT; Dr. Reza Aslan, "Rough Draft" (Ovation); Indian Summer Fest

"Rough Draft with Reza Aslan" on Ovation is a timely and fast-paced talk show about writers and writing. Today’s biggest scribes (screen, television, books, and press) sit with Aslan for a lively discussion that’s intimate, provocative, and entertaining.

Intercut throughout the show are clips of unscripted and exclusive green room footage featuring Aslan, the main guest, and the evening’s musical guest, all sharing tales over drinks prior to the show.

(Tony Harris/Talk to Al Jazeera) Professor Reza Aslan is an American scholar of Christianity and world religions -- an Iranian Muslim turned Christian evangelist who returned to Islam. He is the author of several books on faith. His book, Zealot, is a best-seller -- and controversial.
 

Zealot: Jesus of Nazareth

Religious scholar Dr. Reza Aslan is a best-selling author (Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, No god But God).

He is also a public intellectual, professor, and producer of such TV shows as "The Leftovers" (HBO), "Of Kings and Prophets" (ABC), and "Believer" (CNN) -- his unscripted hosted series about religions of the world. He has also been a frequent guest on such shows as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert, and Real Time with Bill Maher.

Ovation is America's only arts television network with a mission to connect the world to all forms of art and artistic expression. Subscribe to Ovation's YouTube (Facebook).

Jesus of history vs. fantasy Christ of faith

Bestselling author with stand-up Reza Aslan at the Indian Summer Fest in Vancouver, Canada. [CORRECTION at 53:30: The Buddha was NOT a Hindu teaching a reformed version of Hinduism, which did not come into existence until centuries later. Nor was he a Vedic Brahmin, but an enlightened teacher out to establish the Dharma that leads practitioners to enlightenment.]
 

Republican NRA fantasy-Jesus

Biblical scholar Aslan offers a fascinating, provocative, and meticulously researched biography that calls into question everything we thought we knew about the historical Jesus of Nazareth.

Sifting through centuries of myths, Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most influential and enigmatic characters.

The Nazis made Jesus white

How? By examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived, first century Palestine, an age awash in messiahs and apocalyptic fervor.

Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against historical sources, Aslan explores this diverse and turbulent age and, in doing so, challenges the conventional portraits of Jesus of Nazareth.
 

Historical Jewish-African Jesus of history

Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction:

• a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves with swords;
• an exorcist and faith-healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity a secret;
• and ultimately, the seditious “king” of the Jews whose promise of liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his life.

White Christian-American Jesus, followers

Aslan’s work questions what we thought we knew about Jesus of Nazareth -- even as it affirms the radical and transformative nature of his life and mission. The result is a thought-provoking and brilliant portrait of a man, a time, and the birth of a world religion.
 
Made possible with support of SFU Institute for the Humanities and The Centre for the Comparative Studies of Muslim Societies and Cultures at SFU. Thanks to SFU Woodwards for their partnership and for recording this session. Where Worlds Meet. A festival of arts & ideas in Vancouver every July.

RT's Abby Martin ("Breaking the Set") with Reza Aslan; "Fraud"? "Reza, Marquez, SEX"