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 bibleidealiteralism Change image and share on social
I'm a person of faith, and the language that I use to define my faith, the symbols and metaphors that I rely upon to express my faith, are those provided by Islam because they make the most sense to me. Reza Aslan defineexpressfaith share on social
Many of the prophets of Jesus's time were thought to just be mad men, just sort of crazy people who were claiming to channel the divine. Perhaps that means we should be a little less judgmental of some of our own crazies talking about God on the corner. They might actually have found a pretty comfortable place in Jesus's time. Reza Aslan channelclaimcomfortable share on social
Nobody, absolutely nobody, straps a bomb on their body because they were recruited from the Internet. It takes an enormous amount of personal face-to-face contact and time in order to recruit a young person into the cause of jihad. Reza Aslan absolutelyamountbody share on social
I think if you place Jesus firmly in the historical context... you can make very educated hypotheses and guesses about how he lived. Reza Aslan contexteducatefirmly Change image and share on social
Is it possible that Jesus, unlike 98 percent of his fellow Jews, was literate and educated? Yes, it's possible. Reza Aslan educatefellowjesus Change image and share on social
The more I started studying the historical Jesus, the man who lived 2,000 years ago... the more I started to realize that there was this chasm between the historical Jesus and the Jesus that I had been taught about in church. Reza Aslan 000agochasm share on social
When you forcefully suppress religious nationalism, you radicalize it. Reza Aslan forcefullynationalismradicalize Change image and share on social
There's no question that homophobia is rampant among the world's 1.5 billion Muslims - but that doesn't negate the fact that there are huge groups of Muslims who have easily reconciled their faith and sexual orientation, like LGBT people in other faith communities. Reza Aslan billioncommunityeasily share on social
It is no exaggeration to say that Syria holds the key for nearly all of America's foreign policy goals in the Middle East. As Syria goes, so goes the region. Reza Aslan americaeastexaggeration Change image and share on social