Slide 1 - introduction

Question 1

2 books I’ll be presenting on

Answer 1

Amy-Jill Levine’s ‘The Misunderstood Jew: the Church and the scandal of the Jewish Jesus’
E.P. Sander’s ‘Jesus and Judaism’ - 1st chapter on Jesus and the Temple

Question 2

Bultmann saw historical criticism as futile and unnecessary

Answer 2

didn’t reject historical-critical exegesis as an academic discipline but expressed a deep scepticism about possibility of knowing anything about the historical Jesus feeling it only led to speculative conclusions and missed the whole point as can’t critically examine your way to faith - also a Lutheran theologian so emphasis on human inability to work their way to revelation of the Christian kerygma but require the gift of God’s grace for faith - historical elements get in the way of faith and the kerygma - ephemeral forces and original context consists of a mythological worldview that no longer resonates with modern readers so must be restranslated into a modern idiom, so in a way to try and go back to original time of Jesus is regressive.

Question 3

She is part of the tradition that reacted against Bultmann’s theology

Answer 3

As see with Sander’s book published in 1985 her 2006 book was not necessarily very profound or radical in her investigation and work returning the ancient Jewish context to the historical Jesus but what makes her project stand out is her clear emphasis of the purpose of her restoration of Jesus’ Jewish identity to promote inter-faith discourse, bettering the relations between Christians and Jews after centuries of misconceptions and intolerance or persecution of Jews that has stripped Jesus of his Jewish heritage.

Question 4

restoring Jesus’ Jewish identity

Answer 4

What the restoration of Jesus’ Jewish identity could mean for the practical relationship between Jewish and Christian communities - long been divided and Jesus is a key wedge dividing Christians and Jews, stripping this aspect of historical Jesus’ identity has aided in preserving anti-Jewish readings of the Bible, justified intolerance toward Jews and

Question 5

What makes Levine’s writing distinct
(central thesis)

Answer 5

What I saw with Levine’s writing as opposed to say Sanders is her constant return to how the results of these exegetical studies could be of use for both Jews and Christians alike - not only forces Christians to confront whether subconscious or conscious their misconceptions and lack of understanding about Jesus, the ancient Jewish world, and where his ministry stood in relation to this world that risks leading to anti-Jewish readings of the NT stories but she is quite distinct in her emphasis on how NT studies should be encouraged in Jewish circles - how Jews can learn a lot about own cultural history in the Gospel stories once they recognise Jesus as part of their tradition and his missionary as set in an ancient Jewish world.

Question 6

Concluding point

Answer 6

So that leads me to discussing her introduction where I think she clearly lays out this central aim of her work to restoring the Jewish identity of the historical Jesus and how this can be applied practically as a resource to dispel misconceptions and hostility between Jewish and Christian communities.