Slide 2 - Levine's intro Flashcards
Initial reaction to her style
So this primary aim is very much helped or coheres nicely with her writing style
- less academic austerity
- witty, relatable writing can reach a popular audience - promoting inter-faith relations not just about theologians or theology students or religious authorities but involves any believer who reads the bible or goes to church or synagogue and hears these stories in sermons/preaching - only way to overcome these persistent anti-Jewish interpretations of the Bible and fully restore the original context of Jesus of Nazareth into popular imagination
- although majority of people today know that Jesus was Jewish don’t fully grasp the implications of this for recontextualising his ministry, how it forms even if just slightly, different interpretations of his teaching/preaching or what his actions recorded in the Gospel meant.
So yes, I enjoyed her personal and witty style and found it a very easy read especially in comparison to a lot of the readings we have been doing this year.
She sets out her key themes of exploration clearly.
Central thesis:
As I said earlier she stresses that centuries of removing Jesus from his 1st century Jewish context and the lack of knowledge about the realities of 1st century Judaism have perpetuated anti-Jewish readings of the NT, pitting Jesus and his ministry against his Jewish contemporaries and ancient Jewish tradition, gospel authors and the church have used Jesus as a wedge to divide Christianity and Judaism whereas Levine hopes to subvert this, using him back in his Jewish context as a bridge where both religions can see their common heritage.
In her introduction Levine draws from her life
She discusses her own upbringing as a Jew who also showed a keen interest in Christianity, partaking in Christian practices such as catechism and having catholic friends.
I have included this photo of Levine and professor of Jewish and Christian literature Marc Brettler meeting Pope Francis
As she opens by stating that as a young girl she wanted to be the Pope - this amusing anecdote is very effective in drawing reader in but also relating her own development of misunderstanding the relations between Jews and Christians to developing an understanding to become an expert in Biblical studies - but she recognises this misunderstanding and struggle exists within communities and a conversation needs to be had.
through her entertaining childhood anecdotes she illustrates how her background and experiences influenced her becoming a Jewish scholar of the New Testament in a predominantly Christian faith university
Her mention of the first experience she had of anti-Semitism as a recognisable accusation surrounding the common Christian teaching that all Jews were and are still held responsible for killing Jesus
This highlights her key point and why she embarked on this project of her book to highlight Jesus’ Jewishness and emphasise how centuries of erasing this significant aspect of the person of Jesus’ identity has lead to continued ignorance and severely damaged interfaith relations.
Stresses -
that her argument that Jesus can bridge the divide between the two religions through appreciating their shared heritage in the historical figure is not her claiming that the religions are the same or should merge together in some way.
Her promotion of the NT in Jewish circles is not asking them to worship it or believe in its teaching as Christians do.
Neither religion has to sacrifice their beliefs for instance Christians can continue believing that Jesus was the Messiah whilst Jews can believe Jesus and the sacrifice he made is not necessary for salvation.
Neither needs to “water down” their own faith for sake of agreement or sensitivity.
They can disagree with each other and keep their own scripture
But, saying this, both traditions can acknowledge that reading the NT with a picture of Jesus firmly within 1st century Jewish tradition can enhance their own faith and deepen their understanding of their religion’s history
