Jesus for Everyone: Dr. Amy-Jill Levine in conversation with Prof. Marc Michael Epstein

A common thread in discussions of Jesus is what we can learn about him— his life and times. This program is a bit different. Prof. Marc Michael Epstein speaks with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine about her new book and what we, as non-Christians, can learn from Jesus on the basis of the existing sources. What do those claiming to speak in the name of Jesus get right, what do they get wrong, and how can a knowledge and understanding of the first century Jewish context in the Land of Israel illuminate Jesus’ views—and ours—on such crucial and relevant topics as economics, slavery, ethnicity, and race, not to mention health care, family values, and of course, politics? Two of our favorite CSP Scholars—together at last! Dr. Amy-Jill Levine is the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and the Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. An acclaimed scholar, she has been awarded grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies. In addition to receiving three audiences with Pope Francis, in Spring 2019, she was the first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute. Dr. Levine has authored numerous books, including The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus; Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi; The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us (with Douglas Knight); The New Testament, Methods and Meanings (with Warren Carter); and The Gospel of Luke (with Ben Witherington III; the first full-length biblical commentary co-authored by a Jew and an Evangelical). Her most recent books include The Bible With and Without Jesus, co-authored with Marc Z. Brettler, and The Pharisees (co-edited with Joseph Sievers), to which Pope Francis contributed an essay. Winner of CSP's 4th Annual "Maimonides Award for Excellence in Adult Jewish Education" as well as the 2015 Jewish Book Award in Visual Arts for Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts, Marc Michael Epstein is the product of a mixed marriage between the scions of Slonimer and Lubavitcher Hassidim and Romanian socialists, and grew up, rather confused, but happy, in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently Professor of Religion at Vassar College, where he has been teaching since 1992, and was the first Director of Jewish Studies. At Vassar, he teaches courses on medieval Christianity, religion, arts and politics, and Jewish texts and sources. He is a graduate of Oberlin College, received the PhD at Yale University, and did much of his graduate research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.