Country Western singer Kinky Friedman often performs a song entitled "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore," and New Testament professor Amy–Jill Levine would agree. In fact, her career is dedicated to helping Christians and Jews understand the Jewishness of Jesus, thereby deepening the understanding of him, and facilitating greater interfaith dialogue. In this book, she shows how liberal Christians misunderstand Judaism, misunderstand the New Testament, and thus yank Jesus out of his Jewish context and wind up promoting hatred of Jews. Only with the deeper understanding this top Jewish, Southern–born New Testament scholar provides can we hope to respect each other's beliefs, as well as enrich our own.
 Through a extremely busy teaching and speaking schedule, Levine has honed her message at synagogues, Catholic conferences, Jewish Community Centers, denominational meetings, in the classroom and in her highly successful Teaching Company audios and videos. Levine is brilliant, charming, funny and forceful, and uses these traits to give a completely fresh perspective on Jesus and the New Testament. In addition to offering new insights with great skill, she has the remarkable ability to be tough, pointing out how even liberal Christians can be unwittingly anti–Semitic in their understanding of what Jesus stood for.Her truth–telling here will provoke honest dialogue on how Christians and Jews should understand Jesus and our New Testament heritage.

The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus

Religion & Spirituality

Levine, Amy-Jill

Judaism

HarperOne

In this lively and fresh introduction to the scriptures of ancient Israel (what Christians call the Old Testament and Jews call the Tanakh), two preeminent biblical scholars, Douglas A. Knight and Amy-Jill Levine, combine their passion and expertise to examine not just what the Bible says but what it means. Through their eyes we see anew the Bible’s literary brilliance, moral profundity, historical settings, and implications for our faiths and our future. Passed down for generations, compiled between 500 and 100 BCE, and finalized around the time of Jesus, the various accounts in the Hebrew Bible took shape under a variety of cultures. Drawing on their extensive biblical scholarship, Knight and Levine explore this diverse history and equip us with the critical tools necessary to understand what the ancient texts originally meant. With long experience in teaching candidates for the ministry as well as undergraduate and graduate students, they also explore the possible meanings the texts hold today for churches, synagogues, and anyone interested in the Bible’s legacy. Knight and Levine begin with the broader biblical story—its historical context, literary artistry, and geographical setting. They then turn to the major biblical themes with which modern readers continue to wrestle: law and justice, human evil and God’s response, belief and practice, chaos and creation, war and peace, gender and sexuality, politics and economics, practical wisdom and apocalyptic vision. For each topic, they provide both general overviews and specific analyses of select biblical passages, explaining how and why their approaches reveal new insights and offering various strategies for informed interpretation. Throughout, Knight and Levine inspire us to ask new questions and develop a deeper understanding of one of the greatest collections of literature known to humankind—as illuminating today as it was two thousand years ago.

The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us

History

Knight, Douglas A.

World

In the The Misunderstood Jew, scholar Amy-Jill Levine helps Christians and Jews understand the "Jewishness" of Jesus so that their appreciation of him deepens and a greater interfaith dialogue can take place. Levine's humor and informed truth-telling provokes honest conversation and debate about how Christians and Jews should understand Jesus, the New Testament, and each other.

The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew, and general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves history and spiritual analysis to explore Jesus’ most popular teaching parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and relevant for modern readers.
Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus’ stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives.
In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. Levine reveals the parables’ connections to first-century economic and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

In The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us, preeminent biblical scholars Douglas A. Knight and Amy-Jill Levine deliver a broad and engaging introduction to the Old Testament—also known as the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible—offering a wealth of compelling historical background and context for the sacred literature that is at the heart of Judaism and Christianity. John Shelby Spong, author of Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World writes, "Levine and Knight have combined to write a book on the Bible that is as academically brilliant as it is marvelously entertaining. By placing our scriptures into their original Jewish context they have opened up startling and profound new insights. This is a terrific book."

The renowned biblical scholar, Vanderbilt University Divinity School Professor, and author of Short Stories by Jesus and The Misunderstood Jew argues that Jesus’s historic and cultural influence make him fascinating, provocative, and relevant for everyone, not only faithful Christians but nonbelievers as well.Two thousand years after his birth and death, Jesus of Nazareth continues to be of vital interest. Yet much of the scholarship around Jesus focuses on his religious significance. Jesus for Atheists examines his most famous teachings from a fresh perspective, exploring how they have continued to shape ethics and civilization in the West for two millennia.Even for those who reject faith, Jesus’s life and his philosophy are important to study Amy-Jill Levine contends, because of the insights they hold for us today. Poring through scripture, analyzing what historical scholarship has revealed about Jesus’s views on a number of subjects—including women—reveals surprising messages sure to be fascinating to all readers.Placing Jesus of Nazareth within his historical context, Levine brings him vividly into focus and invites agnostics and the most committed nonbelievers to appreciate his lasting impact on the modern world.

Jesus for Everyone: Not Just Christians

The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

The editors of&nbsp;The Jewish Annotated New Testament&nbsp;show how and why Jews and Christians read many of the same Biblical texts - including passages from the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Psalms - differently. Exploring and explaining these diverse perspectives, they reveal more clearly Scripture's beauty and power. &nbsp; Esteemed Bible scholars and teachers Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler take readers on a guided tour of the most popular Hebrew Bible passages quoted in the New Testament to show what the texts meant in their original contexts and then how Jews and Christians, over time, understood those same texts. Passages include the creation of the world, the role of Adam and Eve, the Suffering Servant of Isiah, the book of Jonah, and Psalm 22, whose words, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me," Jesus quotes as he dies on the cross. Comparing various interpretations - historical, literary, and theological - of each ancient text, Levine and Brettler offer deeper understandings of the original narratives and their many afterlives. They show how the text speaks to different generations under changed circumstances, and so illuminate the Bible's ongoing significance. By understanding the depth and variety by which these passages have been, and can be, understood, The Bible With and Without Jesus does more than enhance our religious understandings, it helps us to see the Bible as a source of inspiration for any and all readers.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Brettler, Marc Zvi

Review “Jews and Christians read the Bible with different histories, interpretations, contexts, and emphases. How can the two understand each other better? No two persons are better suited to answer this question than Brettler and Levine. It requires expertise in the Bible itself and in the history of interpretation. These two respected scholars bring that dual expertise with style, clarity, wit, and visible honesty. They replace ignorance with mutual respect, and replace polemics with possibilities. Truly a book for everyone.” -- Richard Elliott Friedman, author of The Exodus and Who Wrote the Bible?“Fascinating . . . The chapter on the original meanings of sections of the Sermon on the Mount is alone worth the price of admission. A rich and important offering.” -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Incisive and accessible in content and welcoming in tone, the book express very well a point I sought to convey throughout my career: ‘The more one knows of Israel’s scripture, the more meaningful the New Testament becomes.’” -- Christian Century“A Top 10 Notable Book of the Year” -- Center for Hebraic Thought“This new project…[looks] at the various reinterpretations of the text in the first centuries BCE and CE, how they diverged according to Christian and Jewish belief, and the subtle and not-so-subtle polemics that were then developed…effectively showing how the separate interpretations may never converge, but the integrity of each can be appreciated.” -- Library Journal"In an age where polemics and talking past one another is common, the appeal to respectful interpretation and dialogue is refreshing and helpful. Perhaps it is not too much to expect that we see ourselves as others see us or see our sacred texts as others see them. Highly recommended." -- Dr. Ben Witherington, III, Amos Professor of NT for Doctoral Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary“This exploration invites both Jews and Christians to look at texts whose meanings we take for granted and see them from the other side. It is a delightful read through a mind-opening adventure that will do more for Jewish-Christian relations than many official documents." -- Carolyn Osiek, author of A Woman's Place: House Churches in Earliest Christianity“Tackles the worthy yet weighty task of examining the Jewish scriptures through both Jewish and Christian eyes, seeking to promote further understanding between adherents . . . A thorough, readable addition to the consistently fecund Jewish-Christian conversation.” -- Kirkus“A must read for all concerned with peace and well-being in our civil societies in their rich diversity.” -- Kathy Ehrensperger, Executive Editor of The Encyclopedia of Jewish-Christian Relations“A real gem of a book and badly needed. Scholars of the highest caliber, they lay out the logic and consistency of each religious interpretation, thus nurturing mutual, informed respect and dialogue. Highly recommended.” -- Steve McKenzie, Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College“The authors seek to open a dialogue that will allow everyone to have a better understanding of the text. [The book is] easy to read, perfect for Jewish-Christian dialogue groups, and will appeal to anyone interested in understanding the Bible.” -- The Reporter"How can Jews and Christians read the Scriptures they share without denigrating each other’s interpretations? This book is an extraordinary effort to guide us through our readings of the Bible while respecting the differences of our traditions. The world has been waiting two thousand years for this book!" -- Susannah Heschel, Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor, Dartmouth College"Seeks to offer insight into how two faiths can have such disparate understandings of the same text [and] can help Jews and Christians understand each other better." -- The Times of Israel“Imbued with the best of modern biblical scholarship, which particularly shines in the moving treatment of the Sermon on the Mount, and written clearly and beautiful

The Gospel of Luke (New Cambridge Bible Commentary)

This volume offers a comprehensive overview of one of the four New Testament gospels and brings a unique approach to the genre of Bible commentary. Featuring distinct Jewish and Christian voices in respectful conversation, Amy-Jill Levine and Ben Witherington, III methodologically break new ground in exploring why scholars disagree on questions of history (what actually happened, what is authorial invention, how do we address different versions of the same account), literature (what does this story tell us about Jesus and Peter, Mary Magdalene and Judas, among other characters), and theology (what can we say about resurrection and divine justice, or about Jesus as the Messiah). They show how Luke has been used to create both tragedy and hope, as well as to promote sexism, anti-semitism, and religious intolerance, thereby raising important questions regarding ethically responsible interpretation. This volume will be essential reading for theologians, clergy, and anyone interested in biblical studies and Jewish/Christian dialogue.

Witherington III, Ben

Religious Studies

Cambridge University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levine, Amy-Jill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Levine, Amy-Jill

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levine, Amy-Jill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus

The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us

The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus

Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us

Jesus for Everyone: Not Just Christians

The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

The Gospel of Luke (New Cambridge Bible Commentary)