Scholar will speak about Jesus and Judaism

Vanderbilt University professor Amy-Jill Levine, a noted scholar of the New Testament and Jewish Studies, will give two free public lectures in Charlotte this week.

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, she will speak on “The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus.” (That's also the name of one of her books). That lecture will begin at 7 p.m. at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, 2501 Oxford Place (just off Providence Road).

On Thursday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m., Levine will address “Jesus, Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relations” at Unity Place-St. Stephens AME Zion Church, 201 Franklin Blvd., in Gastonia.

Levine, who has appeared on several TV specials focusing on the time of Jesus, is also scheduled to be interviewed Thursday at 9 a.m. on "Charlotte Talks," with Mike Collins on WFAE (90.7 FM).

Levine has described herself as a "Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt" (Vanderbilt is in Nashville, Tenn.).

She has edited "The Historical Jesus in Context"; co-edited the Jewish Annotated New Testament; and co-written "The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us."

Temple Emanuel is bringing Levine to the Charlotte area as part of its 100th anniversary in Gastonia. Other sponsors of the lectures: UNC Charlotte, Belmont Abbey, the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, First Presbyterian Church of Gastonia and the Glenn Foundation.

-- Tim Funk