Jewish New Testament scholars
It’s shaping up to be a big year for the guild of Jewish New Testament scholars. The main event has been the publication of the Jewish Annotated New Testament, in which Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler brought together about 50 Jewish scholars to offer commentary and analysis on the New Testament and its historical milieux. Some of these are scholars of early Judaism who comment on the New Testament from that perspective, but a solid core of the group consists of New Testament scholars trained at the best institutions. Many of them say that studying the New Testament was a positive for their own religious lives: in the words of Levine and Brettler, “study of the New Testament has made us better, more informed Jews.” 
I will be working through the rich (and reasonably priced!) book in the next couple months, and full reviews will be given in time by at least two Commonweal writers. But I wanted to draw your attention to it now so that readers can also be aware of A.-J.’s public speaking events about the project (one is here in NYC this week). The historical uniqueness of what she and her co-editor accomplished in this volume cannot be overstated, and it’s well worth hearing her talk about it in her own words.
I was very excited when this book came out, and I snapped up a copy immediately. I am looking forward to what Commonweal has to say about the book.
I saw Amy-Jill Levine present five lectures last summer on the parables. She’s an entertaining speaker, and her perspective reframes the material in interesting ways. Sounds like good Lenten reading.
I have been looking forward to this important book. There was a good story about Dr. Levine in the Times’ Beliefs section, which recounts her childhood introduction to Christianity. Lucky she was not put off for life:
Growing up Jewish in North Dartmouth, Mass., Amy-Jill Levine loved Christianity.
Her neighborhood “was almost entirely Portuguese and Roman Catholic,” Dr. Levine said last Sunday at her book party here during the annual American Academy of Religion conference. “My introduction to Christianity was ethnic Roman Catholicism, and I loved it. I used to practice giving communion to Barbie. Church was like the synagogue: guys in robes speaking languages I didn’t understand. My favorite movie was ‘The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima.’ ”
Christianity might have stayed just a fascination, but for an unfortunate episode in second grade: “When I was 7 years old, one girl said to me on the school bus, ‘You killed our Lord.’ I couldn’t fathom how this religion that was so beautiful was saying such a dreadful thing.”
That encounter with the dark side of her friends’ religion sent Dr. Levine on a quest . . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/us/a-jewish-edition-of-the-new-testament-beliefs.html
Michael, this is really interesting – thanks!
In addition to detailed notes for each of the NT books the work provides a number of valuable contextual essays. They are short but not simplistic and always illuminating.
I’m by no means a NT scholar but I found the four page essay on the Law extremely insightful in circumventing straw man arguments from both Jewish and Christian sides in order to occupy as much common ground as possible: “Christians and Jews have fulfilled the Torah/Pentateuch by finding its deeper meanings somewhere else, be it the New Testament for Christians, or the Oral Torah for Jews.”
I’m finding it to be very enlightening.
Professor Levine has at least two video courses for those interested:
+ Great Figures of the New Testament
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=6206
+ Old Testament
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=653
.
This is a really inspiring book, and I echo the commendation of earlier posters. It made an ideal Christmas present for our household and a readily accepted ordination gift for a scholarly young deacon.
Only one drawback – if you give it to someone with poor eyesight, make sure there’s a magnifying glass in the house as the notes are in tiny print!
It was kind of inevitable that a project like this would simply have to field essays briefer than one would like, but I think that it really offers a great encapsulation of some of the key developments that have emerged in New Testament research with respect to Judaism’s role in the NT (both in its development and subsequent interpretation). Some standouts: I think that Mark Nanos offers one of the most challenging readings of Paul available today, so his essay is a good introduction to his ideas. Boyarin’s essay on the Logos gives an accessible breakdown of his earlier research on the subject (which I think will be treated as a classic study in the future).
Glad to hear some of you have already been enjoying this book! Mr. Rosenzweig, I completely agree regarding Boyarin’s contribution. It’s a great summary of his previous work and is illustrative of the quality of the essays on the whole.
Amy-Jill Levine brings in-sight that is always a welcome in the Catholic tradition! Her
down-to-earth teaching style is refreshing and well worth the time investing to enrich a deeper understanding of the Jewish tradition in historical context.
We appreciate A-J’s hard work, dedication and look forward to our continued studies with the Jewish Annotated New Testament.