Dr. Amy-Jill Levine Named First Jewish President of Catholic Biblical Association

Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, HIU's Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, has been named president of the Catholic Biblical Association (CBA) of America, the first Jewish person to take on that role.

The CBA said of Dr. Levine: "She is recognized and deeply appreciated for her work in Jewish-Christian relations. She is the first Jewish scholar to teach the New Testament at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome in 2019. Her standing with Rome is best recognized by the fact that she had three audiences with Pope Francis. On this side of the Atlantic, she has been a featured speaker at the Catholic Biblical Association on the topic of anti-Jewish attitudes."

At an association event in Baltimore to honor Dr. Levine last month, HIU President Emeritus Joel N. Lohr was on hand to help present her with a festschrift honoring her contributions to the academy.

President Emeritus Lohr was one of three editors for the festschrift, Disruptive Readings: The Work and Wisdom of Amy-Jill Levine. The others were Marc Brettler, a longtime collaborator of Dr. Levine's, and Mary Boys, the Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary.

The festschrift's publisher, Sheffield Phoenix Press, describes the book this way:

Amy-Jill Levine is one of the world’s most popular Bible teachers. A Jewish scholar of the New Testament, she has traversed the world to lecture, published innumerable articles and books, taught in varied venues, led professional societies, and received prestigious awards. Her erudition is matched only by her wit. Moreover, Levine is beloved. This Festschrift is a prooftext of the impact of her scholarship and the affection of her colleagues. 

The volume’s 24 contributors showcase a broad range of topics. They innovatively reread texts through varying lenses: the mother of Zarephath, Judith, Jesus’ women friends, and the hemorrhaging woman in Mark. They proffer new possibilities, such as postulating a new identity of the Beloved Disciple. A scientist discusses supersessionism in biblical study and biology; a philosopher explores the work of a German Jewish poet murdered in Auschwitz whose laments gave voice to women, animals and Jews. 

Levine is most disruptive in challenging anti-Jewish interpretations of New Testament texts. The essayists analyze troubling readings such as the interpretations of the circumcision of Jesus, the rhetoric of fearmongering in John’s Gospel, and perennial issues in Christian preaching. Several explore problematic claims in the passion narratives. Others assess methodological issues: situating the New Testament in its Jewish context, correcting the longstanding assumption of an opposition between Jesus and Judaism, and recognizing the significance of a continuous conversation between contemporary methods of scholarship in relation to Jewish and Christian communities.

The articles in Disruptive Readings advance the power of scholarship to invite bold understandings and so to interrupt conventional conclusions. 

Congratulations, AJ!