UPDATE: Wilson's Orr Forum on Religion, which had been scheduled for March 26, has been postponed until September as part of the College’s response to coronavirus concerns.

Dr. Amy-Jill Levine
Brooks Science Center Auditorium
Thursday, March 26

Lecture: 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.
Jesus’ Parables as Jewish Stories
Jesus told parables to fellow Jews: recovering that original setting corrects their frequent anti-Jewish interpretations, provides a grounding for better Jewish/Christian relations, and offers new insight into both ancient and present-day ethics.

Workshop: 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Understanding Jesus means Understanding Judaism
(A Workshop designed for Clergy, Religious Educators, and interested persons)
This workshop details the popular misconceptions about Jesus’ Jewish context found in sermons and church-based educational curricula, explains their origins, and offers new and helpful ways to read the New Testament.

Amy-Jill Levine is a University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt (Divinity and A&S); she is also Affiliated Professor, Woolf Institute: Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge. Holding a  B.A. from Smith College, and the M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, she has honorary doctorates from the University of Richmond, the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, the University of South Carolina-Upstate, Drury University, Christian Theological Seminary, and Franklin College. A self-described Yankee Jewish feminist, Professor Levine is a member of Congregation Sherith Israel, an Orthodox Synagogue in Nashville, although she is often quite unorthodox.