The new president of the Catholic Biblical Association is a Jew. And that’s a problem for some folks, despite the fact Amy-Jill Levine is perhaps the best-known Jewish advocate for interpreting the New Testament in its original context.
Levine, professor of New Testament and Jewish studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace in Hartford, Conn., said she was as surprised as anyone when the nominating committee approached her about the role.
“When the chair of the nominating committee informed me of this last year, I actually wrote to another member of the committee and said, ‘Is this a joke?’ because I was stunned,” Levine told the National Catholic Reporter, adding that she is “honored and grateful” to be chosen for this role.
The association, created in 1936, the association includes Catholic, non-Catholic and Jewish scholars. Levine was elected to the one-year term in July at the group’s annual meeting. She is the first Jewish scholar to hold the role, and that has raised eyebrows among some of the Christian faithful.
Most of the critique has played out on social media — often with antisemitic overtones.
The criticism is so significant that Westminster John Knox Press, which publishes Levine’s work, issued a public statement praising her election.
“We are deeply grieved by the vitriol directed at Dr. Amy-Jill Levine in response to her election as president of the Catholic Biblical Association,” wrote Bridgett Green, president and publisher. “We consider her a friend of the Press and are proud to publish her work. She is a rigorous New Testament scholar committed to helping students, researchers, leaders and families interpret the biblical text.
“Those who launch such attacks do not know her, her scholarship, her teaching or her incredible impact in advancing not only biblical scholarship but also faithful living among Christians and Jews alike.”
Levine is widely read and respected among Christian scholars. She is noted for her meticulous attention to explaining the Jewish heritage of the stories told in the New Testament.
She is the author of 20 books, including titles such as Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi and The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently and Jesus for Everyone: Not Just Christians.
Levine is a New Testament scholar who earned her Ph.D. from Duke University. She has served on the editorial board of the association’s quarterly journal and as a consulter to its executive committee and as an editor of the journal’s New Testament book reviews.
She was the first Jewish scholar to teach New Testament at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome in 2019, and she had three audiences with Pope Francis.