The Misunderstood Jew The Church And The Scandal Of The...

Levine’s book titled The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus proves to be a highly informative resource when trying to understand the intricate relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Levine’s primary objective seems to be a desire to address the idea that there is a vast, irreconcilable disparity between the beliefs and practices of Christians and Jews. Levine’s central argument focuses upon a common misperception of this dissimilarity: it is the result of Jesus being in direct opposition to Judaism. Furthermore, she contends that only a decided openness and interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Judaism can truly provide the most complete and compelling portrait of Jesus’s life and work. To me, the most edifying facet of Levine’s argument was her call to anchor Jesus within the historical and cultural context in which he was teaching in order to best understand his work and his message. Levine not only pr ovides support for this idea throughout The Misunderstood Jew, but near the end of the novel also offers up ways in which both Christians and Jews can reconcile these two ostensibly conflicting perceptions of Jesus. Therefore, in this essay, I will analyze Levine’s arguments regarding the importance of historical/cultural context in Chapter One and Chapter Four while synthesizing it with her solutions presented in Chapter Seven. Primarily within Chapter One, Levine focuses on elucidating a more honest interpretation of Jesus’sShow MoreRelatedA Christian Approach to Homosexuality7265 Words   |  30 PagesHomosexuality 2a. Stories of Sodom and Gibeah 2b. Levitical Texts 3. New Testament on Homosexuality 3a. Paul’s Statements in Romans 3b. Other Pauline Texts II. BIOLOGY AND HOMOSEXUALITY III. LAW AND HOMOSEXUALITY IV. CHURCH AND THE HOMOSEXUAL CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY 2 INTRODUCTION On 2nd July 2009, in a landmark judgement, the Delhi High Court struck