You Tube Theology

What happens when a Jewish New Testament scholar and a Christian host sit down to talk about the Bible they share — and the ways they read it so differently? In this episode of The UpWords Podcast, host Jean Geran sits down with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, one of the most respected voices in Jewish-Christian dialogue, for a frank, funny, and genuinely illuminating conversation.

AJ joins us fresh from our Questions of Faith event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and a scholar-in-residence stint at First United Methodist Church in Madison. What unfolds is a masterclass in understanding our shared roots — and our honest differences.

In This Episode
· AJ's origin story: Growing up Jewish in a Catholic neighborhood and asking why the traditions said such different things about each other
· The Torah has "70 faces" — what Jewish interpretive tradition looks like vs. early Christian biblical reading
· Salvation, resurrection, and the Noahide commandments: how Jewish theology approaches what Christians call soteriology
· Why Jesus used parables — and why open endings aren't accidents
· Individual vs. communal faith: what the "Our Father" prayer reveals about both traditions
· Baseball (synagogue) vs. football (church): memory, the end times, and where each tradition points
· Tzaddik: righteousness as right relationship — and the call to bless the city
· Interfaith dialogue: can shared stories heal division? AJ's honest, unsentimental answer
· Tevye, lament Psalms, and the theology of arguing with God

ABOUT OUR GUEST
Dr. Amy-Jill Levine (AJ) is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. A practicing Jewish scholar of early Christianity, she is one of the foremost interpreters of the New Testament for both academic and general audiences. She is the author of Short Stories by Jesus and The Misunderstood Jew, among many other works.

⏰ CHAPTERS
00:00 — Introduction & AJ's background
01:33 — Growing up Jewish in a Catholic neighborhood
05:57 — Why a Jewish scholar studies the New Testament
08:00 — How Jews and Christians read Scripture differently
13:56 — Hearing vs. reading the Bible: the scroll, the chant, the vernacular
17:32 — Salvation: how do Jews think about it?
22:01 — Torah-observance: works or love?
25:04 — Why Jesus used parables
29:03 — Communal vs. individual faith
34:30 — Memory and future: baseball vs. football
39:34 — End times: how Jews think about eschatology
41:48 — Tzaddik and the call to bless the city
46:14 — Jewish-Christian dialogue: can shared stories help?
48:02 — Interpersonal connection as the best hope
52:21 — Lament, Tevye, and staying in a relationship with God
55:24 — Closing