"Antisemitism in Christian Theology" with Amy-Jill Levine--Called to be Bad Podcast S3 EP19

“I would like to see Christians and Jews having a conversation about how we can stop hurting one another…” 

Today’s topic is on Anti-Semitic (Anti-Jewish) sentiment or theology in Christianity. We discuss how defining antisemitism is difficult, how understanding Jesus’s Jewish context is imperative to understanding Jesus, we touch on Jesus’ relationships with women and how the “feminist Jesus” came about, and finally we hear AJ’s vision for how Jews and Christians can relate to one another. 

I have been sitting on this episode since July of 2023 (nearly two years). Part of why I haven’t released it sooner was because the timing didn’t feel right with the ongoing genocide in Gaza. I didn’t want to give the impression that by doing an episode on antisemitism that I was pro-the state of Israel’s actions of apartheid and genocide against Palestinians. Then I came to the realization that not releasing this episode holds up a false dichotomy that you can’t at one time, be against Palestinian suffering and Jewish suffering. Ironically there is a lot of Zionist rhetoric in fundamentalist Christianity that operates alongside anti semitic theology. And, as Christians (not just fundamentalist Christians) it is important to take a look at how the way we talk about Jesus is implicitly or explicitly anti-Jewish. AJ talks about simply naming Jesus and his actions as radical can be problematic. 

If you are looking for a Palestinian voice on the podcast, in season four you will get to hear a profound conversation I had with Issa Amro, a 2025 Nobel peace prize nominee who is a Palestinian Muslim working for nonviolent action and protest against the Israeli military and settlers. 

Bio: 
Dr. Amy-Jill Levine is the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace.
(Read Full Bio here: https://www.hartfordinternational.edu/faculty/amy-jill-levine

Resources: 

AJ’s email: alevine@hartfordinternational.edu