This book is all about how the New Testament and church has anti-Jewish undertones...and how this makes absolutely no sense given that Jesus himself was a Jew. Levine is very academic--being a professor of divinity herself at a prestigious university--and cites various sources for all her claims. Whether readers are misinterpreting biblical verses that are blatantly anti-Semitic or if those lines were posthumously edited into the text is a question for the ages. Nonetheless, Levine urges readers readers of all faiths to understand the Jewish Jesus and to stop blaming the Jews for Jesus' death. Jews today are not responsible for Jesus' death, just like Christians today are not responsible for the Crusades. Levine goes so far as to say that Jesus died a Jewish zealot that the Roman Empire tried for Treason--hence the title of King of the Jews above his cross. While Jewish, Levine does not seek to show Christianity "bad" and Judaism "good"; she admits there are hateful and sexist verses in both the Old and New Testaments. Rather, Levine aims to encourage readers to THINK for themselves instead of blindly perpetuating stereotypes handed down to them from their preachers, church fathers, or--worse yet--New Testament scriptures that are blindly accepted as the Word of God without even so much as a hint of scholarly scrutiny.
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