Christ Church Pomfret is excited to announce that renowned scholar and speaker
Amy-Jill Levine will give a talk on her book Witness at the Cross: A Beginner’s Guide to Holy
Friday on Saturday, March 8, at 1 p.m. in the church’s Great Hall.
Levine is the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish
Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, as well as University
Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of
Jewish Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt. Her numerous publications include Short Stories by Jesus:
The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, The Jewish Annotated New Testament,
and The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus.
In Witness at the Cross, Levine shares the story of Jesus’s death from the perspective of those
who were there and encourages the reader to consider the different roles of each in Jesus’s life.
The first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute, Levine is the
recipient of numerous honors, including the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and
Interfaith Cooperation from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bridge Award from the UK
Council of Christians and Jews, and the Seelisberg Prize for Contributions to Jewish-Christian
Relations. She is an elected member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and
the Academia Europaea.
Her talks are noted for combining historical and literary insight with humor. She is committed to
eliminating antisemitic, sexist, and homophobic theologies, values shared by the Christ Church
community. A small selection of her books will be for sale after the talk.
Christ Church is excited to partner with Hartford International and host the event in the church’s
Great Hall located at 527 Pomfret Street (Route 169) in Pomfret. Doors will open at 12:30 p.m.
The event is free and open to all.