When: Thursday, November 5, 2015 at 12 noon

Where: Nevil Room, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

This closing lecture by Dr. Jon D. Levenson, the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at the Harvard Divinity School, is the grand finale to the Sacred Writings Exhibition at the Penn Museum. This event is in partnership with the Museum, which, among other precious artifacts, will be showcasing its papyrus fragment of Matthew 1, one of the world’s oldest extant gospel fragments. Lunch will be served.

Featuring:

Dr. Jon D. Levenson, Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School. Professor Levenson’s work concentrates on the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, including its reinterpretations in the “rewritten Bible” of Second Temple Judaism and rabbinic midrash. He has a strong interest in the philosophical and theological issues involved in biblical studies, especially the relationship of premodern modes of interpretation to modern historical criticism. Much of his work centers on the relationship of Judaism and Christianity, both in antiquity and in modernity, and he has long been active in Jewish-Christian dialogue. Professor Levenson has published several books, the newest being The Love of God: Divine Gift, Human Gratitude, and Mutual Faithfulness in Judaism (Princeton University Press, 2015). In all his work, emphasis falls on the close reading of texts for purposes of literary and theological understanding.