Abstract: “The New Testament is not antisemitic. In part, this is a truism because this term comes out of nineteenth-century ‘race science’ and so is not a category that ancient Christ followers would have understood—nor does it make particularly good sense regarding the ways ancient ethnicities were constructed and negotiated. But it is also not antisemitic in another sense: Christianity is a product of Judaism, and therefore, inherits and reworks its theology and worldview for its specific ends. Modern people are used to seeing Judaism and Christianity as discrete religions, but these boundaries were not always so clear in the ancient world. Our presentation today will take a wide angle on the question of antisemitism—or as we prefer for reasons that will become clear, Judeophobia—and the New Testament, looking first at myths that must be dispelled about the origins of Christianity before one can hope to read the New Testament in an ethically responsible way. We also explore case studies such as the historical Jesus, the Pharisees, and the apostle Paul to demonstrate how these anti-Jewish myths have long informed the history of interpretation. As we then illustrate with a range of examples, how unreflective Judeophobic stereotypes still unfortunately manifest in contemporary popular culture and political debates (among other places!). Since these stereotypes often have their roots in (mis)readings of the New Testament, it is important for New Testament scholars to expose and discuss the interpretative practices that sustain them.”

Sarah E. Rollens is the R.A. Webb associate professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Her research focuses on the social identities, histories, and experiences of early Christ followers in the first century. She is the author of Framing Social Criticism in the Jesus Movement: The Ideological Project in the Sayings Gospel Q (Mohr Siebeck 2014) and co-editor of Worth More Than Many Sparrows: Essays in Honor of Willi Braun (Equinox 2023). She also serves as executive editor of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus.

Eric Vanden Eykel is associate professor of religious studies at Ferrum College in Virginia. His research focuses on Christian apocryphal literature, with a special emphasis on texts and traditions about the infancies and childhoods of Jesus and Mary. He is the author of “But Their Faces Were All Looking Up”: Author and Reader in the Protevangelium of James (T&T Clark 2016), coeditor of Sex, Violence, and Early Christian Texts (Lexington 2022), and author of The Magi: Who They Were, How They've Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate (Fortress 2022)."

This event is generously supported by the Chaiken Dean's Fund for Antisemitism Education. It is co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies program, the Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Religious Studies.