EMW Lectures is proud to announce that the 2015 Religion for the 21^st Century lecture, sponsored by Brenau University, First Baptist Church, Grace Episcopal Church, and other local churches serving Gainesville and Northeast Georgia, will feature noted teacher, author, and speaker Professor Amy-Jill Levine. Professor Levine currently holds the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professorship of New Testament Studies and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University and is a member of Cambridge University's Woolf Institute: Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations. This year's lectures are entitled Sibling Rivalry: Biblical Stories, Modern Interpretations.

Professor Levine has authored, coauthored, and edited numerous critically acclaimed books and articles addressing Christian and Jewish religious issues and the relationships between them. Among those relational works one finds The Misunderstood Jew – The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus; The Historical Jesus in Context; The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us; and the Jewish Annotated New Testament. Professor Levine’s most recent work, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi scheduled for release on September 9, 2014, will be the focus of Amy-Jill’s lectures offered at Brenau University on February 13^th and 14^th, 2015.

This year's event will include a presenter's reception on Friday evening after Session I, an included lunch on Saturday, and three presentations by the Professor Levine.

•  Session I - Cain and Abel: How Jews and Christians Understand the First Murder (Friday evening at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm)),
• Session II - Jacob and Esau - Rachel and Leah (Saturday morning at 10:00 am (doors open at 9:00 am)), and 
• Session III - The Prodigal and the Prudent (Saturday afternoon at 1:15 pm).

Each of the lectures will address topics related to or discussed in her latest book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi and each session will be followed by a structured Q and A. Copies of Amy-Jill's books willl be available for purchase Friday evening between 6:00 and 7:00 pm, Saturday morning between 9:00 and 10:00 am and during the lunch break.

In addition, a luncheon for event ticket holders will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville on Sunday, February 15, at 12:30 during which Prof. Levine will engage in a further Question and Answer session with attendees.  That luncheon, open only to event ticket holders, will cost an additional $10.00 .  

 Tickets to the luncheon are available from the sponsoring churches or by contacting Grace Episcopal Church at 770-536-0126 ext. 225 to leave a message or speaking to Isabel Smiley Lewis, or by sending an email to ismileylewis@gracechurchgainesville.org.  Please put “A-J Levine Lunch” in the Subject line of the email.  Reservations for the lunch must be made not later than February 11.  Payment may be made by mail or in person by check payable to Grace Episcopal Church with “A-J Levine Lunch” in the memo line.  Payment can also be made in cash or check at the lectures.