“Reading Scripture with Christians and Jews: Confluence and Conflict”An Evening in Honor of Darrell Jodock

Jews and Christians have been interpreting some of the same scriptural texts for the last two thousand years. How has the interpretation of scripture played a crucial role in their ongoing relationships and conflicts throughout the centuries? How have they influenced each other along the way? How should Christians and Jews interpret scripture in light of each other today?

Esther Menn of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago will address this topic, followed by brief responses from Rabbi Barry Cytron of Macalester College and David Tiede, president Emeritus of Luther Seminary. This event is dedicated in honor to Darrell Jodock in honor of his retirement as the Bernhardson Chair of Lutheran Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Participants

Esther Menn is the Marilyn and Ralph Klein Chair of Old Testament Studies and Director of Advanced Studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago. She is active in Jewish-Christian relations, as a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations and of the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations. Her books include Contesting Texts: Jews and Christians in Conversation about the Bible (2007).

Rabbi Barry Cytron is director of the Jay Phillips Center, a venture devoted to fostering sustained interfaith education, based at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. He currently serves as Director of Spiritual Life and Visiting Professor at Macalester College. Cytron has written two texts exploring Jewish ethical teachings, including When Life is in the Balance: Life and Death Decisions in Light of the Jewish Tradition (1986). He was a regular contributor to the Minneapolis Star Tribune for many years, and remains active in national interfaith activities and publications.

David L. Tiede is president emeritus and professor New Testament at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he served for over thirty years. His most recent of ten books include Jesus and the Heritage of Israel (2000). Tiede’s work as a scholar has focused most frequently on the writings of Luke and Acts, their interpretation of sacred history, and their presentation of the relationships and conflicts between Israel and the church.

Darrell Jodock is the retiring Bernhardson Chair of Lutheran Studies in the Religion Department at Gustavus Adolphus College, having joined the faculty in 1999. Jodock’s areas of research include Lutheran Studies, Christian-Jewish Relations, History of Christian Thought, and Nineteenth Century Theology. He is the editor of Covenantal Conversations: Christians in Dialogue with Jews and Judaism (2007).