FAIRFIELD – Although Jews and Christians share common books – the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament – they read their shared stories in different ways, according to author Amy-Jill Levine, Ph.D.

On Thursday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m., Levine will discuss these religious differences when she delivers Fairfield University’s Eighth Annual Lecture in Jewish-Christian Engagement. The event – free and open to the public – will take place in the Dolan School of Business Dining Room. It is co-sponsored by Fairfield University’s Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies and the Center for Catholic Studies.

In her lecture, “Agreeing to Disagree: How Jews and Christians Read Scripture,” Levine, professor of New Testament studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and College of Arts and Sciences, will explore what prompts these differences, and what they suggest about Jewish and Christian identities. Among the items to be discussed: messianic expectations and the ‘virgin birth;’ the Garden of Eden (‘original sin’ or ‘human nature’); varying views of the land of Israel (a point that leads to different views of Israel/Palestine today); the depiction of sexuality; and the role of Law.

Levine’s books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus and the 14-volume edited series, Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings. With Marc Brettler of Brandeis University, she edited the Jewish Annotated New Testament.

A Jew, she became fascinated with Catholicism early on in her life. “I found it inspiring and a tad mysterious,” she told Moment Magazine. “I was very attracted to some of the rituals. I always knew they weren’t mine, but I thought they were beautiful anyway.”

Seating is limited. For reservations, call (203) 254-4000, ext. 2066.