Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at the Hartford International University for Religion & Peace, is the 2023 recipient of the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby. 

The award was presented at Lambeth Palace in London on June 22, along with a number of other awards given by the Archbishop of Canterbury, although Levine could not be there in person because she is teaching for HIU in June. The Hubert Walter Award was first awarded by Archbishop Justin Welby in March 2016. It is named after Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1193 to 1205, “who had dialogue with non-Christians at a time of inter-faith conflict. Its design incorporates a scarab beetle, a motif favored by Archbishop Walter, which some scholars believe may have denoted the resurrection.”

The award recognizes those who have made an outstanding contribution in the areas of reconciliation and interfaith cooperation. Levine is being recognized “for developing awareness about Jesus’ Jewish identity and the Jewish contexts of the New Testament, and for unflagging education efforts in church and popular settings.”

According to a press release issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Levine — known as AJ — is “a remarkable Jewish scholar of the New Testament” whose many books highlight the Jewish context of the New Testament and “bring fresh and challenging insights that undermine common anti-Jewish tropes in Christian exegesis.”

It goes on to say: “AJ’s work has been referenced in major reflections on Christian-Jewish relations, including the Church of England’s own 2019 God’s Unfailing Word. In 2020 she led an online teaching session for Church of England bishops. Her open, generous and witty teaching style have gained her a hearing and influence across Christian traditions. Many working on Christian-Jewish relations owe her a great debt in giving biblical and historical reasons for preaching and teaching that avoid contempt of our Jewish neighbors. She has contributed to training courses and reflections for churches throughout the world, including the World Council of Churches.

“AJ is a popular speaker and educator and author of dozens of books and articles on the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and Jewish-Christian relations, including most recently, The Bible With And Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently (HarperCollins, 2020, with Marc Zvi Brettler) and The Pharisees (Eerdmans, 2021), co-edited with Joseph Sievers. Her study Bible, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, also with Marc Zvi Brettler, is a landmark of scholarship, consulted widely by Christian preachers around the world. In 2019 she was the first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute and in 2021 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has given over 500 lectures around the globe on the Bible, Christian-Jewish relations, and Religion, Gender, and Sexuality. Her contributions to Jewish-Christian understanding have been outstanding.”

PHOTO: Rabbi Amy-Jill Levine