The Misunderstood Jew

Publisher's Weekly reviews Amy-Jill Levine's The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, ISBN 978-0-06-078966-4.

"Levine presents a strong and convincing case for understanding Jesus as 'a Jew speaking to Jews', and for viewing Christianity as a Jewish movement that ultimately swept the world in in its influence and authority. But with this expansion came an insidious anti-Jewish sentiment... Levine does a masterful job of describing the subtleties of anti-Semitism, across the years and across the religious spectrum, from the conservative evangelical mission to convert the Jews to the liberation theologians who picture Jews as adherents to an older, less merciful religion... This is an outstanding addition to the literature of interfaith dialogue." (issue 10/30/06, p 54)

I wonder if Levine addresses whether or not Jesus' Jewishness really, or ultimately, matters -- as per Bill Arnal's suggestion that it does not in The Symbolic Jesus. This should be a good read in any case.