The Bible with and Without Jesus

How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

By: Amy-Jill Levine, Marc Zvi Brettler

Narrated by: Marni Penning

Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

The editors of The Jewish Annotated New Testament show how and why Jews and Christians study many of the same Biblical texts - including passages from the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Psalms - differently. Exploring and explaining these diverse perspectives, they reveal more clearly Scripture’s beauty and power.  

Esteemed Bible scholars and teachers Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler take listeners on a guided tour of the most popular Hebrew Bible passages quoted in the New Testament to show what the texts meant in their original contexts and then how Jews and Christians, over time, understood those same texts. Passages include the creation of the world, the role of Adam and Eve, the Suffering Servant of Isiah, the book of Jonah, and Psalm 22, whose words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”, Jesus quotes as he dies on the cross. 

Comparing various interpretations - historical, literary, and theological - of each ancient text, Levine and Brettler offer deeper understandings of the original narratives and their many afterlives. They show how the text speaks to different generations under changed circumstances and so illuminate the Bible’s ongoing significance. By understanding the depth and variety by which these passages have been, and can be, understood, The Bible With and Without Jesus does more than enhance our religious understandings, it helps us to see the Bible as a source of inspiration for any and all listeners.  

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.  

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Amy-Jill Levine (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Scholarly

The narrator was good and pronounced foreign words relatively well.

I enjoyed this, it was dense and scholarly. The authors explained how Jews and Christians have interpreted various texts throughout history. It was academic, not overly polemical. At times it strayed into "everyone should respect everyone else's beliefs" which is nice, but then they would list a few unacceptable beliefs and didact the reader into only accepting interpretations that are good and ethical etc. Good discussion for higher criticism, but I don't think inerrantists would appreciate the idea that NT writers sometimes got things 'wrong', or made things up, or misinterpreted texts. The authors were more concerned with what the biblical authors were trying to say or how communities interpreted what they said, rather than what the original historical objective Truth might be, thus this isn't an attempt at history, but how people interacted with texts.

Of special enjoyment were the sections on the Suffering Servant, the virgin conceiving, Psalm 22, the son of man, and Jonah. Basically the second half of the book.

Fantastic book.

The narrator is very easy to listen to. The authors do a fantastic job of presenting both sides of the issue in the best possible light while remaining true to the text and the context. Great read.

Bad audio

I love Amy but the reader has such an audible bias that I couldn’t give the book the time - maybe I could read the book on my own but this audio seemed off putting for me - I was at first determined to get beyond the cadence of the voice but that’s way too many hours to have that pounding on me -so I returned the book. Sad cause I have the utmost respect for Amy’s work

Good but a bit one sided at times.

Excelent book, although Levine's personality is the one that comes across the most.
Nevertheless, the listener will be enrich by this book.

Too much details

Very confusing references for who are not familiar with bible markings
Story is heavy peppered with citations from sources, although necessary to support the narrative are just too much

An utterly brilliant and useful book.

This is an utterly brilliant and useful book. I led a Lent course two years ago seeking to clarify some of the issues the authors deal with here and had this text been available to me I should have done a far better job. As it is I have recommended it in an article on Irenaeus, although the one on Justin Martyr will need to be amended after completing this excellent book which should be required reading for all trainee ministers of whichever Christian church.

Fantastic

A truly Fantastic audiobook that takes a nuance approach to Christianity and Judaism. If you want to understand why followers of Christianity and Judaism think differently about Jesus then this is a must listen.