"Jews, Romans and the Death of Jesus" is the topic of a lecture Paula Fredriksen will present for The Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University. Fredriksen, the William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of Scripture at Boston University, will deliver the talk on Tuesday, March 22, at 7:30 pm. in the Oak Room of Fairfield University's Barone Campus Center.

Along with teaching at Boston University, Fredriksen has taught at Princeton University, Stanford University, and the University of Pittsburgh and in 1994-1995 was Lade Davis Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She has published a great deal on the social and intellectual history of Mediterranean Judaism and ancient Christianity from the late Second Temple period to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West.

In addition to her text and translation of Augustine's early Pauline commentaries, her books include "From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Jesus" (Yale 1988; second edition 2000) and "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity" (Knopf 1999) for which she won the 1999 National Jewish Book Award in Jewish-Christian Relations.

Fredriksen's book "Jesus of Nazareth" is "an excellent, if challenging, introduction to the historical Jesus and the historical criticism of the gospels," noted Kristen Landbeck, a writer for First Things, A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life. "Amid the ever growing number of works on the Jesus of history, there are few if any that combine rich scholarship and graceful style as successfully as this study by Paula Fredriksen, Aurelio Professor of History at Boston University," Landbeck said. "It will interest general readers as well as scholars."

Fredericksen, along with Adele Reinhartz, has edited and contributed to "Jesus, Judaism, and Christian Anti-Judaism: Reading the New Testament After the Holocaust" (Westminster/John Knox 2002). Her most recent study, "Augustine and the Jews," is forthcoming from Doubleday.

"We are very excited to have a scholar such as Paula Fredriksen lecturing at our University," said Ellen Umansky, the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies, and Director of the Judaic Studies Program. "Fredriksen has tackled a number of divisive issues, and it will be a very interesting and special evening hearing her insights on such a dramatic topic."

The lecture is open to the public, but space is limited and reservations are requested. For information and to register, please contact Judaic Studies at Fairfield University at (203) 254-4000, ext 2066.

Posted On: 02-15-2005 10:02 AM

Volume: 37 Number: 156