Guest Faculty

Professor Daniel Boyarin began his education at Goddard College and earned Masters of Hebrew Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary. His Education continued with a Masters of Semitic Languages at Columbia University where he did his thesis on The Babylonian Aramaic Verb According to Codex Hamburg. He was awarded a Doctorate Degree in 1975 from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America upon completion of his dissertation on A Critical Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Nazir. Today Dr. Boyarin is the Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture in the departments of Near Eastern studies and rhetoric.

Dr. Boyarin has written 12 books, ranging from rabbinic ideas about sexuality to the relationship between psychoanalysis and Judaism. He currently has several books in the works and under contract with various publishers. His academic interests are broad but lately he focuses on Judaism and early Christianity. He is writing books about the apostle Paul and the Jewish aspects of Jesus. He resides in the United States but also has an Israeli citizenship.

Amy-Jill Levine earned her B.A. with high honors in English and Religion at Smith College. She went on to earn her M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion from Duke University. Dr. Amy-Jill Levine is a Professor of New Testament Studies and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Levine has authored numerous books, articles, and essays addressing Second-Temple Judaism, Christian origins, Jewish-Christian relations, and biblical women. She has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Quarterly and has held office in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies.

Professor Israel Knohl received his Ph.D. from Hebrew University in 1989 and became a professor in 2013. He served as a visiting Professor at Berkeley, Stanford and Chicago Divinity School. Today he is a Yehezkel Kaufmann Professor of Bible Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Senior Fellow at Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

Dr. Knohl is known for his theory that Jewish culture contained a myth about a messiah who rose from the dead in the days of Jesus from Nazareth. Those theories are expounded in the book, The Messiah Before Jesus: The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls (University of California Press, 2000). In 2007, Knohl was noted for his research on the Gabriel’s Revelation, an ancient document which appears to give details on early messianic beliefs about a death and resurrection of a messianic leader after three days.

His academic interest includes Biblical Theology, Five Books of Moses and the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was born in Jerusalem where he still currently lives.

Professor Mark Nanos was born in USA and earned his Ph.D. at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2000. He served as a scholar and lecturer at the University of Kansas since 2005 and as a Soebbing Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Rockhurst University in Kansas City. In the past he also worked as an Adjunct Professor at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City and a Visiting Professor at Westhill College at the University of Birmingham.

Dr. Nanos is a member os the National Selection Committee for Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar Award, Co-Chair Co-chair for the Paul Within Judaism Section (2015-) a member os Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS). He is a member of editorial board of the Journal for the Study of Paul and his Letters (JSPL), The Paul Page, Council for Jewish-Christian Relations of the Protestant Church in The Netherlands.

His main academic interest is (Re)interpretation of Paul’s letters. He currently resides in the USA.

Professor Steve Mason received his Ph.D. in Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins at the Toronto University of St. Michael’s College. Steve Mason was distinguished as Canada Research Chair in Greco-Roman Cultural Interaction (2003-2011), Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis (2013) and Dirk Smilde Fellow — Qumran Institute University of Groningen (2014). Today he serves as a professor of Ancient Mediterranean Religions and Cultures at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the Groningen University in Netherlands.

Dr. Mason is a leading scholar in the history and literature of the eastern Mediterranean under Roman rule, especially Roman Judaea, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, and Christian-Jewish-Roman relations. His research interests include ancient history, Judean history and literaturę of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, writings of Flavius Josephus, the material culture of southern Syria under Rome and origins of Christianity. He currently resides in Netherlands.

Rabbi Kinzer received his Ph.D in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan (1995), and his rabbinical ordination from the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (2001). He is the author of many books about Jewish Messianic tradition and history. Today Rabbi Mark Kinzer is Senior Scholar and President Emeritus of Messianic Jewish Theological Institute, a graduate school preparing leaders for service in the Messianic Jewish movement.

Dr. Kinzer was one of the founding rabbis of the Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council (MJRC), and as the first Chair of the MJRC Faith and Halakhic Standards Committee edited the original version of the MJRC Standards of Observance. Rabbi Kinzer lives with his wife, Roslyn, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he also serves as spiritual leader of Zera Avraham, a Messianic Jewish synagogue.

Rabbi David Rudoplh earned a BA in Theology and Master of Theological Studies at Messiah Biblical Institute (Messiah Yeshiva). Between 2002-2007 he studied under Professor Markus Bockmuehl at Cambridge University (England) where he earned a Ph.D. in New Testament with a specialization in Second Temple Judaism. He served on the faculty at Messianic Jewish Theological Institute (MJTI) in Los Angeles and worked as Scholar-in-Residence at the MJTI Center for Jewish-Christian Relations. Today Rabbi David Rudoplh is a scholar and Director of Messianic Jewish Studies at the Kings University.

Dr. Rudoplh has published numerous books and articles on the New Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and Jewish-Christian relations. He is currently working with Dr. Joel Willitts and Dr. Justin Hardin on a book entitled The Jewish New Testament: An Introduction to its Jewish Social & Conceptual Context (forthcoming by Eerdmans).

Rabbi Rudoplh, his wife Harumi and three daughters: Hana, Elisa and Miryam currently reside in the USA.

Professor Brad Young earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Judaism and Early Christianity at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. His dissertation, written under the supervision of Professor David Flusser, was published by Paulist Press as Jesus and His Jewish Parables: Rediscovering the Roots of Jesus’ Teaching. Today Brad Young is a Profesor of Biblical Literature in Judeo-Christian Studies at the Graduate Department of Oral Roberts University. He also is the founder and president of the Gospel Research Foundation in Tulsa, Oklahoma and a founding member of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research.

Dr. Young’s writings seek to illuminate the New Testament with the help of rabbinic sources. His contribution is in seeking to clarify the enigmas found in the parables of Jesus, by drawing on the parallels of similar traditions in the literature of nascent Judaism, especially in rabbinic literature. Brad Young is an active contributor to the interfaith dialogue by means of a collaborative Jewish-Christian inquiry in both groups’ shared heritage. This is evident from Young’s publications, Jewish and Christian endorsements of his publications, and his role as editor on the board of the Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum. He currently lives and works in the USA.