By 
The first Jewish president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) — Old and New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine — intends to strengthen resources for educators and to build partnerships with parishes for guidelines about Scripture, she told EWTN News.
Levine was elected by a vote of CBA members at the organization’s annual general meeting in August for a one-year term. She has been a CBA member since 1988. She had served as the vice president in the previous term and earlier served as a consultor for the executive board and held editorial positions for CBA’s scholarly journal, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly.
Although the association is open to scholars of any religious faith, the president is typically a Catholic. Levine told EWTN News she was stunned to be elected to the role but expressed gratitude for the position.
“When I received notice from the chair of the nominating committee, I emailed another member to ask if this were a joke,” she said. “I was more than surprised, I was stunned. I was also, and remain, honored and grateful.”
Levine has served on several CBA task forces and continuing seminars, participated on panels, and presided over sessions. Much of her scholarly work has focused on the Gospels. She is also the first Jewish person to teach a New Testament course at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.
“My primary role is to contribute to the work of the association: to work with my colleagues to make good work even better through discussion,” she said.
CBA’s constitution states that its work conforms to the teachings of the magisterium. Although the group is not operated by the Catholic Church, it offers consultation to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), including on translations of the Bible and faith formation and catechesis.
As its president, Levine said she wants to see certain suggestions in CBA’s strategic plan implemented, such as “strengthening international participation and expanding bilingual and global programming, producing resources for clergy and religious educators, and supporting professional development for biblical scholars.”
She said a particular interest of hers is partnering with local churches to offer public programs and working with the bishops “on providing up-to-date biblical guidelines for lectionary preaching and catechesis.”
Views on Scripture
Although Levine is not Catholic, she told EWTN News: “I am not interested in challenging doctrine.”
“I am interested in readings that promote abundant life, that are well grounded in history, and that also speak to communities today,” she said.
Levine does not believe “everything attributed to Jesus in the New Testament comes directly from Jesus,” she said. She noted that Christ spoke in Aramaic and the original New Testament text is Greek. She said “this view is entirely compatible with Catholic teaching.”
“However, I also believe that the proclamation of the Church is based on the words as received and not on an anterior scholarly reconstruction,” she said.
Dei Verbum, the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, teaches that everything in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, which means “the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings.”
Levine has also written on abortion and sexuality. She co-authored an article published in the Huffington Post in 2011 in which she discussed gender roles, no-fault divorce, same-sex civil marriages, birth control, abortion, and “private sexual expression.”
In the article, she stated: “People who read the Bible often find themselves on the opposite sides of many of these issues,” but “this does not mean that they are necessarily reading their texts incorrectly.” It asserted: “The Bible is open to multiple interpretations: we need to determine what is metaphor and what is to be taken literally, what is case specific and what is timeless, what is a matter of personal choice and what should be legislated.”
Levine told EWTN News: “Biblical texts on abortion are few” and there are “different views in Jewish and Catholic interpretation.” She said “people on various sides of this debate have used Scripture, and some uses are better grounded in history, language study, manuscript tradition, etc. than others.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.” It calls abortion and infanticide “abominable crimes.”
Levine also told EWTN News: “In matters of gender and sexuality, we need to consider not only what the Bible says, but also what the continuing teachings of religious traditions say as well as what science and even personal experience teaches.”
On matters related to gender identity, Levine similarly said: “There are better and less good readings, and these can be found in both opposition and promotion arguments.” She said: “In interpreting Scripture, we need to consider not only the historical context; we also need to consider what science, sociology, philosophy, etc. can teach us.”
The catechism’s teaching on same-sex sexual acts reads: “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’”
It also teaches that God created people either male or female, and “everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity.”
Levine said: “My major concern is that Scripture not be weaponized to make people feel that they are not loved and that they are not recognized as in the divine image.”
Catholic-Jewish relations
Though she was raised and remains an Orthodox Jew, Levine grew up in a neighborhood that was mostly Portuguese and Catholic. She said she developed an interest in the Catholic Church at a young age but also faced antisemitism, which motivated her to work toward better Catholic and Jewish relations.
“My parents explained to me that we Jews and our Catholic neighbors read the same books, like Genesis and Isaiah; said the same prayers, such as the Psalms; etc.,” Levine said.
“Then when I was 7, a girl said to me, ‘You killed our Lord,’ I could not fathom how a tradition that seemed so beautiful could say something so hateful,” she said. “I started asking questions then, and I continue to work to ensure that a Gospel of love not become a weapon of hate. At the same time, working in New Testament studies helps me recover part of Jewish history that the Synagogue did not preserve.”
She’s authored several books related to Christian and Jewish relations, including “The Bible With and Without Jesus,” which she co-authored with Bible scholar Marc Zvi Brettler. This book, she said, is meant “to show the logic of each tradition’s reception history and thus encourage mutual respect between Jews and Christians who share texts but who interpret them differently.”
Levine also co-edited “The Jewish Annotated New Testament,” which has Jewish commentary on Scriptures, and authored “Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi,” which analyzes Christ’s parables from a Jewish perspective.
“For the New Testament, my work has focused on the Gospels and in trying to understand how Jesus’ words, especially the parables, and actions, especially the healing narratives, would have been understood by his Jewish contemporaries,” Levine said. “In working with Scripture — the authoritative texts of a community — I think it essential to proceed with respect both for the texts and for those who hold those texts sacred.”
As president of the CBA, she said she also hopes to interact with the USCCB’s Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, “especially given the recent uptick in antisemitism.”
“Most of the antisemitism I have heard in church contexts comes from a combination of historical ignorance and tone-deafness,” she said. “It also often comes from making Judaism the negative foil in order to make Jesus look good. Nor should we think of Jesus as outside of rather than embedded within his Jewish tradition.”
Levine noted Christ’s “great commandment” — to love God and love your neighbor — comes from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19. She said “misunderstanding of Jewish practice and belief leads to misunderstanding of Jesus.”
She acknowledged: “I do not worship Jesus as lord or savior, since my heart is completely fulfilled in my own Jewish practice and belief” and “I have never felt the call.”
“At the same time, I find that Jesus, reflecting Jewish tradition, has important things to say about ethics, especially in the parables … and his discussion of how to extend Torah practice, from murder to anger, from adultery to lust, and in teaching his followers how to live as if they already have one foot in the kingdom of heaven,” Levine said.
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Given the Roman Catholic elite are bound at the hip to the secular academy — the source of all the pastoral decomposition we presently endure — this is not surprising. I had the pleasure to met Professor Levine decades ago and she is a very accomplished scholar and pleasant woman, but really, there isn’t a Catholic Biblical scholar available? Here we have yet another an example of gratuitous DEI that is simply embarrassing. The thirst, the yearning, of the Catholic theological academy to have professional credence from the spectrum of unbelief is astonishing. Perhaps when we stop apologizing for the perennial Magisterium we will once again be taken seriously and society will emerge from its deathwish.
Christ is not being served.
What exactly makes her an “accomplished scholar”?
How do you know she’s “pleasant” from a short meeting decades ago?
Read her work and you will determine yourself her serious scholarship. Nevertheless it is not appropriate for her to hold the position she has been given. The same could be said of any Catholic Biblical scholar who does not assent to the perennial Magisterium.
Your blind griping serves no purpose. You might want to think about that and what exactly is its origin? Anti-semitism? I hope not.
I received an email recently from someone in a leadership position who holds a very different outlook & ideology than I do, but they were courteous, pleasant, & respectful. It happens.
🙂
Nobody can extrapolate pleasantness of a person from a single interaction decades ago (in a public setting where people are “on their best behavior”).
Public figures are notorious for having polished public personas, while being decidedly different when public spotlight is turned off. One meeting is inadequate data for an inference.
Maybe she’s exceptionally saccharine and that’s how she scored this gig, or maybe whoever made and affirmed the decision are lacking in discernment.
There is certainly no Christian purpose intended by electing a non-Christian as head of the “Catholic” Biblical Association.
But who cares?
No one expects the “Catholic” establishment to actually believe in “the mythology” of the New Testament. That’s for the pew sitters.
Pass the Chardonnay…
James,
As someone who respects both your and Fork’s posts, in his defense, I do not think he is griping blindly. I think he asks sincerely. What were the words, gestures, expressions that led you to conclude what you did about the person? I’ve been reading his posts for a long time now (here and on another site). He has never impressed me as antisemitic in the slightest. He is opposed to unfair accusations and destructive unjust behavior by ecclesial reps. He writes with controlled passion and vigor, for justice. You are both on the right side of many issues, and right that this scholar is not suitable, not a ‘fitting’ (as Aquinas would say) person for this position. I am confused as to whether or why you are a bit off mark on riling Fork. Thanks for considering my view.
The question isn’t what I think or don’t think of her published works, the question IS why do YOU think she’s so accomplished. I want to know YOUR criteria.
Anybody that co-authors “The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently.” is at best something of a deconstructionist. It’s insulting to attribute the difference to anything other than recognizing Christ as God.
While this is an imperfect metaphor, would make it make any sense to write something “Physics With and Without Einstein: How Newtonians and Relativists See Physics Differently”? How can you be an accomplished scholar of something you regard as untrue? Nobody who rejects relativity would be called an accomplished scholar of physics. She’s entitled to reject the Divinity of Christ, and I’m entitled to reject her rejection.
I can explain objectively why I think she’s unsuitable. You wrote “but really, there isn’t a Catholic Biblical scholar available? Here we have yet another an example of gratuitous DEI that is simply embarrassing.” I hope this isn’t anti-whateverism.
My dear Pitchfork: why all the negative venom?
Br Jaques: it seems that your gross attribution of “negative venom” to a rather innocuous post is in itself negative venom.
Touché
My dear Br.Jaques: why all of the disingenuousness?
And no, Christ is not being served. He’s being mocked.
Touché
DEI didn’t occur to me but unorthodoxy did. We have plenty of Catholics who have similar views on gender and feticide as related in scripture.
DEI because she’s a woman? Do you think that about every woman that holds a job?
She’s a distinguished scholar and is qualified for the position, which clearly is not defined as being open only to Catholics.
Who is faulting her sex? Who noticed it except you? No one is talking about DEI except you. Get serious.
The position is in a CATHOLIC institution. Catholic Biblical theology is not Hebrew/Talmud theology. If they were equivalent, we would not distinguish the religions. It is not suitable, not ‘fit’ that a Jewish scholar hold a high level Catholic Church position. It is not ‘fitting’ that money parishioners put into the collection basket go far afield from a brother or sister in faith. If she is not for Christ, if she is not for/from/by/with/in the Eucharist, how can she be for us who are? That alone speaks against her holding such a position.
meiron: As Catholics, we view and interpret THE ENTIRE CORPUS OF SCRIPTURE through a Christological lens. How is it possible, then, for a non-Christian to inform us Catholics about Scripture when WE SEE EVERYTHING IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAY? The appointment is stupid, ill-advised and only is defensible by those in the protestant wing of the Catholic Church.
YES!
James said “We have yet another an example of gratuitous DEI that is simply embarrassing.”
Biblical scholarship is not there to advance Catholicism but to understand the Bible. A non-Catholic can make significant contributions to it. I have read and learned from many good non-Catholics experts in patristics, for example.
That reading of non-Catholic experts in patristics, for example, is likely one source of one of your problems. Now you go calm down. Learning how to read, to glean the main idea in someone writing will give you tools to offer supportive reasoned evidence for your position. That will save you from inanical blather and irrelevant insults. Note that ‘inanical’ is a neologism, derived from the Latin meaning “empty.”
Do the CATHOLIC BIBLICAL ASSOCIATION bylaws state its purpose is to advance JUDAISM? A cursory read of the Catholic Biblical Association Constitution will teach the student. The Constitution claims it shall provide Biblical interpretation on which the Magisterium can rely to formulate doctrine.
Take up and Read.
Because I can’t reply to Meiron’s reply, I’m commenting here. Your view of scholarship is bizarrely narrow. Are you suggesting that there is no point in reading Peter Brown, for example, because he’s Protestant? Or John Behr because he’s Orthodox. You don’t learn by keeping to your tight little silo.
The literalism, the argumentative walls of text, the moral pretension.
We have a gamma in our midst.
“Get serious.” How about you calm down and actually read what has been posted? A previous commenter evoked DEI, which is what I was replying to. I’ve never known Jews to be included in current DEI concerns, so I presume that the commenter was suggesting that her sex was a significant factor in her appointment.
From what I’ve observed recently institutional DEI doesn’t seem to to include Jews. Or Catholics. Just the opposite.
We can count on steveb to stand up for women.
I try to. Have I ever written anything here that didn’t? Or are you suggesting that there is something wrong in standing up for women?
Do you believe a woman is defined by a man who has transitioned?
Looks to me like you’ve been punk’d.
Read the response again.
What a “pizza” as the Roman’s like to call it. She leads Catholics at this organization but cannot even answer Our Lord’s question from today’s readings: “But who do you say that I Am?” She cannot even agree with Peter saying: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16) How tragic.
So where does all this absurdity lead? Witness the former Christian institution Harvard University with the appointment of Greg Epstein, a humanist author and atheist, as the president of its Harvard Chaplains organization.
A lot of things are a “first” and inherently ridiculous. You are appointing somebody who rejects the central tenet of your religion. Why stop here, add Muslims and Masons to the group. Does anybody in their right mind think a Catholic would be appointed to a Torah Association.
Some ideas are so stupid only intellectuals believe them.
-George Orwell.
Well intellectuals and journalism and political science majors.
Another ridiculously clapping seal piece from EWTN, where I’m beginning to think E and W stands for Ever Worsening.
You mention Muslims and Masons; and from this “scholar” we hear: “I am not interested in challenging doctrine.”
Her view of the Church seems completely sociological such that “doctrines” are little more than decorative buttons. Speaking more theologically, about the Catholic members of the CBA, who the hell are these people?
About doctrines, this from theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar:
“The responses of the Old Testament and a fortiori of Islam (which remains essentially in the enclosure of the religion of Israel) are incapable of giving a satisfactory answer to the question of ‘why’ Yahweh, why Allah, created a world of which he did not have need in order to be God. Only the fact is affirmed in the two religions, not the ‘why’. The Christian response is contained in these two fundamental dogmas [decorative buttons?]: that of the Trinity and that of the Incarnation” (“My Work in Retrospect,” Ignatius, 1993).
I would say Islam not only fails to answer the “why”, it disallows the inquiry.
It has a distinct element of Deism.
We read “She said: ‘In interpreting Scripture, we need to consider not only the historical context; we also need to consider what science, sociology, philosophy, etc. can teach us’.”
AND ” “In matters of gender and sexuality, we need to consider not only what the Bible says, but also what the continuing teachings of religious traditions say as well as what science and even personal experience teaches.”
AND: “When I received notice from the chair of the nominating committee, I emailed another member to ask if this were a joke…”
ABOUT “jokes” and the incarnate Jesus Christ–as viewed through two credentialed Jewish eyes–why are we remined of the post-Christian 19th-century Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)? He got it just about right when he said:
“If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and then make fun of it.”
AFTER feeling “stunned, honored and grateful,” the less stunning and honorable and great thing to do would be to remain a valued advisor–and intelligently decline the blunder of the politicized CBA. Rather than accepting, with a mindset that sounds a lot like the bizarre “expert” Study Group #9…with Magisterium and moral theology replaced by “experience” of some sort and by a bunch of peer-approved/secularist academic specializations.
By promoting Amy-Jill Levine the CBA has demoted itself.
You are entirely correct. Professor Levine should have declined the appointment. Academics inhabit an alternate reality, far removed from simple common sense. The theological academy supremely so. It is, to say the least, disorientating. It is the ultimate expression of elitism and is at the root of the crisis in the Church. The episcopate is drunk on its perceived alliance with the academy and immune to the voice of the faithful who live on dry land.
She should not have to decline. The people hiring for the position should have known she isn’t a fit candidate. It is understandable that a Jew should be ignorant of the Catholic approach to Scripture, and also to be ignorant of her own ignorance. We don’t exactly expect Catholic scholars to keep up on the modern Jewish interpretations, with a deep knowledge of both. But the people hiring for a Catholic Bible Association ought to know better.
Rest assured, Dr. Levine is not in any way ignorant of any approach to the content of Sacred Scripture, let alone a Catholic hermeneutic — if in the current conundrum one can say there is a single mode of understanding. What can be said is that she does not provide assent to a Catholic perspective because she does not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ.
There are a variety of approaches to the study of Sacred Scripture. They include textual criticism, literary analysis, exegesis, historical criticism, theological interpretation. I think Dr. Levine’s approach is the historical critical method. And then there is her command of the ancient languages.
Thank you.
Even Church Fathers disagreed about language. St. Jerome relied upon a variety of sources and did not consult just one Jewish rabbi. Even so, we know that Augustine faulted Jerome; unity of the church was put at risk, and reliability and authority of sources was questioned.
Church fathers provided guidelines for interpretation of scripture. Today, modernist interpretations have provided fodder for divisive Church battles.
Seriously faithful Catholic scholars ought not rely upon one Jewish scholar’s command of ancient language especially in light of her historical critical method and her faith which is (valuable) as a root of ours. We have the stalk and stem, the leaves, the buds, the flowers and the future life of which she would know nothing except a book of Hebrew alluding to a promise. She has read the book but is without personal experience or assent to the knowledge, truth and beauty of the Christian faith.
“What can be said is that she does not provide assent”
In other words, she’s axiomatically opposed to the NT and Christ’s Divinity.
Now as to her knowledge of ancient languages:
This is from her bio:
B.A. at Smith College with high honors in religion and English, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion at Duke University.
Where’s the (ancient) linguistics training?
Academics are by nature credential collectors, to expect one to refuse an appointment, especially that the credulous will treat as some sort of novelty is an unreasonable expectation.
You speak the name of the game, as well as “publish or perish.” Heterodoxy of any kind sells books. Orthodoxy not so much.
Hey, ya gotta make a dime!
Dimes? Most academics live in gated communities. But yes, publish or perish. In the hard sciences, we have the reproducibility crisis, but soft fields such as religion, most papers seem to be homages to the Sokal Hoax.
The CBA’s September 18 “conference” has all the attributes of yet another proof of 1994’s Higher Superstition (1994), in which authors Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt posited that some humanities journals will publish anything as long as it has “the proper leftist thought” and quoted (or was written by) well-known leftist thinkers.
Indeed. Do any Catholic scholars belong to Jewish Bible Study circles? No wonder the SSPX and now the Mission of Divine Mercy are not very happy with the way things are going in the CC. This is the Mission of Divine Mercy site, where they explain their position, which includes rejecting Fiducia Supplicans, etc.
https://missionofdivinemercy.org/the-mission/
An expert in the New Testament who has never converted to the Catholic Faith cannot possibly be interpreting Scripture correctly, and should not be in charge of Scripture programs at any Catholic Church, much less many.
Amanda, this is an excellent point!
Nicely and simply stated. Common sense that even the common man can understand. Thank you.
I like Amy Jill Levine very much and I know she meant a lot to Brandt Pitre. I do wonder though athe trend to appoint non Catholics – as she openly says she is – to such an influential andcentral position. I think a polite ‘ no Thank you ‘ would have been far more fitting and really admirable!
Yes, you can always trust a Jew to be faithful to Christ.
Fred: if I’m not mistaken, Christ is a Jew! 🤣
Br. Jacques, Christ our Lord is indeed a Jew according to the flesh, son of Abraham, son of David, as we see in the first verse of the New Testament. However, Christ certainly is not a “Jew,” if that term is used to describe a practitioner of the present-day religion of Judaism. The equivocal use of the terms “Jew” and “Judaism” by well-meaning Catholics over the last 50 years has caused endless confusion.
Thank you Br. Jacques. I recall Ronald Reagan pointing that out also years ago.
And not just Our Lord but the Holy Family, the Apostles, etc., etc.
JESUS was racially, ethnically, culturally a Jew. Christ is not a Jew. Christ is God. Is God Jewish?
No, Br Jaques, Christ is a Christian. How could Christ deny His own very identity? Are you that ill-informed in theology?
Wow.
Just wow.
I am concerned that the association is considered and labeled as being “Catholic “ as it is not really part of the Church as such. It would be more honest and less confusing if it removed the word “Catholic “ from its name. The same for schools that don’t adhere to Church teachings. It is good for the Catholics to work with non Catholics in Biblical research, but that can be done outside the church.
Agree.
“think a polite ‘ no Thank you ‘ would have been far more fitting and really admirable.”
“No Thank you”, as I do not have the ability or desire to affirm Our Lord And Savior, Is Jesus The Christ, And The Holy Ghost, The Lord And Giver Of Life, The Spirit Of Perfect Divine Eternal Infinite Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ, Proceeds From Both The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ, so why would you possibly choose me to lead The Catholic Biblical Society unless you no longer believe in The Divinity Of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity and thus The Catholic Biblical Society, is, in essence, anti Catholic.
Only Truth can beget Truth, as error will beget error.
The word ‘Catholic’ in the Association , likely meant to mean more in its mystical meaning of intent to bring The Truth to all , even if the group is not under the authority of The Church . Yet, it can serve to bring the awareness of our truths to many outside The Church too -esp. the glorious Divine Will truths we are blessed with for our times . Same to do good at many levels including reverence for our First Parents Adam and Eve who are Sts , to help heal the father wounds as we bring the glory we owe The Father, loving Him & others with His Love .
https://luisapiccarreta.com/passages-on-adam-from-the-book-of-heaven/
The love for our Lord as the Divine Person who took on our lowly human nature to restore to us what Adam lost – we can imagine how much good such a paradigm shift in attitudes can accomplish , to hasten the Reign of the Divine Will in our hearts , nations …FIAT !
Does the value of attended ecumenism of “Our separated brethren” have a place in the new Jewish recognition when antisemitism runs rampant? The Hebrew Bible is known as the Tanakh, the Old Testament, and the basic tenets of their religion.
My research on the Holocaust revealed a history of madness by Hitler and the Third Reich, where six million Jews were murdered. From that discovery emerged a Jewish survivor of the death in several camps. His name is Simon Wiesenthal, the hunter of major German leaders responsible for the Holocaust.
Follow his story…
https://wiesenthal.org/about/about-simon-wiesenthal
We must pray that God will bless all of his human creation.
The Hebrew Scriptures not as “tanakh” but tanak or TaNaK., as in the Torah, the Nefvi’im and the Kethuvim:
Torah (Law or Pentateuch): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Nefvi’im (the Prophets) The 4 major prophets; and the 12 minor prophets; plus the Former Prophets—Joshua; Judges; Samuel (1,2); Kings (1,2) of which Part I is the History of obedience and transgressions: conquest of Canaan, period of judges, monarchy under Saul and David, after Solomon the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and the Assyrian destruction of Israel (722 B.C.) and the Babylonian destruction of Judah (587 B.C.); and Part II is Poetry.
Kethuvim (the Writings) in many parts: Psalms, Job, Proverbs (Wisdom Books), Festival scrolls (Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentation, Esther), Daniel (an apocalypse), Ezra-Nehemiah (Restoration), Chronicles (1, 2) (historical narratives retelling Kings).
The parallel organization in the New Testament looks like this:
Gospels (parallel to the Torah): but the Law now elevated by the Incarnation to the law of divine love.
Acts of the Apostles/Letters of St. Paul (history parallel to the Nefvi’im–corresponding to Joshua through Kings).
Revelation and Writings–Hebrews, Epistles, Apocalypse (parallel to the Kethuvim).
Downside Abbey’s Dom Leo Maidlow Davis provides insight on combining Scripture for Lectio Divina in his Pathways/Manquehue Weave, here:
https://www.weaveofmanquehue.org/single-post/new-version-pathways-to-lectio-divina
Amazon has a preview of the Chapters, here:
https://www.amazon.com/Pathways-Lectio-Divina-Methods-Manquehue/dp/B09M8WBYPV/ref=sr_1_1?crid=11DFJEAWUOV2Y&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.C3BqAUWieEo4_BML4caT6VygRt4_A8wX5B0P04BCWy4.kBPFJWGrGPH_w9FUKy-ugGBguo4m9URCYvK2jfPt3kc&dib_tag=se&keywords=lectio+manquehue+weave
I found this excellent distinction of authentic “ecumenism” and the counterfeit by what I presume is an Orthodox poster posting as aletheia on reddit’s Orthodox Christianity thread.
“There are two kinds of ecumenism: explaining ourselves to others, and compromising our dogmas to please others.”
Guess which one this fit of allophilia is.
What we have here is the new popesplaining EWTN, which gives quite a different take on Levine than they did in 2006, when they pointed out she is pro-abortion, radical feminist, and has contributed to controversial efforts, such as one on promoting the “gospel of Judas”: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/questions-arise-about-scholars-who-collaborated-in-national-geographics-gospel-of-judas-presentation.
The same Levine is now being praised by EWTN. They also overlook the fact she has openly questioned the historicity of the scriptures and has said the gospels don’t necessarily contain the actual sayings and doings of Christ, with such statements as “I do not believe everything attributed to Jesus in the New Testament comes directly from Jesus.” A new testament “scholar” who doesn’t believe in the contents of the N.T?! She also believes Christians generally tend to be anti-semitic. This is not to mention that the appointment is idiotic, as well as praising the appointment of a non-catholic to a group that’s supposed to provide catholic interpretation. The above facts about Levine are easily obtainable, so either tyler arnold failed to do basic research or deliberately ommitted them. In either case, ETWN convicts itself with it’s own opposing coverage from one point to another, as we’re now all supposed to look the other way with an american as “pope.”
John: thank you for doing the research legwork about the duplicitous popesplaining that currently plagues EWTN News. I don’t know what’s happened over there but it ain’t the same organization founded by Mother Angelica. Not at all.
Any question about the fraudulent and thoroughly subverted nature of this organization should be answered by this:
CBA WOMEN AND GENDER CONFERENCE
Schedule: Friday, September 18, 2026
Topics:
Shayna Sheinfeld : Queering Resistance at Masada
Rosemary Boissonneu : Eve and the Denial of the ʾădāmâ: An Eco-Feminist Interpretation of Genesis 3:20 and 4:1
Carine Tarla Mukep: From Ewe to Lamb: An African Postcolonial-Feminist Reading of Gender and Reception in Isaiah 53:7
John Baptist Antony: “Come, lift up the boy”: A Dalit Feminist Reading of Hagar Narratives
Adriana Tunliu-Dukabain and Marshall Johns : Trans-Corporeality from “the Sea and the Dry Land”: A Feminist New Materialist Approach to Nonhuman Agents in the Book of Jonah
Amanda Brobst-Renaud : The Politics of Birth: Mary and the Infancy Narratives
If Tyler Arnold had any sort of investigative curiosity, instead of being a clapping seal, he’d so some digging. It’s not that difficult.
It has no 990 available IRS Select Check, nor does it disclose finances on its website. They have an EIN, which different that CUA’s where they maintain a mailing address and claim to be 80 years old. They have a donate button and will sell you a mug for $20.
This is why Ever Worsening TN won’t be getting a donation from me this year.
This episode of “Raymond Arroyo” is worth watching in its entirely on YouTube:
Video (38 min. 37 sec.)
Why Is a Vatican Official Joining a Pachamama Ritual? Bishops Question Synodality | Prayerful Posse
The part that deals with the several recent controversial appointments, including the one discussed here, begins at 26 min. 26 sec. I am posting the URL so you can see the syntax used at the end to go to a particular second in the video, at 26 min. 26 sec. (26X60 sec. + 26 sec.) Other syntax examples given online did not work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV0mpAq4OpM&t=1586s
It’s only idolatry. It’s not like they rejected the current Pope, which would be really awful.
I didn’t sympathize much with Protestants thinking Catholics made the Pope the center of our religion 20 years ago. Now I do. What other way is there to read the disciplinary imbalance? This is not how Catholic discipline should work.
Windswept House. The wind is tornadic.
Speaking of Malachi, has anyone read “Hostage to the Devil?”
Hmmm,
interesting idea- the parables viewed from the other side.
Kinda like Jesus Christ Superstar- “ do you think you’re who they say you are?”