Nationally renowned rabbi Michael Cook presented his expertise of both Jewish and Christian perspectives in his lecture, "Jesus, Paul and the Gospels: Assessing Typical Jewish Views" Thursday evening in Harrison Hall.
As a rabbi with a doctorate in the New Testament, Cook specialized in Jewish-Christian relations and has produced numerous publications examining these intertwined ideologies, including his new book, Modern Jews Engage the New Testament: Enhancing Jewish Well-Being in a Christian Environment.
Cook is the only rabbi in the country to have a professorial chair in New Testament and was one of seven scholars to assess advance copies of the script of Mel Gibson's 2003 film, The Passion of the Christ.
Cook is a professor of intertestamental and early Christian literatures and holds the Sol and Arlene Bronstein Professorship in Judaea-Christian Studies at Hebrew Union-College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, according to the HUC-JIR Web site.
His lecture, which was presented by Miami University's department of comparative religion with support from the John W. Altman Humanities Scholar-in-Residence Program, explored the common patterns of thought expressed by Jews when studying the New Testament.
"I want to show that Jewish reflections on the New Testament are rational," Cook said. "It's not that they don't think. There are reasons for their decisions to question Christian writings."
He said, however, agreeing with his opinions or the teachings of any religion is not as important as simply learning about different perspectives.
"If I say things you disagree with, then maybe it's a more beneficial use of our time," Cook said. "If I say things that everyone agrees with, then what was the point of coming?"
His interest in studying the New Testament began in college after studying medieval and early Renaissance iconography in an art class. He said he was intrigued when he learned Judaism was represented in Christian iconography by the image of a woman, called Synagogue, who was blindfolded.
"Being told the synagogue was blindfolded was like saying Jewish people were unintelligent," Cook said. "It said they had the option of removing the blindfold but did not because they were stubborn or obtuse."
Cook's initial resentment soon gave way to the sudden realization he wanted to remove his own blindfold about Christianity and learn more.
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"While I resented being told that Jews were blind to the truths that Christianity professed, at the same time, I really didn't know anything about the New Testament," Cook said. "In a way I was blind."
Cook's lecture demonstrated stubbornness and ignorance were not the reason that Judaism hasn't adopted the New Testament.
James Hanges, professor of comparative religion, organized the lecture because he wanted a local scholar to share the perspective of the Jewish community on the history of Christianity and Jesus Christ.
"I wanted my students to realize that scholars outside of the Christian faith are interested in the origins of Christianity," Hanges said. "It is a historical question because Christianity is a part of the history of Judaism."
Despite a history of contentious relationships and disagreements between Christians and Jews, Cook pointed out the writings of both groups share many parallels.
"I don't care whether the Jewish or Christian version says it better," Cook said. "If we could adopt 'do unto your neighbor as you would do unto yourself,' the world would be a better place."
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