Religion Department Hosts Julie Galambush

This past Monday marked the annual Abbie Ziffren Memorial Lecture series, where the George Washington University Religion Department welcomed Julie Galambush. The event, held at Marvin Center Room 309, was filled to the brink with more than 60 attendees, many of whom sat on the floor.

Galambush, the Associate Professor of Religious Studies at The College of William and Mary, gave a lecture entitled “The New Testament: Jewish or Anti-Jewish?”. Raised as a Catholic but now an observant Jew, Galambush wrote the 2007 book “The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus,” which is intended for Jews and Christians alike.

Professor Paul Duff, Associate Dean of CCAS for Undergraduate Studies, introduced the key note speaker. Galambush explored the original intentions of the historic authors of the New Testament and questioned whether the book was intended to be in its nature anti-Jewish, or if it has just been interpreted that way since the early centuries following Christ. Having concluded that the original disciples intended for the New Testament to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament, Galambush accepted questions for about half an hour.