GU religion professor teaching class at Greenville Free Methodist Church

Published: March 29, 2022

A Greenville University religion professor who lived in Israel for 10 years will begin a five-week teaching series this Sunday at the Greenville Free Methodist Church.

Titled “Jesus, the Jewish Theologian,” the adult Sunday School class will be taught by Aubrey McClain, an assistant professor of theology and the Shapiro Fellow of Jewish-Christian Studies at the university. During her time in Israel, she completed her doctoral studies at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv and taught classes at Jerusalem University College – including some GU interterm classes touring Israel. She is in her fifth year of teaching at Greenville University.

“In this class, we’ll explore Jesus’ historical and cultural context,” McClain said. “We want to help class members understand his message and ministry through the lens of his original audience.

“It’s hard to understand Jesus if we don’t understand his historical moment and his Jewish cultural identity,” she added. “He spoke to people who were immersed in the Jewish culture, and he used language that they would understand. One of my priorities is to restore the ties between Jews and Christians. Jesus is the lynchpin, and we must recognize and appreciate his Jewishness.”

The class will be held from 9:45-10:45 a.m. on five successive Sundays, beginning on April 3 and concluding on May 1, in Room C102 at the church, which is located on U.S. Route 140 just east of Greenville. For more information, call the church at 618-664-2584.