Jacob Neusner is Distinguished Service Professor of the History and Theology of Judaism and Senior Fellow with the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College. He is a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He holds nine honorary degrees and fourteen academic medals and other awards and has published more than a thousand books.

Bruce Chilton is the Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Bard College, Executive Director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, and Rector of the Church of St. John the Evangelist. His books include: Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography, Rabbi Paul: An Intellectual Biography, Mary Magdalene, Abraham's Curse, and The Cambridge Companion to the Bible.