Professor Amy-Jill Levine, an internationally renowned Jewish scholar of the New Testament, will visit Sydney next month to lead a one-day public seminar on the parables and women in scripture.
Amy-Jill’s four-week tour in Australia is being coordinated by Brisbane Catholic Education and her Sydney visit is sponsored by Good Samaritan Education, the ecclesial community established to oversee the ethos, mission and stewardship of the ten incorporated Good Samaritan Colleges in Australia.
Amy-Jill is currently Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee, the USA. She is also a member of Congregation Sherith Israel, an Orthodox Synagogue in Nashville.
Leonie Keaney, Executive Director of Good Samaritan Education, has worked with Amy-Jill before and has a “very high regard” for her work, describing her as a “woman of deep faith”, an “engaging speaker”, and a “wonderful story-teller” with an “astonishing” knowledge of both the Old and New Testament.
“She is a highly renowned international scripture scholar and she’s in the unique position of being a faithful Jewish woman who is an expert in the New Testament,” said Leonie.
“And that combination of elements makes her perspective on the New Testament particularly interesting for us.”
Leonie said that Amy-Jill’s scholarly position is that in order to understand Jesus and the Gospels better, one must look at them through the lens of first-century Judaism.
For her Sydney presentation, Amy-Jill will explore the parables, with a special focus on the parable of the Good Samaritan, and women in scripture.
“One of her real areas of speciality is the parables and so that has particular relevance for us in the Good Samaritan community, and the program we’ve asked her to put together obviously has the parable of the Good Samaritan as its centrepiece,” Leonie explained.
“I’m really looking forward to hearing her unpack that, because I’m sure it will bring new insights and new ways of reading that perhaps many of us who know the parable well haven’t had before.”
A prolific writer, Amy-Jill has authored and edited many books and articles, including The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, The Historical Jesus in Context, Feminist Companion to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings, and Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi.
Amy-Jill is also a leading figure in Jewish-Christian relations and has held office in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies.
Professor Amy-Jill Levine’s presentation for Good Samaritan Education will be held on Monday June 19, 2017 from 9:00am to 3:15pm at the Trixie Forest Centre, St Scholastica’s College, Glebe Point, Sydney.
Cost for the day is $25 per person, which includes morning tea and lunch. Registration forms are available at www.goodsameducation.org.au. For registrations and any queries, contact Tricia, E: admin@goodsameducation.org.au Please register by Friday May 19, 2017.
