The International SBL meeting starts today in Rome. The papers look no more than moderately interesting, but I really wish I was there. So, to all my friends who are currently residing in the most beautiful city in the world, some tips and hints to make the most of your stay.
1. Coffee: the best coffee in the world is probably to be found in Rome. If you ask for an espresso and the liquid merely coats the bottom of the tiny cup...that is how God intended it. And please, don't embarrass yourself and ask for cappucino after 11.00 am and certainly not at the end of a large meal. Oh, and don't sit down at a cafe, you will pay 3 times as much.
2. Food: get off the beaten track. If it looks like it is full of tourists avoid it. Ask a stranger where there is good food (they will vitually always have an opinion and will never, never reply McDonalds). Try the gnocchi, carciofi alla romangna (artichokes), tripe if you are feeling brave.
3. Sightseeing - NT scholars should make sure they go and see the Ara Pacis (which was closed when I was last there) and Augustus' Mausoleum which is just round the corner, completely uncared for and overrun with cats. If you have to queue for the Ara Pacis you can while away the time by translating the Res Gestae engraved on the side. The best view of the Forum comes from going up the steps to the Campidoglio (taking in the subterranean Insula on your right as you go up) and walk past the Palazzo dei Senatori on the left hand side, drop down the steps and take in one of the most amazing sights you will ever hope to see. I fell in love on that spot - and not just with Rome. The Capitoline Museum is essential for antiquity and the Vatican apartments for the Raphael's alone (plus you get to pop next door to see Michelangelo's Pietà which made me cry when I first saw it). Oh, and they have found Paul's bones down there somewhere, so try and say hello from me.
Damn, I wish I was there. I am sure the conference will be fun as well.
News has arrived today from two different sources giving information about a visit by Amy-Jill Levine to Melbourne in early July.
On July 2nd she will be giving a lecture at Monash University.
Amy-Jill Levine is Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and author of The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus.
Saul of Tarsus was a Jew who became St. Paul, the church’s foremost missionary. Today he is both hailed as the inspired evangelist who brought the God of Israel to the Gentiles, and condemned as a self-hating Jew who distorted the teachings of both Judaism and Jesus. In this lecture Amy-Jill Levine will explore Paul’s Jewish identity, his understanding of Torah, and his views on the role of the Jewish people in the divine plan.
The lecture is hosted by the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation.
In addition on the 4th of July she will be speaking to the Progressive Christian Network of Victoria. Details are available via this flyer
I have the highest regard for Professor Levine's scholarship and will be trying to get along to at least one of these events.
POLITICS, THEOLOGY, LAW
The Actuality of Paul
A One-Day Workshop
10.00am – 5.00pm
Thursday June 11
Organized by the Research Unit in European Philosophy and the Centre for
the Study of Jewish Civilisation at Monash University.
To be held at - Monash University Caulfield Campus. Building H, level 8
900 Dandenong Rd, East Caulfield.
Speakers:
Justin Clemens (University of Melbourne) : Love Makes Thought Power:
Alain Badiou’s Saint Paul.
Andrew Benjamin (Monash University) : Law’s Undoing : Agamben’s Paul.
Ingo Farin (University of Tasmania) : Pauline Phenomenology?
Michael Fagenblat (Monash University) : The Gentile Question: Paul and
Levinas
For further information contact : Professor Andrew Benjamin
andrew.benjamin@arts.monash.edu.au
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