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February 11: Dr. Paul Wright,
I bring you greetings from Jerusalem,
which is experiencing its driest and warmest winter in at least
sixty years. While the sunshine is great for getting out and
exploring the land, it’s been a disaster for Israel’s water
resources. The folks up at En Gev told me in January that if the Sea
of Galilee drops another ten centimeters (five inches), they will no
longer be able to use their harbor—and this is supposed to be the
wettest time of the year! The Bible’s emphasis on “rain for your
land in its season” (Deut 11:14) is especially acute this year, as
are lessons of dependency on God for all the basic necessities of
life—issues of economy and the stock market notwithstanding!
In spite of the tensions in and around Gaza
over the last few weeks, enrollments at Jerusalem University
College are strong and student experiences in the classroom and
the field are full. Our January program (“The Geographical
and Historical Settings of the Bible”) had 39 students, 16 of which
came from Taylor University. This was Taylor’s first J-term
with us in a long time, and we very much enjoyed hosting their
students and faculty leaders, Dr. Richard and Jill Smith, on
Mount Zion.
Fifty–five students are enrolled in semester
classes this spring at Jerusalem University College. These represent
several of our Associated Schools: Asbury College, Columbia
International University, Columbia Bible College (BC), Fuller
Theological Seminary, Messiah College, Northwestern College (MN),
Philadelphia Biblical University, Taylor University and
Wheaton College. We are in the second week of our semester, and
I can report that everyone is enjoying wonderful, safe and
challenging learning experiences. An innovation this spring is
“Forum Table,” a chance every Tuesday evening for students to
discuss any number of issues that come up in class over dinner with
Diane and me. It appears to be a good way to integrate faith and
learning throughout the course of the semester.
I offer a special thank you to all who
responded so generously to our Christmas letter this past December.
Your faithful dedication to the work and ministry of Jerusalem
University College is an important part of who we are and of what we
are able to do. I am particularly pleased to hear of so many gifts
that were designated for scholarships for our MA students. Our
target is to raise sufficient funds to allow each of our MA students
to receive scholarships totaling half of their tuition for each
semester. Thanks to your ongoing help, we are well on our way to
meeting that goal!
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Short-Term
Scholarship Opportunities:
Once again a
generous donor has made it possible for us to offer three special
short-term program scholarships for our summer programs. Two
students each may receive a scholarship to our 6A and 7B programs,
including the Jordan extension after 6A, a value of $4,225 each. A
third worthy student who pays in advance and attends 6A, 7B and the
Jordan extension will, at the end of the program will receive a cash
refund of the program fees after completion of the program.
Please
click here for more details.
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JUC Faculty Publications:
Several of you have asked how my book is
coming. I am happy to announce that it was published here in
Jerusalem in October by Carta under the title Greatness, Grace
& Glory: Carta’s Atlas of Biblical Biography
(available in the US through
www.eisenbrauns.com), and seems to be well received. I
think that those of you who have been students at JUC and are
interested in reviewing, supplementing or strengthening the kinds of
things you did in the classroom and the field, or those of you who
have not yet had the pleasure of spending some time at JUC and would
like to do so, would find the book interesting. But all of this
reminds me that it is way past time to highlight recently
published works by several of our JUC faculty, both those
teaching in our semester program as well as those who instruct in
our short-term program. I offer the following selected list. As you
can see, we’ve all been busy!
Semester Faculty
Gabi Barkay
- “Is There a Piece of Herod’s Temple in St.
Paul’s Cathedral?” Biblical Archaeology Review 33/6 (Nov
Dec 2007): 63-66.
- “The Amulets from Ketef Hinnom: A New
Edition and Evaluation,” Bulletin of the American Schools of
Oriental Research 334 (2004): 41-71.
- “The Challenges of Ketef Hinnom: Using
Advanced Technologies to Reclaim the Earliest Biblical Texts and
their Context,” Near East Archaeology 66/4 (2003):
162-171.
- “Area S: The Late Bronze Age Strata;”
“Area S: The Iron Age Strata;” “A Balance Beam” and “The Royal
and Official Seal Impressions from Lachish,” co-authored, in
The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lashish, 1973-1994,
ed. David Ussishkin, Tel Aviv, 2004..
Petra Heldt
- “Patristik,” pp. 35-64 in Geschichte
des christlichen Theologie, ed. Wolfgang Pauly, Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2008
- “Acts of John,” “Cyril of Alexandria” and
“Cyril of Jerusalem” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of
the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon, 2007.
- “Delineating Identity in the Second and
Third Century CE: A Case n the Writings of Hippolytus,”
Studia Patristica 32 (2006): 163-168.”
- “Constructing Christian Communal Identity
in Early Patristic Writers,” ppg. 29-41 in One Lord, One
Faith, One Baptism: Studies in Christian Ecclesiality and
Ecumenism in Honor of J. Robert Wright. Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 2006.
- “Jerusalem in Protestant Liturgy,” pp.
299-313 in End of an Exile: Israel, the Jews and the Gentile
World. Marblehead, MA: Micah Publications, 2005.
Yigal Levin
- “The Southern Frontier of Yehud and the
Creation of Idumea,” in A Time of Change: Judah and its
Neighbors in the Persian and Early Hellinistic Period, ed.
Yigal Levin. London: T & T Clark, 2007.
- “Jesus, ‘Son of God’ and ‘Son of David:’
The ‘Adoption’ of Jesus into the Davidic Line,” Journal for
the Study of the New Testament 28 (2006): 415-442.
- “Numbers 34:2-12: The Boundaries of the
Land of Canaan and the Empire of Necho,” Journal of the
Ancient Near Eastern Society 30 (2006): 55-76.
Adnan Musallam
- “A Turbulent Era in the Life of the
Palestinian Arab Press: The British Era, 1917-1948,” Al-Liqa’
Journal 31 (Dec 2008).
- “From Wars to Nakbeh: Developments in
Bethlehem, 1917-1948,” Al-Liqa’ Journal 30 (Jul 2007).
- “The Role of Christian Assyrians and
Christian Arabs in Arabic Islamic Civilization in the First
Abbasid Era,” Al-Liqa’ Journal 28 (Aug 2007).
- From Secularism to Jihad: Sayyid Qutb
and the Foundations of Radical Islamism. Westwood, CT:
Praeger Publishers, 2005.
Anson Rainey
- “Outside Inside: Where Did the Early
Israelites Come From?” Biblical Archaeology Review 34/6
(Nov Dec 2008), 45-50, 84.
- “The Energic in Northwest Semitic.”
Orientalia 77 (2008), 79-83.
- “Whence Came the Israelites and their
Language?” Israel Exploration Journal 57 (2007): 41-64.
- “Redefining Ancient Hebrew,” Maarav
14/2 (2007)
- “Sinuhe’s World,” pp. 277-299 in I Will
Speak the Riddles of Ancient Times: Archaeological and
Historical Studies in Honor of Amihai Mazar, Eisenbrauns
2006.
- With R. Steven Notley, The Sacred
Bridge: Carta’s Atlas of the Biblical World. Jerusalem:
Carta, 2006.
- With R. Steven Notley, Carta’s New
Century Handbook and Atlas of the Bible. Jerusalem: Carta,
2007.
Paul Wright
- Greatness, Grace & Glory: Carta’s Atlas
of Biblical Biography. Jerusalem: Carta, 2008.
- Understanding the New Testament: An
Introductory Atlas. Jerusalem: Carta, 2004, 2007.
Short-Term Faculty
Jack Beck
- God as Storyteller: Seeking Meaning in
Biblical Narrative. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2008.
- Light on the Path: A Christian Perspective
on College Success. 2d. ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2008.
- “Gideon, Dew and the
Narrative-Geographical Shaping of Judges 6:33-40,”
Bibliotheca Sacra 165 (2008): 28-38.
- The Land of Milk and Honey: An
Introduction to the Geography of Israel. St. Louis:
Concordia Academic Press, 2006.
- “David and Goliath: A Story of Place,”
Westminster Theological Journal 68 (2006): 321-330.
- Translators as Storytellers: A Study in
Septuagint Translation Techinque. Studies in Biblical
Literature 25. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.
Bryan Beyer
- Encountering the Book of Isaiah: A
Historical and Theological Survey. Grand Rapids: Baker,
2007.
Steve Lancaster
- With James Monson, Geobasics in the
Land of the Bible: Maps for Marking. Rockford, IL: Biblical
Backgrounds, 2008.
Carl Laney
- Concise Bible Atlas: A Geographical
Survey of Bible History. Hendrickson.
Bob Mullins
- With Amihai Mazar, eds., Excavations at
Tel Beth-Shean, 1989-1996. Vol. II. The Middle and Late Bronze
Age Strata in Area R. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society
and Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
2007.
- With Amihai Mazar, “Introduction: The
Hebrew University Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean,” and “Area T:
Stratigraphy and Architecture,” 3-25, 309-312 in Excavations
at Tel Beth-Shean, 1989-1996. Vol I. From the Lage Bronze Age
IIB to the Medieval Period. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration
Society and Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, 2006.
- “A Corpus of Eighteenth Dynasty
Egyptian-style Pottery from Tel Beth Shean,” pp. 247-262 in I
will Speak The Riddles of Ancient Times: Archaeological and
Historical Studies in Honor of Amihai Mazar, Eisenbrauns,
2006.
- “Beth-Sh[e]an” in Vol. II,
Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2d. ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson
Gale, 2006.
Elaine Phillips
- “Esther: Person,” “Mordecai” and “Novella,
Story, Narrative,” in InterVarsity Dictionary of the Old
Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings, Downers Grove:
InterVarsity, 2008.
- “Metaphor and Simile,” in Encyclopedia
of the Historical Jesus, New
York: Routledge, 2008.
- “Speaking Truthfully: Job’s Friends and
Job,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 18.1 (2007): 31-43.
Perry Phillips
- “Did Animals Die before the Fall?”
Perspectives in Science and Christian Faith 58/2 (2006).
- “The Thrice Supported Big Bang,”
Perspectives in Science and Christian Faith 57/2 (2005).
Carl Rasmussen
Brian Schultz
- “Jesus as Archelaus in the Parable of the
Pounds (Lk 19:11-27), Novum Testamentum 49 (2007):
105-127.
- “The Archaeological Heritage of the
Jerusalem Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion,” Palestine
Exploration Quarterly 136/1 (2004): 57-74.
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