“Seeing is believing,” said Dr. Jim Murphy, who will guide students on a visual walk through Israel in a class this fall at the Polk County Campus of Isothermal Community College.
Students will see present-day sites of ancient stories, as well as modern-day life with the help of present-day technology.
Murphy, a biblical scholar who has visited Israel and the Middle East 19 times, said this small country (about a sixth the size of the state of North Carolina) is important historically and spiritually, as well as for modern-day events that continue to command worldwide attention.
The class will be offered in two time-slots: Monday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon and Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It will meet for four weeks, from Feb. 6 – 27.
Each week will have a different focus.
Topics will include reviewing the building and the destruction of Jewish temples, journeying down the Rift Valley (from the beginning of the Jordan River, through the Sea of Galilee, the lower Jordan, Jericho, Qumran and Masada), exploring various cities of importance (Nazareth, Bethlehem, Cana, Haifa, Bethany and more), and Jerusalem as a center for three world religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Dr. Murphy will return to Israel for his 20th trip to the Middle East this spring, April 30 – May 10, as he co-directs another tour.
For more information on the class, or to pre-register, please call the ICC Polk Campus at 828-894-3092.
– article submitted by Dr. Jim Murphy