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Summer Vacation Seminar at St. Olaf College

May 14, 2009

CONTACT: Alicia Bregon
The Biblical Archaeology Society
Phone: 1.202.364.3300 ext. 208
E-mail: abregon@bib-arch.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 14, 2008) — The Biblical Archaeology Society announces the summer vacation seminar Biblical Controversies, Conundrums and Characters: Sorting Through All the Evidence to be held July 5 - 11, 2009, at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Over the six-day period, lectures by top scholars Dr. James Tabor and Dr. Tina Wray will address some of the most compelling topics in Biblical scholarship.

Lectures will examine the unique and mysterious characters that populate the Bible, including some of its most extraordinary women, and their unique roles and relationships. Some of the Bible’s more malevolent characters will also be explored, from the archetypical demons and chaos creatures to Satan’s evolution and adversarial role in Biblical lore. Longtime Biblical enigmas such as the origins of Christianity, what archaeology says about the last days of Jesus, and what the Bible says about death, the afterlife and resurrection will be closely examined and illuminated by two of the preeminent scholars in the field of Biblical archaeology and scholarship, Dr. James Tabor and Dr. Tina Wray.

Dr. James Tabor, Chair of Religious Studies at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, has excavated at some of the most important sites in the field of Biblical archaeology, including Qumran, the site located just yards from the caves where many of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Tabor is a popular public lecturer and writer and is often consulted by the national media (Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Harpers, Associated Press, NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX). His work has been featured in several TV documentaries (PBS Frontline, the Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, History Channel, BBC and Channel 4 UK). His latest book, The Jesus Dynasty: A New Historical Investigation of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity (Simon & Schuster, 2006), has been published in over 25 different languages.

Dr. Tina Wray of Salve Regina University has twice received the Presidential Award for academic excellence and was voted Professor of the Year in 2004. The author of several books, most recently Good Girls, Bad Girls: The Enduring Lessons of Twelve Women of the Old Testament (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008), Dr. Wray has appeared on National Public Radio, several television documentaries on the History Channel, and various other television and radio programs across the country.

Included in the program fee are all accommodations, all lectures, room and board, refreshment breaks, a final banquet and Continuing Education units. Full details of the seminar can be viewed at www.bib-arch.org/travel-study/st-olaf-2009.asp. For more information, please call the Biblical Archaeology Society at 202.364.3300, ext. 208.