Study tours to various parts of the world, including the Bible lands, are organized by commercial travel agencies, academic travel organizations, and church organizations. Seventh-day Adventists have found it difficult to join any of these tours, because their program makes Sabbath observance practically impossible. Furthermore, the worldly atmosphere—smoking, drinking, and questionable amusements—connected with such tours are deterrents to those who might wish to participate.
It will therefore be good news for many of our workers who have longed to make a tour to the Bible lands to know that the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, at Washington, D.C., will conduct a guided study tour through Europe and the Bible lands from June to August, 1957.
Itinerary
The tour will cover the following points of interest. After a brief, intensive orientation course of four to five days in Washington, the group will leave New York by boat in the first week of June. Several days will be spent in London and Paris. After a visit to Calvin's Geneva, a coach will take the group through the Swiss Alps to Milan, then to Florence, Assissi, and Rome. Several days will be spent in Rome. An excursion to Pompeii at the foot of Mount Vesuvius will be made, and then a plane will fly the group to Egypt for two exciting weeks in the land of Joseph and the Pharaohs. An excursion to Mount Sinai will be one of the most unforgettable experiences of the trip.
From Egypt a plane will take the group to Beirut, Lebanon, and from there excursions will be made to Tyre and Sidon, to the cedars of Lebanon, and to Damascus, where Paul was converted. A bus ride through the desert will then lead to Baghdad, the city of the Arabian Nights. From Baghdad, trips will be made to Babylon and Nineveh, where the fulfillments of prophecies are to be studied, and to Ur of the Chaldees, where Abraham grew up. Thence by taxi or plane the group will proceed to the Holy Land, the culmination of this exciting tour. The members can swim in the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth; conduct a Sabbath school on the Mount of Olives; walk through the subterranean water conduit that King Hezekiah constructed beneath Jerusalem; visit Abraham's tomb, at Hebron, and Bethlehem, where Christ was born; walk the streets of Nazareth and the shores of the beautiful Lake of Galilee; and pass through many other cities and villages of Bible fame.
A plane from Lydda will then bring the group to Athens, Greece, where its members will once more follow the footsteps of the great apostle Paul. After a visit to Corinth the group will disperse. Some of its members may sail back to New York by Greek liner, whereas others may make their return trip through Europe by train or plane according to their own desires, plans, and financial resources.
The over-all cost of the tour, from the departure at New York to the arrival back in New York approximately eleven weeks later, is only $1,650. By utilizing the services of our mission organizations in the various lands through which we travel for the arrangement of accommodations and means of transportation, the Seminary is able to offer this tour for a price hundreds of dollars below any similar tour offered by other organizations.
S. H. Horn to Lead Tour
The entire tour will be led by S. H. Horn, professor of archeology and history of antiquity at the Seminary, who through training and previous travel experience is well acquainted with the history, topography, and archeology of the lands to be visited. He will hold lectures two or three times every week throughout the tour. This will make it a study tour in the true sense of the word. Duly registered regular Seminary students can earn six quarter hours of scholastic credit, and if it is desired, two additional quarter hours of credit by completing a special assigned project.
The tour is designed especially for Bible teachers in colleges and academies, pastors, evangelists, editors, and departmental leaders in denominational service. As far as openings are available, applications by Seventh-day Adventist church members will be considered. Every member of the tour must make his own financial arrangements or arrange for financial support, and if employed, obtain leave of absence from his employing organization.
All those definitely interested in this guided tour should make application early, for reservations must be made at least a year in advance. Detailed information including a tentative schedule will be forwarded to those interested. Write for application blank to-
SDA Theological Seminary Bible Lands Tour
6830 Laurel Street NW. Washington 12, D.C.
