When it comes to church community, one thing is for sure….there are lots of gifted people that comprise that community and it’s always fun to sit down with those people, hear their story, pick their brain, etc. Well, this last week my brain was definitely in overdrive as I sat down to morning coffee with Dr. Bill Schniedewind, who is the Chair for the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures, Kershaw Chair of Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Professor of Biblical Studies & Northwest Semitic Languages at UCLA.
Currently Dr. Schniedewind’s work is on display at the San Diego Natural History Museum where he has on display a virtual Qumran.
The Ancient Qumran: A Virtual Reality Tour is a fully reconstructed, real-time, interactive model of the site at Khirbet Qumran. Ancient Qumran, setting the standard for Qumran archaeology, allows the ancient site to literally emerge from its remains. Every room at Khirbet Qumran is reconstructed and furnished with artifacts. The result is a journey back in time and a glimpse into a world that influenced the birth of modern Judaism and Christianity.
So I sat with him for about an hour and half talking about everything from the current political situation in the Middle East to the role of prophets. Since we are currently in a series on the prophets and we begin our study tomorrow night on the minor prophets it was a great time to receive valuable insight.
If you don’t have a chance to make it down to the San Diego Natural History Museum, Dr. Schniedewind will be speaking in our college group on Wednesday, October 17 on “The Word of God.” I am looking forward to my students seeing this virtual model which I have seen once before and to hear more about the role of the prophets.
