Study Tours

Catching the Vision of Biblical Education in the Lands of the Bible

Pilgrimages and study-tours to the heartland of the Bible are one of the easiest ways to catch the JBSS vision. To this end, we orchestrate the following example pilgrimages:

I. Israel and Jordan – Jesus’ Bible and Ministry – Heading straight into the desert of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we experience the Negev desert where God first wooed the people of God. We travel down to the lowest place on earth – the Dead Sea – and up the Jordan Valley. We explore the Galilee where Jesus lived and taught before traveling to the Mediterranean coast before completing the historic pilgrimage up to Jerusalem.

Many say visiting Israel is like reading the “fifth gospel,” because of the incredible insights a trip to Israel provides. These insights bring an entirely new perspective for understanding the Bible and the life of Jesus. Watch the Bible come alive as you experience the Holy Land first-hand!

II. Greece, Turkey, Italy – Paul and the Early Church

Either by land or by sea, or both, we will connect with Paul’s dynamic journeys, which witnessed the explosion of early Christianity throughout Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. By land we can start in Antioch, the second hub after Jerusalem of early Jesus believers. We can see Paul (Shaul in Hebrew) first visit synagogues to win the hearts of both Jews and Gentile God-fearers, throughout Turkey of today – Tarsus, Pisidian Antioch, Ephesus, Miletus, Pergamon, Istanbul (Constantinople), and the Seven Churches of Revelation.

With Bible in hand, enjoy daily field trips to Biblical and modern sites. More than just a tour, this journey is designed by Jerusalem Biblical Studies Society to capture the Isaiah vision – to be an eye-opening experience, connecting you to the Scriptures through Biblical history, archeology, geography, and ancient Jewish literature.

III. Germany, Switzerland, England – The Roots of the Reformation and Protestant Renewal

Here we witness the impact of the Word of God that has gone out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Visiting Mainz we can see how the Gutenberg Press transformed printing and the accessibility of the Bible into German. First with Luther in Erfurt and Wittenberg and then Calvin in Geneva, the Protestant Reformation burst forth. Along with this rise of Biblical engagement, anti-semitism was accepted and, much later, played a role in Nazi Germany, for example at Buchenwald. In Berlin we reconnect with some of the richest archaeological treasures of the ancient world at Berlin’s Pergamon Museum as well as the heroic story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Enjoy an optional visit to Edinburgh and the transformation of Scottish culture through the likes of John Knox. Later we visit Clifford’s Tower and learn how England was the first European country to expel the Jews. Visit Lutterworth where Wycliffe, the Dawn of the Reformation, translated the Bible into English. In London see the work of John and Charles Wesley as well as George Whitfield and Spurgeon, engendering the great Wesleyan, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Puritan, and Holiness traditions. See the historic connections between Bible and archaeology at the British Museum. Throughout the whole tour, we engage the grand story and narrative of God’s work from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.