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Introduction to Israel
The Rev. Dr. A. Vanlier Hunter, Jr.
Over many years the Rev. Dr. A. Vanlier Hunter, Jr., compiled a notebook for travelers to Israel. His notebook contains entries, arranged alphabetically, that provide facts and background for major sites in Israel with Jewish-Christian relevance. The ICJS has made selected highlights available to users of this web site.
CONTENTS
Beersheba
Van, as he was known to his friends and colleagues, was a beloved advisor to the ICJS and a key figure in the Institute's founding. He died in 1992 from liver cancer at the age of 52. A faithful Presbyterian, he was a biblical scholar and professor at St. Mary's Seminary, a Roman Catholic seminary in Baltimore.
Rabbi Mark Loeb of Baltimore's Beth El Congregation, at the Seminary's memorial service for Van, said that Van "resolved to spend a major part of his career in furthering Jewish-Christian understanding, an area in which he performed brilliantly. His greatest forte was in helping traditional Christians to recognize that it was no threat to their faith, nor any abandonment of Christian dignity to face up to the bitter heritage of Christian anti-Semitism. Through careful and persistent effort he helped his faith community to re-examine its scriptural heritage in order to recover its true spiritual message and to purge that message of any potential to serve as a source for the teaching of contempt."
Many of us here at the Institute had the privilege to travel with Van to Israel over the years. Usually Van would explore the archeological sites, the streets of Jerusalem, and the various holy places with a small 3-ring notebook in his hands. From that notebook he would teach the group, pulling together all kinds of information to put a particular place in context (a context that would often provoke conversation late into the night). It's this notebook that is excerpted on this web site.
One disclaimer: much of this notebook was written in Van's own hand. He never imagined it would be for anything but his own personal use. We've put it in a format that we think is suitable for sharing. However, it contains no footnotes or bibliographic references.
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