First off, and most exciting, starting in Spring next year, I will be leading tours to the Holy Land through Sacred Space Tours.
I will likely defend my dissertation in early April, so that I will finally(!) be Herr Doktor Professor Spackman, Phd. I’m celebrating by leading tours in April/May, and then October. (It’s possible if there is sufficient demand, I could do one in June, but there are two others scheduled). Other Holy Land tours are available with LDS scholars like Amber Taylor, Josh Matson, etc. My dates for 2024 are TBD.
Remnants of a fallen arch of the Jerusalem temple
I’m really excited for this. I spent a semester in Jerusalem as an undergrad, served as informal tour guide for three weeks for my parents when they retired, and did a month-long archaeological dig as my “breadth” credits for my American Religious history doctoral work. While I wish everyone could have those long immersive experiences, I recognize that it’s simply not possible; tours like this are the next best thing. Smaller-group custom tours are a possibility.
As we’ve turned to September, Logos’ sales and free book-of-the-month have changed. Notable, you can pick up several volumes of the Anchor Bible Commentary for free or greatly reduced price: Ruth, Acts, Joel, and Psalms (vol 2) here, and Philemon here. 1Verbum is the Catholic-marketed side of Logos. One account will sign in to both.
Also of note here are the works of Fr. Raymond Brown (whom I’ve quoted before) and the two books on the Dead Sea Scrolls (accessible to non-specialists), ICC on James. I’m not familiar with Eaton’s book on the Psalms, but for $3.99, I added it to my library. Mark Smith’s book is probably excellent and technical, and also really marked down. There is also now a collection of John Walton’s books (very accessible) for sale.
My previous posts what Logos can do, here and here.
Happy reading
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September 3, 2022 at 10:42 am
What do you see different about these tours versus tours from other companies? I have really loved getting into your Come Follow Me blog posts as a Sunday School teacher and I have wanted to learn the things you teach here and in the books you recommend. So I guess what I am asking is that are these tours more of the context/history etc base like your blog or more, for lack of a better word, “inspiration” based. I don’t know if that even makes sense because after doing some work with finding parallelism in Psalms I was spiritually inspired in ways that I never have been before, but the process was very different – it required more learning work and less “let me see what the Spirit says” kind of work. Wow, some people are going to take issue with what I said so I hope it makes sense to you.
September 4, 2022 at 5:19 pm
Well, I have neither led tours before nor gone on anyone else’s, so on the one hand, I can’t say. On the other hand, my running commentary will probably be a lot like the blog; mostly academic-light with a smattering of devotional bits. I have no intention of being “inspiring” 😉 I’ll let the land and experience itself do that.
September 19, 2022 at 8:10 am
Perfect! This is the type of tour I’d enjoy. I’m hoping to join you!
Thank you for your blog. It’s been so helpful for me to hear a faithful yet realistic and nuanced approach to scripture/church history when so many voices on these topics tend toward extremes.
September 10, 2022 at 11:55 am
Will your beautiful wife be joining you?
September 10, 2022 at 11:56 am
TBD. Sometimes?