The Holy Land has been referred to as “the fifth gospel.” The experience of the land and the people speak of Christ, Mary, and the apostles and provide us insight into the meaning of both Old and New Testaments that are impossible to acquire simply through books. But the Holy Land teaches us about more than the Bible. Fathers of the Church, such as Cyril of Jerusalem, Origen, and Jerome lived and taught there. Christianity and Islam coexisted there peaceably for nearly five hundred years there before the 200 year confrontation known as the Crusades. The Holy Land has been a flash point not only in Christian/Muslim relations, but Catholic/Orthodox relations and the Palestinian/Israeli problem are still among the most vexing geopolitical issues today. This course will revolve around a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with site visits to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, Qumran, Tabor, the Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Carmel and Caesarea by the Sea. Though it will focus on walking in the footsteps of Jesus, it will be an interdisciplinary course involving Old Testament, Church History, Ecumenism, Inter-religious dialogue, spirituality and historical theology.