The author visits the places or as close to the places that he thinks are the present day places mentioned in the Bible. Trouble is, there are always at least 5 possibilities for each place. But that does not stop him. He is on a journey! A quest! And an interesting peregrination it is.
Mr. Feiler visits St. Catherine’s monastery in the Sinai, home of the CODEX SYRIACUS, ”one of only two manuscripts in the world that preserves the text of the four gospels from the time when they were translated into Old Syrian in the fifth century C.E.” The library also is home to a copy of a letter signed by Mohammed himself offering protection to the monastery.
Legend has it that St. Catherine’s is founded at the foot of Jebel Musa (which means Mountain of Moses and is another name for Mt. Sinai) because the burning bush was located there. Empress Helena, mother to Constantine, identified places associated with the Bible, and built churches on the sites. The monks claim the basilica’s doors are the oldest functioning doors in the world! The Monastery of the Burning Bush became St. Catherine’s in 1000 C.E. to honor St. Catherine’s martyrdom and to protect her remains. “Mt. Sinai is a physical place that has become a spiritual symbol. Moses refused God’s wish to abandon his people because he knew that a leader is nothing without his people and that an individual cannot reach salvation without a community.”
(Chapel on top of Mt. Sinai)
Mr. Feiler’s book is full of musings of the history of the oldest book in the world, on history, on the desert, on why there is meaning in these stories today, or put another way why the Bible still has the impact it does. Do you want context for the stories you hear on Sunday? Mr. Feiler is your man