Release date: May 23, 2007

'Walking the Bible' Author Heads Up 'Cradle of Christianity' Events

Contact: Allison Dixon, 404-727-4291, agdixon@emory.edu
Contact: Elaine Justice, 404-727-0643, elaine.justice@emory.edu

A talk by bestselling author Bruce Feiler on Tuesday, June 26, leads off a series of community events surrounding the exhibition "Cradle of Christianity: Jewish and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land" at Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum. A native of Savannah, Feiler is an award-winning journalist and the author of seven books, including "Walking the Bible," "Abraham" and "Where God Was Born."

Other public events set for the June 16 to Oct. 14 run of the exhibit include workshops and performances by master storyteller Jim Weiss; a "Zero Church" concert by the singing group The Roches and lectures by leading religious scholars.

Beginning on Wednesday, June 20, faculty from Emory's Candler School of Theology and Institute for Jewish Studies are conducting an eight-week public course through the Evening at Emory program, titled "Jews and Christians in the Greco-Roman World."

Carlos Museum representatives are also available to visit churches, synagogues and other interested community groups to give free introductory talks about the exhibition. Contact Nina West, manager of educational programs at the museum, at 404-727-0591 to request a speaker.

Tickets are $10 for Feiler's talk, which will begin at 7 p.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3003 Howell Mill Road. To purchase tickets and see details about the full calendar of events, visit the Cradle of Christianity Web site.

Feiler traveled 10,000 miles through the desert on the trail of the Five Books of Moses to research "Walking the Bible." The book spent more than a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller list and became a PBS miniseries.

Following the 9-11 terrorism attacks, Feiler began researching his book "Abraham," which delves into the story of the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians and Muslims.

"One of the most dominant questions in the world today is, do biblical stories have relevance to contemporary life," Feiler says. His Atlanta presentation is entitled "The Holy Land: A Look at the Role of the Fertile Crescent in the Shared History of Judaism, Christianity and Islam."

"I'll talk about archeology and what we can learn from the past to help with the religious tensions we have today," he says. It's a subject of interest to people of all faiths and even non-believers, he adds.

Organized by and drawn exclusively from the Israel Museum, "Cradle of Christianity" explores the concurrent histories of early Christian and Jewish life through some of the most significant biblical artifacts ever found, including a section of a Dead Sea Scroll and a fragment from the temple of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus and Herod. The Carlos Museum is one of only three U.S. venues for the traveling exhibition.

Click for a complete listing of news releases on the "Cradle of Christianity" exhibit.

Emory University is one of the nation's leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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