Jordan Evangelical Seminary

In 2011 I was invited to  go to Amman, Jordan to teach at Jordan Evangelical Seminary.  Jordan is of course a Muslim country. Christianity in Jordan has its roots in the first century. But today the Christian population is only about 3%. A majority of the Christian population are Eastern Orthodox with most of the rest of the Christian population identified as Roman Catholic.  Protestants comprise only a tiny minority.  When I was there the Seminary was housed in rented facilities. The picture above is of the new facilities

I have actually taught  at the  Seminary on two separate occasions. Jordan Evangelical Seminary serves this tiny Protestant population. Presently the seminary has about 50 full-time students plus numerous part-time students.  These students come from Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Sudan and Lebanon.  Its graduates serve in 14 Arab countries.

On my first trip I taught a class on the numerous  aspects of salvation (justification, adoption, reconciliation, and sanctification).  This is a lot to fit into a two week period. The schedule was so busy I had only a little time to see the archeological sites near Amman. But what I saw was impressive.  

On my second trip I taught ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church)–a much more difficult subject to teach. Even with a small Protestant  population there are several denominations which have very different understandings of the church on a ground level– should the church have a congregational polity basically governed democratically by vote of the members? Or, should it be characterized by elder rule or be effectively run by the pastor etc.  Add to this issues of membership requirements, and requirements for leadership as well as discipline.  

But on my second trip I was able to take one Saturday and take the four hour bus ride to Petra– an incredible experience!  On another Saturday  I was also able to visit the Dead Sea. From the top of the bluff overlooking the Dead Sea, I could look North up the Jordan Valley which was a green lush with crops. At the north of the Jordan Valley I could see the Sea of Galilee in the distance. The Jordan River is much narrower than it was in biblical times.  The irrigation in the Jordan Valley siphons off most of the water to irrigate the crops. We went from the top of Bluff over the valley down  to the Dead Sea. I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants and waded in– the water is so salty (33.7%) that I had to work to wipe all the salt off my legs. Even then I did not feel really clean until I took a shower that evening. It was also very strange to see Muslim women swimming in the Dead Sea in full burkeas.  

The point where the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea is only about 30’ across. I stood on the East bank of the river.  I was near enough to throw a rock over from Jordan into Israel.  That was the closest I ever got to Israel. But on this trip I was able to visit the ruins of several cities near Amman as well as to see  a major site in central Amman where David did battle with the Philistines.