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Nov. 17, 2005
 Internationally recognized Biblical scholar Dr. Robert Jewett and Richard Engle, retired executive vice-president of MidAmerican Energy, will present the lecture “The Mystery of Troas: Archaeological Research and Paul’s Journeys” on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the UPS Auditorium of the Lincoln Center, 3627 Peters Avenue. The event is free and open to the public. (Richard Engle, far left, and Dr. Robert Jewett in Turkey, summer, 2005)
The lecture will describe the mystery of the route followed by St. Paul to the ancient city of Troas in Asia Minor, where he received the call to do missionary work in Europe. While the roads of St. Paul’s other travels have long since been identified, there is a 250-kilometer gap between north Galatia and the large city of Alexandria Troas, which became a center for St. Paul’s second missionary journey. Troas also subsequently became the rendezvous point between St. Paul and his co-workers.
Included in the lecture will be photos illustrating the preliminary evidence of maritime and land routes around Troas as well as a description of plans to build a replica of a Roman trading vessel which will be used to investigate itineraries in the Book of Acts and the function of the harbor at Troas. The vessel eventually will be used in conjunction with ship-based tours of the sites of early Christian missions.
Jewett (left) is currently visiting professor of New Testament at Wissenschaftlich-Theologisches Seminar at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. He was professor of religious studies at Morningside College from 1965 to 1980 before serving on the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and in the doctoral program at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He is the author or editor of 18 books and numerous articles ranging from technical New Testament investigations to analyses of American culture. His “Commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Romans” will be published in 2006 by Fortress Press in the Hermeneia Series.
 Engle (right) is a registered professional electrical engineer. In 1965, he joined Iowa Public Service Company and became president in 1990. The company eventually merged to become MidAmerican Energy for which Engle served as executive vice-president until 1996, when he retired. He served on Morningside’s board of directors for 11 years and was awarded the Order of Morningside in 2002. Since 1997, Engle has been involved with Jewett in exploring sites in Asia Minor associated with early Christianity. As a global positioning system specialist, cartographer, and videographer, he was on the team surveying the roads around Troas during the summer of 2005.
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