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The Scholars Initiative

The Scholars Initiative StudentsTulsa, OK - It might sound like a scene from National Treasure or CSI but it’s happening on the Oral Roberts University Campus; students studying ancient Biblical manuscripts and translating them.

The Scholars Initiative, the Research Arm of the Museum of the Bible has become an important scholarly endeavor at ORU. Undergraduate and graduate students have the opportunity to study ancient manuscripts, provided they have taken a sufficient number of courses involving certain Biblical languages. Groundbreaking fails to sufficiently describe it.

The story begins with the Green family’s acquisition of some remarkably early Biblical manuscripts. In fact, the Greens (Hobby Lobby’s founders) now own the second largest collection of Biblical manuscripts, second only to the Vatican. The family invited several schools to take part in studying the documents including ORU.

Dr. Mark Roberts, an ORU Associate Professor of Learning Resources, got the ball rolling and in January of this year, he passed the baton to ORU Undergraduate Theology professors Dr. James Shelton and Dr. William Lyons. Both bring tremendous expertise to the study; Dr. Lyons heading the study of the Hebrew and Semitic languages and Dr. Shelton covering the study of Greek. Dr. Lyons says, “Yes, the program is great for us. But it is great for the students.”

It is a select group of graduate and undergraduate students that are doing the hard work of transcribing the texts, many of them spending three to four semesters studying Greek. What makes this even more interesting is how they are able to study the ancient manuscripts using modern technology. Special software allows the students to access a secure online portal called the “Virtual Manuscript Room.” It is here that the students can read the manuscripts including passages from Timothy and Psalms and transcribe them using the numerous tools within the software.

The Scholars Initiative StudentsRecently a leading scholar in the program visited ORU. Dr. Christian Askeland says this is an extraordinary opportunity for the students. He told them, “What you are doing here is brilliant.” He says it will open up doors for further work for them in the future including trips to Oxford to study with other scholars (six ORU students have already been participants) as well as a six week trip to Israel to participate in an archeological dig.

The ultimate goal of the program, though, is to further understanding of the Bible and share that understanding through The Museum of the Bible currently being built in Washington, D.C. by the Green Family. After the students complete their work, other leading scholars in the initiative will read what they’ve done, look for the differences and reconcile the scriptures for a more accurate translation.

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