Pastor Pours Passion, Research Into Computer Cd-Rom Combines Old Testament, Archaeology

John McMath has led four small tours to Israel, showing about 20 people archaeological sites illustrating the history of the Old Testament.

Now, he’s hoping to teach hundreds of people about the sites and people of Israel - all for $19.95.

McMath, who lives west of Spokane, created a compact disc with 258 pictures, eight chapters and text about Israel. He’s selling the CD-ROM, called “The Holy Land,” over the Internet.

“I’m an archaeological buff, an Old Testament buff and I like computers,” McMath said. “It’s natural to put it together.”

McMath, 46, a pastor at the New Hope Bible Church in Coeur d’Alene, has taught for 20 years at Moody Northwest of Spokane, an extension of Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. His specialty is the Old Testament.

He’s been working on his dissertation for his doctorate from the Western Seminary in Portland for about six years. The project, 370 dense pages, required many trips to Israel and knowledge of history, geography and archaeology.

McMath’s CD-ROM, which stems from his dissertation, aims to be more accessible to the public.

“When all you get is words on paper, it’s hard to understand why the Bible took place the way it did,” McMath said. “With pictures, things just suddenly become clear. People wonder why did Jesus pick a place like Galilee as the center of his ministry. I like to tell people, it’s the same reason McDonald’s picked Galilee.”

It’s because Galilee is a central route through Israel, he said.

McMath started his project in June, designing the CD-ROM and picking the photographs, which he snapped. He received three boxes of 1,000 finished CD-ROMs in the mail a week ago. They’re now stuffed under his desk and in the corner.

McMath isn’t an organized man. Old computer hard drives and keyboards are piled in his office corner, below shelves of mostly religious books. A can of propane fuel sits on a shelf below a 100-gallon fish tank filled with guppies.

Near McMath’s computer, books on CD-ROM and the C++ computer language stand near three volumes of “The Illustrated Bible Dictionary” and two books on the ancient Near East.

The Atlas of Israel leans against the wall.

McMath relied on several of the research books to help him write the text to accompany his pictures. The words are down to earth and easy to grasp. That doesn’t mean the CD-ROM will be a Christmas best seller, McMath acknowledged.

“It’s not a mass-market item,” he said. “We’re not going to be selling this in Kmart.”

McMath has sold about 20 discs so far, all through advertising on the Internet. He’s posted his product on archaeology, Bible study and home schooling discussion news groups. Soon, his CD-ROM will be advertised on a home page on the World Wide Web.

“The on-line community has picked it up right away,” McMath said.

So have his students at Moody Northwest, some of whom also are logged into the Internet. Kevin Hand, a missionary who leaves for Cameroon after Christmas, sent McMath electronic mail congratulating him on the CD-ROM.

“You know why I bought it?” Hand said. “The Holy Lands are his passion. He takes trips there almost every year. I figured if it’s his passion, he probably put a lot of work into it. I figured I couldn’t go wrong for 20 bucks.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: Staff writer Kim Barker, who covers technology issues, can be reached on e-mail at kimb@spokesman.com