Dr Peter Walker

Dr Peter Walker was Professor of Biblical Studies at Trinity School for Ministry (near Pittsburgh, USA) from 2012 to 2017. He studied Classics and Early Church History at Cambridge University and then did extensive research at post-doctoral level on attitudes to Jerusalem within the Bible and the era of the early church. He's been a Christian following Jesus and creating resources for most of his adult life. For many years he taught at Wycliffe Hall within the University of Oxford and has led guided tours to the lands of the Bible for over 30 years.

The Rev Dr Peter Walker is widely acknowledged as one of the foremost experts on the Holy Land. His book, In the Steps of Jesus (Lion Hudson: Oxford, 2006), has come to be recognized as the authoritative guide for Christian visitors.

He read Classics at Cambridge University and then spent seven years of his life studying the topic of Jerusalem at doctoral level, which led to the publication of his two major academic monographs: Holy City Holy Places? Christian attitudes to Jerusalem and the Holy Land in the Fourth Century (OUP 1990) and Jesus and the Holy City: New Testament Perspectives on Jerusalem (Eerdmans, 1996). He was also invited to write the chapter on ‘Pilgrimage’ for The Oxford Illustrated History of the Holy Land (OUP, 2018).

Dr Walker first visited the Land in 1981 and has led numerous on-site tours—for parishes and clergy, for students and seminarians, for people from the UK, North America and East Africa. In addition to the books promoted on this website he has written other books and articles in order to encourage a Christian mindset in those visiting the Holy Land and encountering its many complex issues: see, for example, Walking in his Steps(with Graham Tomlin: HarperCollins, 2001) and The Land of Promise (ed. with Philip Johnston: IVP, 2000,with a foreword by John Stott). 

Peter was ordained in 1989 for pastoral ministry within the Church of England. For many years he taught at Wycliffe Hall, an evangelical seminary in the University of Oxford and then, from 2012 to 2017, was Professor of Biblical Studies at Trinity School for Ministry (near Pittsburgh, USA). 

He is now back in the UK working on various projects in a freelance capacity but can often be found guiding people somewhere around the Mediterranean!