“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.”
—Augustine of Hippo

Learn more and register for the
Pirates, Presidents, Conquistadors and More Tour!

What Does it Mean to
Exercise Dominion Over the Earth?

The Spaniards believed that they were doing the will of God in bringing the sunshine state under their dominion. So did Andrew Jackson. What does it mean to exercise dominion over the earth? We will explore that biblical idea and subject Florida history to the tests of biblical dominion. We will visit the site of the Huguenot Fort where the French Calvinists tried to bring the pure Gospel to the natives and reformed Christianity to the shores of America long before the Pilgrims. God allowed the counter-reformation of the Spanish to prevail and set the agenda for Florida for more than two centuries. We will discuss the mysteries of God’s providence and the need for perseverance and patience in reading the pages of history.

We Must Be Careful
Not to Call Evil Good or Good Evil

As we look at the lives of the colorful and reckless pirates of the Florida coast, we must be careful not to call evil good or good evil. Movies can lull our moral sensibilities to sleep by transmogrifying the real Edward Teach into the Disney Blackbeard or Captain Kidd into the buffoon Jack Sparrow. What role should the romantic swashbucklers of Hollywood play in our understanding of piracy? How should we interpret the privateers of Queen Elizabeth I, that the Spanish deemed pirates and fed to the Inquisition when caught? A keen biblical understanding can usually spot that fine line between the eighth commandment and just war. If you haven’t been to the Pirate Museum before, you are in for a treat, but keep your biblical thinking cap on.

Quest for Eternal Life

We will visit the legendary place of Hernando de Soto and the “Fountain of Youth”. There seems little difference between men who sought eternal life through non-biblical means five hundred years ago and those today who have their body frozen, to be resurrected when the science gods figure out a way to bring them back. As the original St. Augustine would have said, “Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas”.

The Largest Military Engagement in Florida History

Florida is thought of as the backwater of the Civil War, if it is thought of at all, in relation to that watershed event in American history. The War did not pass Florida by; the state played a significant role in several ways. We will examine the state’s role in secession and war and attend one of the most interesting battle reenactments in the country at Olustee battlefield. As the largest military engagement in Florida history, Olustee shows us leadership dos and don’ts on both sides, as well as the valor of the Union’s most controversial fighters.

If you leaf further into the pages of history around St. Augustine, Jacksonville and Olustee, you continue thinking it is a small world after all...