Bargil Pixner

Bargil Pixner
Pixner in 1994
Born	(1921-03-23)March 23, 1921 Untermais,South Tyrol,Italy
Died	April 5, 2002(2002-04-05)(aged 81) Jerusalem,Israel
Citizenship	Italy United States

Bargil Pixner(March 23, 1921 – April 5, 2002) was anethnically GermanItalian-American monk of theOrder of Saint Benedict,Biblical scholarandarchaeologist,and commentator on theDead Sea Scrolls.

Biography

Bargil Pixner explaining the ruins ofMagdala

Abbey of the Dormition,where Pixner took his final vows and later served as a prior

Pixner was born in 1921, the first of eight children, inUntermais,Merano,South Tyrol.He started his study of theology in 1940 inBrixenand joined theSaint Joseph's Missionary Society of Mill Hill's Tyrolean branch in 1941.

DuringWorld War II,Pixner was sent to theEastern Frontin 1944 after refusing to take an oath of allegiance toHitler,but he escaped fromSilesiain May 1945.

Pixner wasordained a priestin 1946 in Brixen immediately prior to leaving for missionary work in thePhilippines,where he headed aleprosycentre inSanta Barbara, Iloilofor the next eight years.He later worked inFrance,Italy, and theUnited States,becoming aUS citizen.

In May 1969, Pixner moved toIsrael,co-foundingNeve Shalom,apeace village,located near the biblicalEmmaus,and entered theOrder of Saint Benedictin 1972, taking his final vows at theAbbey of the DormitioninJerusalemin 1974.Pixner spent the next twelve years organizing the construction of an affiliated abbey atTabghabefore returning to Hagia Maria Sion Abbey in 1994 and then serving as aprior.Pixner gave tours of theHoly Landto famouspilgrimssuch asJimmy CarterandHelmut Kohl.

Theories

Pixner's theories, linking archaeological sites to events and figures in theBible,have been met with mixed acceptance by scholars. In particular, he argued for a connection betweenJesusand theEssenesand for the identification of the "Essene Gateway" (excavated beginning in 1977) onMount Zion,and thedating of the crucifixionto Friday, April 7, AD 30.He shared Bagatti and Testa's thesis of aChurch of Zion, Jerusalemin the 3rd–4th Centuries.

Pixner also identified a site on the north shore of theSea of Galileeas the site ofBethsaidain a 1985 article,an identification which the State of Israel made official in 1989 after excavations in 1987. Pixner showed the site toPope John Paul IIin March 2000, declaring a key excavated from the site to be the "key to the first Vatican."Thetellhad previously been dismissed byWilliam F. Albrightin the 1930s as a potential site for Bethsaida, but Pixner discoveredHellenisticandRomanartefacts while walking throughSyriantrenches after theSix-Day War.

Works

• 1986.Glory of Bethlehem.Judson Press.ISBN0-8170-1109-9
• 1992.With Jesus Through Galilee: According to the Fifth Gospel.Corazin Publishing.ISBN0-8146-2427-8
• 1996.With Jesus In Jerusalem: His First and Last Days in Judea.Corazin Publishing.ISBN965-434-004-6
• 1991.Paths of the Messiah And Sites of the Early Church from Galilee to Jerusalem.Ignatius.ISBN978-0-89870-865-3