Vendyl was born in
Sudan, Texas. He received his
bachelor's degree in
divinity, and a
master's degree in
theology from the
Baptist Bible College also studying at the
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, He later took advanced studies at the
Bowen Biblical Museum under Dr. & Mrs. William Bowen and Biblical Archaeologist,
W.F. Albright. Between 1955 and 1956, Jones was pastor of the Dungan Chapel Baptist Church located in
Carter County in Northeast Tennessee. Vendyl came to believe that many apparently
anti-Jewish statements in the
gospels were "omitted in more ancient manuscripts" basing this claim on the "marginal notes" of an unidentified Bible. In October 1956, Jones resigned the pastorate and moved to
Greenville, South Carolina where he began his studies in the
Talmud-Torah (a children's elementary religious school) under Rabbi Henry Barneis. Vendyl lectured for the Biblical Research Society from 1964 to 1967. He then established the Judaic-Christian Research Foundation, which later gave birth to the Institute of Judaic-Christian Research (IJCR), which has now become Vendyl Jones Research Institutes. In 1964, the
Journal of Near Eastern Studies reported the 1952 discovery of the
Marble Tablets in
Beirut,
Lebanon. That same year the
Copper Scroll was found in Cave #3 at
Qumran,
West Bank, which listed the hiding places of 64 sacred articles which included the
Tabernacle and the
Ark of the Covenant.
Move to Israel In April 1967, Jones moved his family to Israel to continue his studies in the Department of Judaica at
Hebrew University. Here, Jones became involved in the archaeological aspects of Israel. He aided the Israeli army during the
Six-Day War. His assistance was in the role of being a spotter, since his color-blindness allowed him to spot camouflage. After the Six-Day War, he was on the Steckoll/Haas excavation team at Qumran, authorized by the
Jordanian Department of
Antiquities before the war. Shortly thereafter, Vendyl's excavations were continued under Israeli authority through the status quo Law. In the years following, Jones continued to work in the Judean wilderness with his friend and mentor
Pessah Bar-Adon. Jones also worked at
Tel Debir (
Kirjath Sepher) with Professor
Moshe Kohavi and
Anson Rainey; the
University of Tel Aviv and the Citadel of
Herod the Great in
Jerusalem with Professor Hillel Geva. After 1972, Vendyl conducted eight excavations at Qumran, involving over 300 volunteers and funded by individual supporters of VJRI. There has been no support nor funding from the government, foundations, or grants. Jones's methods, claims and qualifications have been disputed by academics such as Joe Zias and Robert Elliot Friedman, and Jones has been denied digging permits by the Israeli authorities. In 1988 an excavation team led by Jones found a small
Herodian period jug in a cave near Qumran containing what was possibly balsamic oil, a type of oil which may have been used to anoint some Israelite kings. Jones stated that this was the original
balm of Gilead. This was originally considered to be genuine and was publicised in the media. In the 1992 excavation, the VJRI team announced the discovery of a hidden silo in the bedrock that contained a reddish snuff-looking material that appeared to be organic in nature. His description was analyzed by Zohar Amar of
Bar-Ilan University who noted that "According to Jones, the site where the red material was found corresponds exactly to the description of the ‘‘Cave of the Column” referred to in the Copper Scroll." Amar criticises Jones for being selective with his data, omitting material that challenges his claims. While Jones never sent him a physical sample for analysis, he concludes that the substance found by Jones "is a cleaning material known in the ancient Hebrew as "borit"
[lye] which was produced in this region by the inhabitants of Qumran and was one of their industries." Jones believed his archaeology to have
eschatological significance, and that when he found the ancient religious items he was looking for, God would be revealed to the world, all Jews will return to Israel, and there would be peace in the
Middle East. Also, Israeli democracy will be replaced by a
Sanhedrin, not unlike the
group that was formed by various Israeli rabbis in 2004, and with which Jones was closely associated. In May 2005, it was reported that he had consulted with
Kabbalists and that he believed he would find the Ark of the Covenant by August 14, 2005, the anniversary of the
destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. However, as the date approached and passed he claimed that this was a misquote. He then hoped that a drill-hole bore would reveal the Ark's location in September, but was prevented from proceeding due to lack of funds and the need for another environmental study required by the government. == Noahide movement ==