BETHLEHEM -- In his years teaching classic and modern Hebrew literature in Miami, Samuel Pagán's classroom consisted of four walls and some modern audiovisual equipment. It was efficient but sterile.

Today his classroom consists of the mountains, valleys, deserts, caves and archaeological treasures of the Holy Land. A recent teaching session unfolded in the Qumran Caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Another took place in the Church of the Nativity, erected over the place where tradition holds that Jesus of Nazareth was born.

As a Christian missionary and scholar of Hebrew scriptures, Pagán instructs Christians and Muslims from around the world in the values of the Old Testament. He also has translated the Bible from Hebrew to modern Spanish.

''To study the Bible in the same geographical context in which it emerged opens new possibilities for the understanding, interpretation and application of its message,'' said Pagán, 58, who left a teaching job at the Florida Center for Theological Studies to accept the prestigious new role. ``In Jerusalem, the Bible stops being just another book and becomes a living thing.''

Pagán and his wife, Nohemí, 56, moved from Miami to Jerusalem in February as missionaries for the Board of Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), whose membership in the United States numbers about two million. In an ecumenical effort, the board supports the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

One of Pagán's favorite teaching sites is the Chapel of St. Jerome, a grotto inside the Church of the Nativity that has been used since medieval times for teaching. That's where St. Jerome produced a fourth-century Latin translation of the Bible known as the Vulgate.

''It is thrilling to welcome pilgrims who wish to know the Holy Land and delve deeply into the biblical message,'' he said. ``It isn't every day that a Hispanic pastor has the opportunity to live such significant experiences.''

At a time when the Middle East's Christian population is decreasing due to intense emigration to the West, ministers and teachers like Pagán encourage the pilgrimage of believers seeking a transforming religious experience.

Pagán is the author of more than 30 Spanish-language books on theology, including El tiempo está cerca (The Time is Near) and De lo profundo,Señor, a ti clamo (From the Bottom of My Heart, I Cry to You Lord). Fluent in Hebrew, he is also an expert in the Tanak, the collective name for the Torah and two other portions of scripture that comprise the Bible used in Rabbinic Judaism.

That has earned him the respect of the Christian community in his native Puerto Rico and in South Florida, where he was pastor of the University Christian Church in South Miami.

''He is a specialist in a very difficult field. . . . For a Hispanic non-Jew to reach that level is an incalculable achievement,'' said Daniel Alvarez, an academician in Florida International University's Department of Religious Studies. ``Besides, he has opened doors to Hispanic youths so they may enter the same field where he was pioneer.''

The road has been long for Pagán, a chemical engineer who changed his vocation in 1973.

''I discovered myself not so much in the natural sciences but in the world of religious philosophies,'' he said. ``It was an awakening. I simply felt better.''

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