Christians vs Jews: The Holy City

Christianity, one of the three faiths of Jerusalem, (as the book title suggests) has had its influence on the city by chapter 10 of Armstrong’s read. Unable to celebrate their ancestral rituals, because it “could only be damning to the interests of the empire, whose well being depended on the support of the God,” the Jews were naturally up roared (Armstrong 194).   When asked why they no longer offered sacrifice to God according to the Law of Moses, the elders gave reason: 

“We are not allowed by our to Law to sacrifice outside the Holy City.” 

They further question: 

“How can we do it now?”

By “do it now”- it is apparent the Jews feel deprived of sacrifice and right to worship as they further plead…

“Restore to us the city, rebuild the Temple and the altar, and we shall over sacrifices as in days of old” (Armstrong 194). 

The desire and need for sacred space, described by Elliade, can be heard in their pleas and is further suggested by the “wild enthusiasm” ringing through the Jewish communities. It can be observed in the building of a temporary synagogue “in one of the ruined porches of the Temple Mount,” lending further evidence to the need for sacred space in Jewish worship (Armstrong 195). Furthermore, the Temple was supervised and Christians may have been instructed to restore the property that belonged by rights to the Jewish people. 

It appears that strides are certainly being made for the Jews, that their faith has turned around, but there is still a fight brewing…

In an attempt to avert building the Temple on the Temple Mount, coined “a disaster,” Christians of Jerusalem gathered in the Martyrium and to the Mount of Olives, while singing Jewish psalms that had made their own. The disrespect shown towards the Jewish people by the Christians in this act is appalling, to say the very least. Accustomed to the decline of Judaism, Christians were told by Bishop Cyril “not to lose hope,” as he claimed the new Temple would never be completed. This was a foretelling as Armstrong explains (Armstrong 196). 

It seems that a “battle” for the Holy City is continuing and foreshadows that the Jewish people will not have the sacred place they need for worship.

image from giphy.com