Spirituality In Religion

The point I want to discuss in the blog post is how spirituality and how Yahweh is experienced changes through out time. We know that Jews carried Yahweh in the Ark of the Covenant and that God 'dwelled' in the temple in Jerusalem. These were locations in which Yahweh could be worshipped or experienced. Ezekiel was responsible for a new sacred geography; a graduation of holiness across the city divided up by sections. With each section there is a dilution of this holiness (Armstrong 85). The Temple was the most holy, consisting the king, priests, and Levites. Beyond the reach of the holiness existed the rest of the world (86). And with this, the idea of city being the center of the world became apparent. The idea of God existing only in the temple started to weaken. Spirituality became more than just a journey on a specific earthly location (115). What is interesting is that despite the idea that God could be experienced elsewhere, there was still respect for the Temple. There was a concern for Hasmoneans and their damage to the integrity of the Temple (120). To me, it seems like there is still something special with the temple. And this may be the cause of how we view sacred. Once Jesus joins the scene, spirituality takes another direction. With Jesus there was the belief that God's presence could be felt more immediately. This was seen in exorcisms and healing miracles supposedly going on during Jesus' time (145). I think this may have been the breaking point for Judaism. Spirituality could be expressed outside of the temple. But with Jesus, spirituality had become too easy to experience. Spirituality is an important component of religion and dictates how you view your connection to the divine.