Reading Chapters 8-10

In this section, I was again struck by the magnitude of importance that this Temple reflected for the Jews of Jerusalem. One quote, on page 155, says that because the Temple had been destroyed,

"the whole of nature should mourn: now that the Temple had gone, there was no need for the earth to bring forth a harvest nor the vine to yield grapes; the heavens should withhold their dew and the sun dim its rays: For why should light rise again Where the light of Zion is darkened?"

This is an incredible description of the entire community feeling constantly at mourn to the point where one man believed that nature, too, should participate in the mourning period for the loss of their sacred space. It saddens me to consider the despair and deep sense of loss the Jewish people must have felt during this time of rebuilding.  Armstrong mentions that many Jews lost their faith as a direct result of the  destruction of the Temple.  Without having a sacred space in which to share and profess their beliefs, some members of the religion felt unable to continue to practice Judaism.  This is an interesting take on just how vital a sacred space can be for the human need for practicality.  Without a direct link to the spiritual world, some Jews lost touch altogether and left the faith.

I had always heard of the tradition of Jewish people turning towards Jerusalem to pray, but in page 157, when Armstrong cites the reasoning behind this, I felt an academic knowledge of the subject that I had not felt before.  She says that the rabbis "drew up legislation to discourage emigration from Palestine and demanded that the Eighteen Benedictions be recited three times a day, in place of the Morning and Evening Sacrifice. Jews must recite these prayers wherever they were: if they were traveling, they should dismount and turn their faces in the direction of Jerusalem, or at least direct their hearts toward the ruined Devir," (157).  This is an incredible insight to the Jewish faith and makes sense that the tradition lasted until the modern day; because no matter how far away the Jews got from Jerusalem, their hearts and minds were always in touch with that lost Sacred Temple of Jerusalem.  This is such a powerful gesture.

It is also interesting that in these chapters we begin to see Armstrong's take on the separation of the Jewish and Christian identities. She gave the description of Jesus as "'the new Adam' who had given humanity a fresh start,"(155).  I find this an interesting comparison because in the Christian faith we are taught that no one is of comparison to Jesus, God, or the Holy Spirit, so it becomes interesting to consider a comparison between the Messiah and a man thru an academic lens. 

I enjoy the discussion of Luke, Matthew, and John from the Gospel. Armstrong describes Luke as someone who didn't want Christianity to cut off its links with Jerusalem and the Jewish faith.  However, she says that according to their teachings in the Bible, both Matthew and John were far less positive about their relations with Jewish people and Jerusalem itself. 

I am enjoying this section more than others because she introduces more characters, from the Bible, that I am familiar with.  I like hearing her perspective on the men that I have always unquestionably believed since Sunday school.  It feels like a good test to my faith and a good academic experience to read this book and hear the stories from a different perspective.