Reading Response Wed. Sept. 21

In chapters 8-10, Armstrong describes the beginning of the ‘new Jerusalem’ after the destruction of the temple, the changing religions and empires and leadership of the city, and finally ends with the foreshadowing of Islam entering the city. Although they were full of great detail and descriptions, these chapters were more confusing than previous ones.  Armstrong did a lot of name dropping and there are so many people involved in these parts of history that I found myself re-reading several sections to try to understand who was connected to who and who was in charge of what and who believed what doctrine and so on. The politics involved in these chapters was overwhelming; sometimes the Christians were ahead, sometimes the Jews were ahead. As we mentioned in class on Wednesday, the history of Jerusalem also, sadly, conjures up feelings of disappointment. As a Christian/Jew/Muslim, one expects their ancestors/forefathers to be people of good intentions and act in good faith. It is disheartening to understand the nitty-gritty aspects of creating a religious empire and the ungodly things that people sometimes do. I also was upset at the continuing theme of hypocrisy and the beginnings of anti-Semitism in these chapters. I counted maybe four or more instances of Armstrong saying something along the lines of ‘and an edict was passed and the Jews were again banned from Israel’. I had never really learned about the hate and violence between Jews and Christians; instruction usually focuses on the conflict between Jews and Muslims. I was also surprised by the bloodshed that accompanied these types of politics. When Eudokia allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem and celebrate Sukkoth, the Jews surrounded the Temple. Armstrong tells us, “they were attacked by a miraculous shower of stones which rained down upon them from heaven. Many Jews were killed on the mount; others died as they tried to escape, and their bodies filled the streets and courtyards of the city” (206). Those strong images show a bit of the ongoing battles that ensued as a result of changing leadership and the vengeance that both sides unleashed on each other. 

Overall, these chapters surprised me. As a Christian, it was extremely interesting to learn about the early church and the beginnings of Jerusalem as a holy spot for Christians. It was especially interesting for me to understand how the religion and the doctrine have changed so much from when they first began. Jerusalem doesn’t mean much more to me than understanding the geographical occurrences of bible stories; however, it was interesting that it began to become as sacred as the temple was for the Jews. Christians began to venerate these locations as if it would bring them closer to God, something that they had previously judged the Jews for. The tables turn often, and there is always a group that is the underdog.