Chapter 8-10

Chapter 8 continues talking about the destruction that Jerusalem was going through; it talks about the discrimination and persecution of Jews at the Roman times. Roman occupation to that land years ago, not only destroyed the city and its holy places, but also persecuted the Christians that came after. It is interesting when we see all these similarities between the Christians and Jews, from the way living, to the religious aspects, both were not happy with one another. This chapter also mentions the importance of Jerusalem to Christians at that time, and how they felt towards it. It goes in more details about the Christian faith and Jerusalem. I liked the statement that said how Jews and Romans should put history behind and start over, meaning to remove tens of years of destruction and continue in peace, something that is really hard to achieve. It is unfortunate to see how the results of the war and the way the Jews fought were the only way that the Romans and Rome realized their respect to the Jews. It is really interesting to see how Christians did not only visit Jerusalem, the city, but other cities that Christianity was founded within, as the Jordan Valley. I did not know that Christianity was only considered as official religion until more than 300 years after the birth of Jesus.

“The New Jerusalem” chapter talks about Christianity and how fast it spread. It also talks about fights and problems that rose between different Bishops. It is clear how personal ego and benefits (probably) since early history brought problems between nations and faiths. It goes into the details of Helena’s visit to Palestine, other scholars, the discovery of part of the cross, the tomb, etc. I am not sure why Armstrong skipped important dates of Jesus in Jerusalem, but focused more on the findings and discoveries aftermath. It is fascinating that when Jews were living in Jerusalem, it was called Palestine, while when Christians took power, they called it Israel.

Christians considered the earthquake that happened to Jerusalem as “miracle” while for Jews and for their efforts in rebuilding the temple was a disaster; this shows how each one see things from a different view than another. And we go back to destruction, when the Persians invaded Jerusalem, massacred its Christian inhabitants and destroyed their holy places.