There were several principal themes that I found significant from this week's reading of Karen Armstrong's Jerusalem: the loss of the Temple and what this meant for Judaism, the birth and spread of Christianity, as well as the ways in which this new faith affected Judaism, and finally, how the idea of 'sacred geography' manifested itself in both of these religions. Over all, these chapters highlighted the huge amount of change that was taking place within religion during this time, not only in terms of the relationship between God and his people, but also relating to physical representations of the sacred and divine.
It is interesting to note how both the Jews and the Christians reacted to the loss (for the Jews) or the gain (Christians) of their sacred geography. When the Temple was destroyed, the Jews found consolation in studying the Torah, and they believed that God's presence would follow them wherever they were, as long as they studied religious texts in groups. They also replaced animal sacrifice with acts of charity and compassion, for they began believing that they could experience God's presence in other human beings. Therefore, it seems like at this point in time, physical space representing divinity ceased to be important, but rather they saw human beings representative of sacred space.
Sacred geography was sort of the opposite for the Christians. They believed Jesus' main objective had been to remind them of the "spiritual nature of religion," so that they would focus more on the invisible, indescribable facets of religion, rather than physical structures which had been typical of Judaism. However, once the Christians tore down the pagans' Temple of Aphrodite and found Jesus' tomb underneath, the importance they placed upon sacred geography changed completely. Armstrong explains that "an unexpected reunion with one of the physical symbols of our faith and culture can reawaken this enthusiasm for sacred space," which is precisely what happened in the Christian mindset. Suddenly, Jerusalem become a city of great significance for Christianity because they now had concrete landmarks representing milestones in their faith (i.e. Jesus' birthplace, his agony in the garden, his resurrection, etc.).
The religious evolution of Jerusalem throughout the centuries has been interesting to read about, moving from paganism to Judaism to Christianity to paganism again, and so on. I can't wait to see how much more confusing things get once Islam is brought into the picture...
It is interesting to note how both the Jews and the Christians reacted to the loss (for the Jews) or the gain (Christians) of their sacred geography. When the Temple was destroyed, the Jews found consolation in studying the Torah, and they believed that God's presence would follow them wherever they were, as long as they studied religious texts in groups. They also replaced animal sacrifice with acts of charity and compassion, for they began believing that they could experience God's presence in other human beings. Therefore, it seems like at this point in time, physical space representing divinity ceased to be important, but rather they saw human beings representative of sacred space.
Sacred geography was sort of the opposite for the Christians. They believed Jesus' main objective had been to remind them of the "spiritual nature of religion," so that they would focus more on the invisible, indescribable facets of religion, rather than physical structures which had been typical of Judaism. However, once the Christians tore down the pagans' Temple of Aphrodite and found Jesus' tomb underneath, the importance they placed upon sacred geography changed completely. Armstrong explains that "an unexpected reunion with one of the physical symbols of our faith and culture can reawaken this enthusiasm for sacred space," which is precisely what happened in the Christian mindset. Suddenly, Jerusalem become a city of great significance for Christianity because they now had concrete landmarks representing milestones in their faith (i.e. Jesus' birthplace, his agony in the garden, his resurrection, etc.).
The religious evolution of Jerusalem throughout the centuries has been interesting to read about, moving from paganism to Judaism to Christianity to paganism again, and so on. I can't wait to see how much more confusing things get once Islam is brought into the picture...
No comments:
Post a Comment