2/22 Lecture

Byzantine Jerusalem (312-637 CE)


Rise of Christianity and the Metaphysical Jerusalem
-faith is spiritualized
-Temple is rejected: Jesus "predicts" the destruction of Temple (Mark 13:1-2, Luke 21:20-24), spiritual worship stressed over physical worship (John 4:19-26)
-vision of "new" Jerusalem (Revelation 21-22): Jerusalem still plays an important role, but becomes symbolized
-Jerusalem becomes important to Christians because it is where Jesus was said to have been crucified, buried, and resurrected
-Madaba Map: mosaic map of the Holy Land on church floor (in Jordan)
     -accurate depiction of the Holy Land in 6th C. CE
     -Jerusalem looks like a Roman city
     -Temple Mount no longer depicted as the center of Jerusalem -> Church of Holy Sepulcher is the new center
-Church of the Holy Sepulcher
     -primal myths transferred from Temple: Adam buried at Golgotha, Jesus crucified on Golgotha, Abraham bound Isaac on Golgatha, God incarnate, etc.
-Nea Church: resembles Solomon's Temple -> rebuilding a structure that will commemorate Holy Site and absorb already existing traditions


Byzantine History
-Emperor Diocletian institutes Tetrarchy 285 CE: Tetrarchy not very successful...
-Constantine becomes Emperor 312 CE
     -flips Pacifist message of Jesus -> fight/kill in the name of Jesus
     -Edict of Milan 313 CE: legalized Christianity
     -Council of Nicaea 324 CE: theoretical construct of the doctrine of Christianity
     -> Constantine fundamentally transformed Christianity. Formed the orthodox Christianity and called anything the differed to this orthodox a heresy. Did he "use" Christianity to unite the Empire? Were all these achievements under Constantine considered the glorification or destruction of Christianity?
-Helena comes to Jerusalem in 324 CE
     -First Christian pilgrimage
     -dedicates Church of Nativity, Church of the Ascension; rededicates the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (becomes the new axis mundi)
-Julian "the Apostate" rejected Christianity and rebuilt the Jewish Temple (361-363 CE)
-Theodosius names Christianity the state religion 391 CE
-Empress Eudocia makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem 438 CE; builds churches, hospitals, hospices in Jerusalem
-Justinian expands Jerusalem 527-565 CE
     -Nea Church (built for St. Mary, the mother of God), Church of Holy Zion, expansion of Cardo


I thought that this lecture's emphasis on the spiritualization of the faith was very interesting. The spiritualized faith, "Christianity," is the religion I believe in so learning about how this spiritualization came about from a historical perspective was eye-opening because I had always believed that my beliefs about God dwelling in us and us being the Temple for God originated from the beginning of time and was not the "consequence" of a historical event, such as the destruction of the Temple and increased Hellenization. I could understand how these "new" topics would be very confusing to the Jews, whose faith rested on the idea that God was a physical being that appeared to them and that one needed to physically go to the Temple and worship there and nowhere else because that was the place that was assigned by God Himself. The history and evolution of religion is truly fascinating in this sense because I am still very certain that the beliefs that I hold onto are what true. I perceive my beliefs and the history of my beliefs separately, however conflicting they may be...