Reading Response 5

This reading response will cover Armstrong chapters 8-10.  Armstrong opens Chapter 8 writing about the Roman occupation of Jersualem. Something interesting I learned early on in this chapter that Josephus mistakenly labeled a hill in the Western part of the city "Mount Zion" when it was not truly the original "Mount Zion".  Armstrong refers to this mislabeled mountain as "Mount Sion" so as to establish a noticeable difference between the two.  Armstrong then goes on to write about information recorded by Christian historians Eusebius of Caesarea and Epiphanus of Cyprus that says around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, "Jewish Christians returned from Pella and settled alongside the Jews on Mount Sion under the leadership of Simeon" (Armstrong p154). 

I was also surprised to learn about how, following the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, so many individuals fell into a time of disbelief and despair.  Stated on page 155 by Armstrong, "The temple had represented the heart of the world's meaning, the core of the faith. Now life had neither value nor significance, and it seems that in these dark days many Jews lost their faith.It is not true, as has often been asserted, that the Jews had wholly outgrown their Temple".

In the ninth chapter written by Armstrong, I gained a newfound respect for the Emperor Constantine for the way he handled religion as during his rule.  Instead of picking a single religion, and forcing all of his subjects to abide by said religion upon threat of punishment, Emperor Constantine made Christianity the main religion, but did not threaten the order of other religions under his rule.  He had a enough sense to understand that outlawing/banning a certain religion would only cause more difficulty for him as a ruler.  I particularly enjoyed this section of the reading.