Reading Response # 5

Armstrong chapters 8-10 focus more on the Christian aspect of the city of Jerusalem. As is her style, Armstrong creates for us a lovely narrative of stories to compile the early history of the Christian influence in Jerusalem. She makes several points that I thought were worth discussing; first I thought it was very interesting to think about the idea that the Theodosian Christians emphasized sacred sites as a place of connecting the physical and the spiritual with God. The belief that if you stood in a place where Jesus stood, you would experience a divine transcendence in which you and God would have a moment and taste paradise. I thought that it was also very interesting that a number of women were major players in the establishing of churches and monasteries on the sacred sites on Jerusalem. I tend to think of the early Christian church as being primarily patriarchal and women being relegated to the role of nun or teacher (missionary) rather than the boss, so to speak. Many of these women were wealthy and powerful, even royalty. In some ways it brings a gentility to the spreading of Christianity, especially because many of the conflicts, like the Crusades, were bloody and antagonized by male aggression. I found the idea of the Bible coming alive by visiting sacred sites reminiscent of how many Christian faiths are based on traditions like the stations of the cross, in which Catholics walk and recite the twelve major moments in Christ's struggle with the cross to Golgotha. This stuck out to me because I was raised Catholic and always attended parochial schools. Therefore, I spent most of my life going to church every week and partaking in many traditions and rituals (because Catholicism is deeply rooted in ritual). I think spending time in sacred places is a way to feel closer to God. Sometimes its hard to find God in the everyday, especially on a college campus. This idea reinforces Jerusalem's stake as a holy city because it is the site where many "holy" things have taken place. Whether or not you believe Jesus is the son of God or whether he walked the earth as a prophet or the Messiah, he stood in places like the Garden of Gethsemane and for many, standing in a place where something great happened helps to understand it.

Armstrong also discusses that Christianity used to be a clandestine religion, forcing its members to worship in secret but it had now become a religion of power and influence. Christians were able to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and experience his suffering as a man. It was the beginning of the realization that his death was painful because he was a man, and his divinity did not spare him from that suffering but rather it was enhanced to enhance the sacrifice he made. It made me think of the film The Passion of the Christ, and whatever your opinions of the film are, when I saw it I think it was the first time I truly realized that Jesus was a man and suffered as a man. I am not making a claim for what is truth or that Christianity is the "right" religion, but I am acknowledging what Armstrong is acknowledging which is that you cannot make a case for the holiness of Jerusalem without taking into account the Christian perspective.

Finally, I think its worth discussing the Christian monks colonizing the Middle East and reclaiming it for God. They believed they had a charge from God to take back the holy land and create new Eden's where Christians can spread the word of God. Unfortunately, we know that any time the word colonies is said, it is typically with a negative tone. Why were these monks to think that they could take the land (land that did not belong to them) and use it for their own purpose? Why is it that the things done "in the name of God" are generally things which modern Christians of today are ashamed of? I can say that I understand the desire to be closer to the holy land where it was believed that God lived, but it is part of the negative legacy of early Christianity in Jerusalem that it was taken by force and kept by force. While they may have believed that holy settlements lessened the burden of the fall of original sin, more sins were committed in the colonization of the holy land.