The Destruction of the Temple: The Role of Ritual

Are rituals pointless?

Background

The Temple in Jerusalem was central to the Jewish faith. Many theologians think that the structure of the Temple mirrored the structure of the story of creation in Genesis. It was built on Mount Moriah, the same mountain on which Abraham was asked to sacrifice his firstborn son.

It was where the people of Israel killed and sacrificed their animals, and would let the blood drain out of them - as God had ordered Noah to do. The Temple was also the site of the holiest rituals in the Jewish Calendar, those of Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and say the name of God given to Moses. Blood sacrifices would be performed to overcome the separation from God caused by sin.

The temple was built to house the Ark of the Covenant which contained the laws of Moses. Solomon was the first King who was considered holy enough to build the Temple.

The Destruction of the Temple

War had broken out between Jewish Rebels and the Roman Empire in 66 CE. The Roman Army was initially humiliated at the hands of the rebels, but the Romans fought back brutally, eventually surrounding Jerusalem, the Jewish Capital and laying siege to it. Josephus, a historian who lived at the time, wrote that a million people died during the siege and in the battles that followed. When the Romans eventually broke through the three great walls of the city, they destroyed the Temple, burning it to the ground, and stealing its treasures. An arch was built in Rome to commemorate the leader of the army and future emperor Titus. It shows the soldiers carrying the Menorah and other sacred objects from the Temple.

The Consequences for the Jews

The Jews attempted to rebel again in what was known as the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132 - 136 CE). Simon Bar Kokhba was acclaimed as the Messiah and he established an independent Jewish state for a couple of years, but eventually, the might of the Roman Army was too much and the rebellion was crushed.

The Roman Emperor Hadrian (117 - 138 CE) attempted to entirely destroy Judaism. He banned the Hebrew Bible and calendar, executed Jewish scholars. The sacred scroll of the Hebrew Bible was ceremonially burned on the Temple Mount, and he place two statues on the holiest parts: one of Jupiter, another of himself.

Eventually, the Jews were kicked out of all of Judea and the province was even named Syria-Palestina to remove all trace of them. Similarly Jerusalem was completely destroyed and when the Romans built a new city, called Aelia Capitolina, on the site, Jews were forbidden entry.

Without the Temple in which to perform many of the sacred rituals, Judaism had to undergo a great transformation in order to survive. A new form of Judaism, known as Rabbinic Judaism developed.

Jesus and the Temple

Many followers of Jesus of Nazareth survived the destruction of the city. Jesus had predicted the end of the temple.

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

–Mark, Chapter 13

The destruction of the Temple wasn't the game-changer for Jesus' message that it was for Judaism. Jesus was considered by his followers to be, himself, the final sacrifice that meant that the rituals associated with the Temple were no longer necessary.

In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist greets Jesus by saying…

Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

–John, Chapter 1

This idea is explained in the Letter to the Hebrews, where it says that the rituals described in the laws were only a ‘shadow’ of the reality of God’s love and forgiveness.

10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world […] 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

—Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 10

Discussion Two competing ideas about sacrifice

In a book called The Golden Bough, James Frazer (1854 - 1941) argued that humankind progresses through different stages. Firstly, humans believe in magic, then they believe in religion and finally they develop scientific understanding. He saw the idea of religious rituals and sacrifices as primitive theories about how they might control the future - ‘If I do this, then this will happen’. I.e. he thought that religious people believed that, by carrying out the rituals, they would get some kind of payoff, as if they could bargain with the gods.

Against these ideas, Ludwig Wittgensetin wrote some remarks published as Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough. In them, he wrote:

Frazer is much more savage than most of his 'savages' [since] his explanations of [their] observances are much cruder than the sense of the observances themselves.

—Ludwig Wittgenstein, Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough

Wittgensteinians tend to argue that Religious rituals are not theoretical. Instead, the rituals help us to express some of our most profound experiences. When we learn religious and psychological concepts, we learn new forms of behaviour. We learn to replace our screams and cries with words and practises.

For example, if you were alone on a desert island, you still might shout out in distress, ‘why has this happened to me?!’ even though no one will hear you. The words make no sense insofar as no one is listening to you, but that’s not the point of them. You don’t say them because you expect someone to answer.

These rituals describe and define experiences, they don’t try to explain them.

Tasks

Explain why the destruction of the Temple was so important for Judaism.
Explain the consequences of the Jewish-Roman wars for the Jewish people.
The destruction of the Temple meant something quite different for the early Christians, why was that?
Who do you find more convincing in their explanations of rituals - Frazer or Wittgenstein? Explain your answer.

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