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Title: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Subtitle: The History of Christianity in Jerusalem and the Holy City's Most Important Church
Author: Kosta Kafarakis, Charles River Editors
Narrator: Kenneth Ray
Format: Unabridged
Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-20-17
Publisher: Charles River Editors
Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: History, Ancient
Publisher's Summary:
The most famous church in Jerusalem for nearly 2,000 years, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, often called the Church of the Resurrection, was built in the era of St. Constantine, and the church as a structure has no history separable from the city of Jerusalem and its environs. It is venerated as being on the site where Jesus was crucified and buried, and naturally, making it a crucial pilgrimage site for Christians, and it is now the home of the Greek Orthodox Jerusalem Patriarchate. Moreover, it was the site of many important councils, some of which altered Christian history forever. In short, the Sepulchre was and is synonymous with Jerusalem, and it was essentially the nodal center of the city.
Naturally, the Church has had a turbulent history just as Jerusalem has. Under the Emperor Vespasian, Jerusalem was attacked and depopulated by Roman forces in 70 CE, and from 131-134, the Jewish revolt invited another Roman reprisal. Over and over again, Jerusalem has been decimated, sacked and razed. In 135, Hadrian rebuilt the city as a Roman outpost and called it "Aelia Capitolina" (Sicker, 2-3), and even the era of St. Constantine provided no respite from wars and dislocation. The Emperor Hadrian also removed Jews from the city upon its renovation (Sicker, 2-4).
In 313, Constantine the Great converted the Roman Empire and stopped the persecution of Christians, but the problems were far from over in Jerusalem. Jerusalem at the time was a center of pagan worship, with the emperor's main sanctuary being the temple of "Jupiter Capitolinus". The persecution had ended, but the hostility between Christians and non-Christians continued.
Members Reviews:
Fascinating look at one of Christianity's most important sites
âThe Church of the Holy Sephulcreâ by Kosta Kafarakis is subtitled âThe History of Christianity in Jerusalem and the Holy Cityâs Most Important Church.â It describes how the church was originally built (and destroyed several times) and the critical role the church and its clergy played in the development of Christianity in the Holy Land and beyond. The church also had a large, and sometimes questionable, impact on the development of numerous heresies that arose for several hundred years after the death of Christ.
Whatâs fascinating is how the church survived various sieges (by the Romans on a number of occasions, the Persians, and various attacks by Islamic armies and crusaders) and how it was almost routinely destroyed and rebuilt. Itâs a well-informed account, noting the nuances and complexities of church history, and how the church, its clergy, and its people survived hostile, brutal, and often murderous events.
Constructed over the place traditionally associated with the tomb of Jesus, the church has recently been investigated by archaeologists and other scientists, and the actual tomb exposed for the first time in centuries.
âThe Church of the Holy Sephulcreâ is a concise, fascinating look at one of Christianityâs most important sites and how itâs survived for almost 2,000 years.
Huge Disappointment
The book was a huge disappointment. There are only about 20 pages of narrative with only a light discussion of the events occurring over 1300 years of the church's history.
