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Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins

by Joan E. Taylor

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The origins of Christian holy places in Palestine and the beginnings of Christian pilgrimage to these sites have seemed obscure. From a detailed examination of the literature and archaeology pertaining to specific sites and the region in general, the present author finds no evidence thatChristians of any kind venerated 'holy places' before the fourth century. It appears that scholarly Christians had visited certain Biblical sites out of historical and exegetical concerns, but that these sites were not considered holy, or the visitors as 'pilgrims'. Instead, the origins ofChristian pilgrimage and holy places rest with the emperor Constantine, who established four basilicas in Palestine c. 325-30 and provided two imperial matrons, Helena and Eutropia, as examples of a new kind of pious pilgrim. Pilgrimage to intrinsically sacred shrines had been a pagan practice,which was grafted on to Christianity. Many Jewish, Samaritan, and pagan sites were thereafter appropriated by the church and turned into Christian holy places. This process helped to destroy the widespread paganism of Palestine and mark the country as a 'holy land'. Very few sites are genuine,the most important being the cave (not Garden) of Gethsemane, in which Jesus was probably arrested.… (more)
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This book is a revision of the author’s doctoral dissertation, accepted by the University of Edinburgh. In it, Taylor examines the claims of a school of archaeologists, known by the names of two prominent researchers, Bagatti and Testa. The Bagatti-Testa school asserts that Christian holy places in Palestine are genuine since the memory of the locations was kept alive by a group of Jewish-Christians with links to Jesus and his followers.
Taylor demonstrates that the assumption of such a group is flawed. This school relied on an outdated definition of the theology of these supposed Jewish-Christians to interpret archaeological data they had turned up, while the author of the definition, Danielou, relied on these archaeological reports as “proof” of his assertion — an interesting case of circularity. In addition, these scholars fell prey to at least one set of forgeries that happened to align neatly with their theories.
Taylor proposed an alternate explanation for the history of these sites, such as the nativity cave of Bethlehem, the supposed site of the crucifixion, and the location of the ascension. She dates them to the time of Constantine and relates them to his program of showing that Christianity had triumphed over paganism. In the case of Golgotha, for instance, Constantine razed a temple dedicated to Venus in Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem) to make way for a basilica, now the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
In doing so, Constantine essentially created the industry of Christian pilgrimage, taking over a practice beloved by pagans, but unknown prior to the fourth century among Christians. Taylor draws the useful distinction between historia (investigative tours by the scholarly-minded to supplement their study of writings about these places) and pilgrimage, which she defines as visiting sites venerated as holy for the purpose of prayer and remembrance. Earlier Christians, she asserts, “appear to have had no interest in the sanctification of the material land of Palestine, or any part of it, before Constantine” (p. 338).
This book is more clearly-written than many dissertations. In common with other good dissertations, though, the steps of Taylor’s argument are clearly laid out, with a summary at the end of each chapter of conclusions drawn along the way, then a chapter offering an excellent synthesis of her own account of how these sites developed, followed by a final chapter providing a conclusion of the entire book. This last chapter seems to repeat itself in places and could have been more tightly edited.
The potential audience for this book might be small, but those interested in the topic will be richly-rewarded by engaging with this book, either by reading it in its entirety or by x-raying it. For those who choose to do the latter, my recommendation would be to read the first two chapters, then look for the summaries at the end of chapters 3 through 12, then read chapter 13 and the conclusion. ( )
  HenrySt123 | Jul 19, 2021 |
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The origins of Christian holy places in Palestine and the beginnings of Christian pilgrimage to these sites have seemed obscure. From a detailed examination of the literature and archaeology pertaining to specific sites and the region in general, the present author finds no evidence thatChristians of any kind venerated 'holy places' before the fourth century. It appears that scholarly Christians had visited certain Biblical sites out of historical and exegetical concerns, but that these sites were not considered holy, or the visitors as 'pilgrims'. Instead, the origins ofChristian pilgrimage and holy places rest with the emperor Constantine, who established four basilicas in Palestine c. 325-30 and provided two imperial matrons, Helena and Eutropia, as examples of a new kind of pious pilgrim. Pilgrimage to intrinsically sacred shrines had been a pagan practice,which was grafted on to Christianity. Many Jewish, Samaritan, and pagan sites were thereafter appropriated by the church and turned into Christian holy places. This process helped to destroy the widespread paganism of Palestine and mark the country as a 'holy land'. Very few sites are genuine,the most important being the cave (not Garden) of Gethsemane, in which Jesus was probably arrested.

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