Byzantine Jerusalem

We really didn't get into Byzantine Jerusalem till the very end. I think a better name for this class would be the Beginning of christian Jerusalem. It all starts with Constatine. There were Christians before Constatine, but Constatine was the people who really catalized the growth of Christianity, in mym opinion. In 313 he allowed Christianity to be a legal religion. In 324, Constatine held the Council of Nicaea to reconcile all the different sects of Christianity. As is today, there is a lot to argue about with Christianity. How much human is Jesus? How much God? What is the role of Judaism now? And all the different positions and levels of belief existed. If Constatine was going to use christianity to unite his empire, then he needed christianity to be united. So he helf this concil, and it is from this that the Trinity emerged- a theological concept to reconcile Jesus being fully man, and fully God. You could say that the Western view of Christ won out at this council over the Eastern view. the 7th cannon was also adapted which said that Aelia (Jerusalem) should have an honored position. This council was in many ways a move away from the teachings of Jesus. It also combines Church and State, a messy affair which is still attempted by many countries.

We also talked about Helena, who is the mother of Constatine. She was given the title of Augusta by Constatine, which means she mhad an important role in the governemtn. She went to Jerusalem to inquire about Jesus, and his life in Jerusalem. Mark Twain mocks the way she went about looknig for the cross, and the site were Jesus was crucified. but it was Helena who ordered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the new axis mundi for Christians. I think by establishing a different 'most holy spot' christians helped break with Jews even more. For instance, Christians for the most part stay away from the Temple Mount and stay closer to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. By not seeing Christians in Jew's holy spots, literally seeing, going to the Wall, and not seeing Christians, it reinforces a separation between Jews and Christians.