| − | On [[Mount Zion]] in [[Jerusalem]], and entering the room below that of the Last Supper of Jesus, identified wrongly as such by the Crusaders, close to the present day [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Dormition Abbey]], one views the huge remembrance stone indicating the tomb of [[King David]] from [[The Crusades|Crusader times]]. Outside the tomb enclosure, there are usually [[Judaism|Orthodox Jews]] [[Prayer|praying]]. But behind the remembrance stone on the wall of the room facing the [[Temple Mount]], one can see the niche at the exact height above the ground for the scrolls of the Bible to be placed. This indicates that the room had originally been a synagogue. Walking around the outside of the room in the courtyard, one can see the "Herodian" stone blocks with their characteristic and tell-tale incised borders. So this room was originally built in the first century. Further, the stones were of different sizes and shapes indicating that this was their secondary placement having been brought here from elsewhere, perhaps the destroyed temple area itself. During the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, an artillery shell landed in the courtyard, shattering the successive layers of plaster of the room within, until the last layer could be seen, extending down past the Ottoman Turk, Early Muslim, Crusader, Byzantine period floor levels, ending at the original 1st century floor. This was further confirmation that the room was built in the first century. There were [[prayer]]s in [[Greek Language|Greek]] to Jesus inscribed on the wall. This indicates that the synagogue was a [[Hellenism|Hellenistic-oriented]] Jewish Christian synagogue (similar to the New Testament reference of the Jewish "synagogue of the Libertines", Acts 6:9). It also explains why the room, right across the valley from the Temple Mount, was not oriented to it in the usual way so that the worshipers would face the temple, but was rather facing north in the exact direction of both the later "Constantinian" Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the most recent "Gordon's Calvary" - the two contenders for the site of the [[crucifixion]], burial and [[resurrection]] of Jesus. | + | On Mount Zion in [[Jerusalem]], and entering the room below that of the Last Supper of Jesus, identified wrongly as such by the Crusaders, close to the present day [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Dormition Abbey]], one views the huge remembrance stone indicating the tomb of [[King David]] from [[The Crusades|Crusader times]]. Outside the tomb enclosure, there are usually [[Judaism|Orthodox Jews]] [[Prayer|praying]]. But behind the remembrance stone on the wall of the room facing the [[Temple Mount]], one can see the niche at the exact height above the ground for the scrolls of the Bible to be placed. This indicates that the room had originally been a synagogue. Walking around the outside of the room in the courtyard, one can see the "Herodian" stone blocks with their characteristic and tell-tale incised borders. So this room was originally built in the first century. Further, the stones were of different sizes and shapes indicating that this was their secondary placement having been brought here from elsewhere, perhaps the destroyed temple area itself. During the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, an artillery shell landed in the courtyard, shattering the successive layers of plaster of the room within, until the last layer could be seen, extending down past the Ottoman Turk, Early Muslim, Crusader, Byzantine period floor levels, ending at the original 1st century floor. This was further confirmation that the room was built in the first century. There were [[prayer]]s in [[Greek Language|Greek]] to Jesus inscribed on the wall. This indicates that the synagogue was a [[Hellenism|Hellenistic-oriented]] Jewish Christian synagogue (similar to the New Testament reference of the Jewish "synagogue of the Libertines", Acts 6:9). It also explains why the room, right across the valley from the Temple Mount, was not oriented to it in the usual way so that the worshipers would face the temple, but was rather facing north in the exact direction of both the later "Constantinian" Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the most recent "Gordon's Calvary" - the two contenders for the site of the [[crucifixion]], burial and [[resurrection]] of Jesus. |
| | This "Kibla" or "prayer direction" is in accord with an ancient practice of facing the direction of importance. For the Old Testament and Judaism, the kibla was facing Jerusalem, and, in particular if within the city of Jerusalem, this meant facing the temple. For Islam (after it disavowed Jerusalem as the kibla), it meant facing [[Mecca]]. And, at one time, for Christians, it meant facing the East, the direction of the rising sun<ref>Malachi 4 in Protestant Bibles (e.g. KJV) Malachi 3 in Catholic Bibles (e.g. NAB)</ref> and also the direction from which Christ would return. Almost all Catholic and Orthodox churches from ancient times to this day are built so that the congregation faces east toward the [[altar]].<ref>Shortly after the [[Second Vatican Council]] many newer, "more modern" Catholic church buildings were constructed for worship "in the round", or existing churches were renovated by extensive interior reconstruction, with the [[altar]] in the center of the main sanctuary or auditorium and the seating arranged almost entirely 360<sup>o</sup> or alternately 180<sup>o</sup> around it as the focal point of worship.</ref> | | This "Kibla" or "prayer direction" is in accord with an ancient practice of facing the direction of importance. For the Old Testament and Judaism, the kibla was facing Jerusalem, and, in particular if within the city of Jerusalem, this meant facing the temple. For Islam (after it disavowed Jerusalem as the kibla), it meant facing [[Mecca]]. And, at one time, for Christians, it meant facing the East, the direction of the rising sun<ref>Malachi 4 in Protestant Bibles (e.g. KJV) Malachi 3 in Catholic Bibles (e.g. NAB)</ref> and also the direction from which Christ would return. Almost all Catholic and Orthodox churches from ancient times to this day are built so that the congregation faces east toward the [[altar]].<ref>Shortly after the [[Second Vatican Council]] many newer, "more modern" Catholic church buildings were constructed for worship "in the round", or existing churches were renovated by extensive interior reconstruction, with the [[altar]] in the center of the main sanctuary or auditorium and the seating arranged almost entirely 360<sup>o</sup> or alternately 180<sup>o</sup> around it as the focal point of worship.</ref> |