Bibliography
| Title: The Defense of Jerusalem in the Roman Siege of 70 C.E.: A Study of First Century Apocalyptic Ideas Type: Thesis Year: 1980 Abstract: "This dissertation is an investigation of the apocalyptic eschatological beliefs prevalent among Jews and Christians in the city of Jerusalem before and during the Roman-Jewish war of 66-70 C.E. After a brief examination of the main source for our knowledge of the events of the war, that is, the writings of Josephus, I examine those writings which illumine the apocalyptic eschatological beliefs about Jerusalem, the temple and Messiah. Included among these writings are those which are generally designated as pseudepigraphic. It is clear from these writings that Jews at the time of the war believed that Jerusalem and the temple belonged to God and that God would not allow the city of the temple to be violated. There was also the belief that a divinely appointed agent(s) would appear, though there is no consistent picture as to whether he would be a military or priestly leader. In this description of the defense of the city, Josephus suggests that the city was well defended with strong walls and deep valleys. The archaeological evidence for the walls confirms Josephus description. During the war, the defenders put up a valiant defense, and, while they trusted n the Lord for assistance, they also looked to their weapons. The Jews fought the Romans at every turn and only when the temple was destroyed by fire did they become disheartened. I examine Josephus' description of the various revolutionary groups which precipitated the war in order to discover their apocalyptic eschatological expectations. The revolutionary groups became involved in internecine conflict within the city and Josephus' account suggest this conflict was based, in part, on their differing apocalyptic eschatological expectations. Their differences in belief created basic problems for them in attempting to cooperate in the defense of the city. Josephus indicates that their expectations for divine aid encouraged the Jews to continue to defend the city until the temple was destroyed. Finally, I examine the role of the Jerusalem Christians in the war. After determining that the apocalyptic eschatological expectations of the Jerusalem Christians was centered on the parousia of the Messiah, I turn to the question of whether of not these Christians fled to Pella as reported by Eusebius. In light of the expectations among Christians for the parousia of the Messiah, I conclude that for the Jerusalem Christians to have fled to Pella would have been possible only if they had been willing to give up their apocalyptic eschatological beliefs. Since this is unlikely, the Jerusalem Christians must have remained within the city to the end. The apocalyptic eschatological beliefs held by both Jews and Christians in Palestine in the first century C.E. played a significant role in the Jewish war". Keywords: History of the Judean War (66-73) |