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The Temple
1 The temple is the physical point of the privileged encounter with the absolute. However, for the community at large, the temple was only seen from the outside and therefore presented as an indirect declaration of the nature of the absolute.
2 In Mesopotamia, the temple was conceived of as the dwelling of a statue of a god. The dwelling as such is an icon of the divine presence within the community.
3 The Mesopotamian temple was a reference point for popular spirituality even though it was not a gathering place like a basilica. This can be deduced by its visible prominence (as in the case of the ziggurat), in ledgers of offerings to the temple, and in the inscriptions which detail the reasons for the construction of a temple.
Back to top: Chapter 20
The Temple in Jerusalem
4 The construction of the temple in Jerusalem was seen as rooted in God’s decision, and it was seen as a house only for his name. There was only to be one temple in the whole country, in order to avoid suggesting a multiplicity of dwellers. The temple became the institutionalization of the place of God’s manifestation.
5 The participation of the people in the life of the temple was important, since all other temples were eliminated. But this very participation was opposed by the prophets. Later, the temple was replaced by the synagogue as a place for proclamation and assembly, which became increasingly central to spirituality.
6 The temple is a dwelling only to the extent that God chooses to dwell there. The notion of an icon acquires a very special value: the temple refers to the living God. The fact that the may expire in its physical integrity does not touch divine reality, but only the temple building as a referent.