We walked into the Old City through New Gate, then wound our way through the southern part of the city, ending up at Jaffa Gate. This is one of the typical streets in the Old City - stoned walkways and lots of small shops with their wares on the walk for display to attract passers-by.
We noticed the Old City was relatively empty, and as we walked by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there were very few people in it. It is usually packed with people. We waited only about 10 minutes to get into the burial tomb, which is considered by most Christian religions as the tomb of Jesus' burial. The tomb is above ground. Many protestants believe the tomb is across from Damascus Gate. Some of the BYU professors say this is the more likely site in many ways than the Garden Tomb by Damascus Gate. Of course, no one knows. There are many Christians who come here who reverence this spot. There are 6 Christian denominations that manage part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The stone inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus body was laid after he was taken from the cross. The upper part of the picture is Calvary, where Jesus was crucified. It is a hill, but the church has been built up around and over it, with stairs leading up to the place of the cross.
The Mormon Church promised the Israeli government its members would not proselyte in Israel. It was required during construction of the BYU Jerusalem Center. This shows one of the ways the requirement is met. This truck is shredding LDS lesson manuals, etc. so they cannot inadvertently get into circulation in the community. BYU is very strict about complying with this promise to the government. I oversaw the destruction of the material - in this case it was 2 garbage cans of material and cost the Jerusalem Center a couple hundred dollars to shred.
No comments:
Post a Comment