Harry’s Comments (group member since Jan 05, 2012)

Harry’s comments from the Q&A with Harry Freedman group.

I dont think that any religion can eliminate personality defects. Religions tend to be blueprints for a good life and although vulnerable people can be brainwashed by them, I don't think religious belief can ever mask a psychotic personality.

Jerusalem Imperilled is not a religious book and makes no case for religion. It is a fictional account of events in the history of the Jewish and Roman nations; events which had an impact on the relgious belief and practices of the Jews but which were not caused, or to any great degree influenced by, their religious beliefs.

Hello Colin, thanks for joining. I hope you will find this group of interest when you have had a chance to look.

I'm not sure Ben. The reference in the gospels to the 'veil of the Temple being rent' at the crucifixion, is possibly an allusion to the destruction, as if to suggest the two events were connected. This could suggest that the early Christians saw the destruction as the a defining moment in their own history, impelling them to disassociate from the move to Yavneh. Without the destruction- who knows what would have happened?

In my book The Gospels Veiled Agenda I try to show that the early Christians, rather than wanting to split from the Temple, actually wanted to reform it.

Hi Lynn

I think the few documents that exist are in the public domain, I'm certainly not aware of any non-public ones. However I had the advantage of being able to read and understand the Jewish texts in their original language; so much gets lost in translation that research is always best done in the original, if possible.

This topic is for discussion about where historical novelists get their inspiration.

The Jerusalem Temple was the centre of the Jewish religion. It also featured prominently in Jesus's life. When it was destroyed both Judaism and early Christianity were forced to find new ways of expressing themselves. Do you agree that, had it not been destroyed, neither religion would have had the same impact on world history?

Please feel free to ask about how I went about researching and writing Jerusalem Imperilled.

Please introduce yourself to the group, and tell us what interest you have (if any) in 1st Century Israel or the Roman Empire. Are there other historical periods and places that you find interesting?