RR #4 - Chapters 5-8

Hello Everyone. :)

I'm going to be perfectly honest. I had a really hard time getting through Chapter 6: "Antioch in Judea." It just seemed to be a never ending sequence of this person conquered these people, and they were banished so they took it back, and then some other person came in and conquered them, but he let them keep their beliefs, so they were OK with it, but then that empire fell and a whole 'nother kerfluffle started.

Once it transitioned into the Common Era, I was able to focus a bit more, because I had more historical context. But still, the constant occupation and war and rebellion continued. My gosh, it must have been exhausting (yes, I'm being facetious). A lot of the things that happened really annoyed me and tweaked my sense of justice. Such as the various banishment(s) of people from Jerusalem. When the Jews ruled, no Gentiles were allowed to live in the city, and several times, the Jews were banished as well. The Gentiles being banned was a matter of religion, whereas the Jews being banished was a matter of security and fearing more rebellions. While both these things seem very primitive, I guess that it's a very human type of reaction- keeping people that are 'other' out.  I do wonder on the logistics of this though. How did they know that someone was a gentile or a Jew? Was it how they dressed? Did they have documentation? I'd like to know how this was accomplished.

Another point of interest for me, was how some of the main traditions of Judaism changed after the destruction of Herod's temple. I figured that they stopped doing sacrifices slowly as time went on and the cultures changed, as opposed to a school of Rabbis deciding that charity and mercy was enough of an offering. This seems like a much more modern concept, and a quick change from the primitiveness of human sacrifice.