Christian Zionism - New Life Tabernacle of Chattanooga

must be destroyed; the third Jewish Temple will be built; priests consecrated;
and sacrifices reinstituted in fulfilment of biblical prophecy and to hasten the
coming of Messiah. 943
6.2 The Origins of Christian Support for the Temple Movement
The necessity of having a rebuilt Temple to desecrate is a logical conclusion if
a literal and futurist reading of passages, such as Daniel 9 and Matthew 24, is
accepted. However, it is rare to find such an expectation in Christian writings
prior to the 20 th Century. 944 Indeed this contradicts the stance taken by the
Early Church, for which the Temple had ceased to hold any significance. 945
When the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built opposite the then
derelict site of the Temple, it was deliberately designed to parallel the layout
of Herod’s Temple. 946 In Eusebius’ Life of Constantine, he explains the
symbolism of the church’s design: ‘Over the true memorial of salvation was
built the New Jerusalem, facing the far-famed Jerusalem of old time,’ 947
suggesting the new basilica had replaced the Temple both symbolically and
actually. 948 Thomas Ice and Randall Price claim, ‘By placing the church
directly opposite and facing the Temple, and in fact on higher ground
overlooking the Temple, Christians dramatically emphasized the claim of
Christ in John 2:19 that He would destroy the Temple.’ 949 During the
Byzantine era, other churches were built and enhanced in Jerusalem but the
943 Ice & Price, Ready, op.cit.
944 In his 732 page analysis of the future Jewish Temple, Randall Price lists over 40 books
written in the last 30 years but only two written in the 19 th Century. See also B.W. Newton,
‘The Renewal of the Near East’ in B.W. Newton and Dr S.P. Tregelles, Teachers of the Faith
and the Future, edited by George H. Fromow, (Taunton, Phoenix Press, n.d.), pp121-127;
W.E. Blackstone, Jesus is Coming, (London, Fleming H. Revell, 1916), p191; G. H. Pember,
The Great Prophecies of the Centuries Concerning Israel and the Gentiles, Fifth Edition,
(London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1902). George Pember apparently dominated prophetic
study in Britain during the Victorian era and was regarded by G.H. Lang as ‘pre-eminently a
teacher of teachers and one of the best exponents of prophetic scripture.’ Price, Coming,
op.cit.
945 While Irenaeus, Hippolytus and Origen believed a literal Temple would be rebuilt, in the
Epistle of Barnabas and writings of Chrysostom and Jerome the Church itself was seen as the
Temple described in 2 Thessalonians. Cited in T.L. Frazier, A Second Look at the Second
Coming, (Ben Lomond, California, Conciliar Press, 1999), pp141-142.
946 Egeria’s Travels in the Holy Land, translated by John Wilkinson, (Jerusalem, Ariel, 1981),
p167.
947 Ibid., p167.
948 Ice & Price, Ready, op.cit., p33.
949 Ibid., p34.
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