Book Review: The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount

The End of Days
Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount

Conflict in the Middle East has resulted in untold death, destruction and suffering. Although many have offered plausible arguments as to the social, political, and economic origins of the various conflicts, inevitably everything keeps coming back to religion: the disagreement and violence between Christians, Jews, and Muslims. This means that understanding the role of religion in these disagreements is necessary to understanding the violence itself.

Summary
Title: The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount
Author: Gershom Gorenberg
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195152050

Pro:
● Fascinating stories and explanations of the people and groups involved
● Personal interviews with many of the most important players in the apocalyptic movements

Con:
● None

Description:
● Engaging account of the conflicting religious visions of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Jerusalem
● Explains the apocalyptic expectations and beliefs fueling the conflict in the Middle East
● Shows how religious beliefs and religious violence can become intertwined

Book Review
Even those well-versed in Middle Eastern history and affairs can be hard-pressed to explain in understandable and straightforward terms why these conflicts exist, why they are so violent, and why everyone is so unwilling to compromise. Not so with Gershom Gorenberg, a journalist and scholar raised in the United States but now living in Jerusalem and author of the book The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount.

it's a relatively slim volume, but it packs a ton of pertinent, well-researched, and enlightening information which make the conflicts and violence in the Middle East so much more understandable. Perhaps it would be better to say "comprehensible," because the complex web of theology, politics, and eschatology may only really be"understandable"to those who believe it and live it on a daily basis. Although much of the violence seems to be a matter solely between Jews and Muslims, in fact Christians play a critical role which cannot be ignored.

All three groups are involved in what amounts to a religious drama — God is directing, they are playing the starring role, and Jerusalem is the stage. Unfortunately, they are all following different scripts. The basic plot, however, is basically the same for all three: The End of Days is approaching. God will punish the wicked and reward the righteous. The Holiest of places must be protected or expanded, for they are the key to the manifestation of God's power and dominion. Sadly, the End may not be approaching quite fast enough — what may be required is proactive involvement of the faithful to ensure that the wicked cannot thwart God's plans for much longer.

The primary locale for all of this is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary), perhaps the most famous and most contested piece of religious real estate in the world. it's where many believe that Cain murdered Abel (ironically enough, it was in a dispute who would own the location, according to one Jewish tradition). Many Jews believe that Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac here. it's where many believe that King David first erected an altar to God. it's where both Solomon and Herod built massive temples. it's where Muslims believe that Muhammad ascended to heaven and where the Dome of the Rock, one of Islam's holiest sites, currently stands.

Primary actors in this drama — or is it a farce? — are the Israelis who are convinced that building the Third Temple, a reconstruction of Solomon's Temple, will initiate the age of the Jewish Messiah. Gorenberg begins his book with the story of Melody, a calf born in August, 1996. She was born red, a critical issue because a red heifer is necessary for sacrifices to recommence in a Third Temple.

True Believers have gathered together in a variety of Third Temple societies in active preparation, even going so far as to prepare the precise clothing, coinage, and sacrificial implements needed for use in a rebuilt Temple. Although some might be tempted to dismiss them as"kooks," they are deadly serious in their plans; although their actual numbers are small, they are backed by widespread sympathy and support in Israeli society. The intransigence of Jewish settlers on Palestinian lands is largely explained by their related belief that all of that land was given to the Jews by God and any attempt to give it up amounts to blasphemy.

Most people probably believe that efforts to build the Third Temple, which would require destroying the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque, would precipitate a Holy War, but the True Believers say that it"Will bring peace, will bring security, will cure all the ills of society!"That is, after all, what the Messiah is supposed to do.

Christian and Muslim Roles in the End Times

Playing a supporting role in all of this are fundamentalist and evangelical Christians who are committed to premillennial dispensationalism, a theological position created by the 19th-century British preacher John Darby. According to this vision, one of the many events which will occur during the End of Days will be the desecration of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Antichrist — which means, of course, that the Temple will have to be rebuilt before the Last Days and the Second Coming can occur.

Christians, however, cannot actually do that themselves — they are the supporting actors here, after all. Instead, they do whatever they can to ensure that plans for a Third Temple proceed — for example, some have raised herds of red heifers and others have participated in planning where a Third Temple should be placed.

Their organizations have placed a great deal of political pressure on the United States government to back hard-line Israeli policies to the detriment of Palestinian and Muslim interests. This may sound hard-hearted, but Muslim interests have nothing to do with the Christian End of Days script, they would argue, so who cares what happens to them?

Unfortunately for the Jews who are benefiting from this support, their interests aren't all that important either. According to the Christian script, all the Jews who don't convert to Christianity will be wiped out, meaning an end to Judaism one way or another. When members of the British-Israel movement found that their purposes for Israel were not being met by Jews, they turned from pro-Zionist to fanatically anti-Zionist. This in turn helped spawn Christian Identity, the most rabidly anti-Semitic movement today. What will happen if Jews continue to fail to play the role intended for them by their Christian premillennialist benefactors?

And the Muslim role in all of this? They may have the strangest part of all to play because they have no internal eschatology which depends upon the events and architecture in this tiny plaza. All they really need to do is sit tight and work to protect the status quo, but fears that Jews (aided by Christians) will destroy the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock have led to the development of new millennial beliefs among Muslims — beliefs which are obviously derivative of Christian and Jewish ideas. Stories have begun to spread that the creation of Israel was, in fact, the first step in an apocalyptic process which will culminate in the total triumph of Islam over all the world. Even the Christian year 2000, meaningless from a Muslim perspective, took on religious significance.

There is a very real danger that True Believers will grow tired at God taking too long to inaugurate His plans and decide that He needs a little help to get the ball rolling. The potential for violence was made clear in September, 1996, when the Israeli government opened a tunnel exit in Jerusalem 200 yards away from al-Aqsa mosque.

Palestinian leaders used this incident to fan the flames of people's fears over the creation of the Third Temple and provoke riots, leading to nearly 80 deaths and an unnecessary increase in hard feelings. Circumstances were similar when Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount on September 28, 2000; he may have done so to attract political attention, but the Palestinian Authority accommodated his wishes, exacerbating things further by inciting riots 24 hours later.

There are people who feel that this drama is remote from their lives, but so long as violence — including nuclear violence — remains a real possibility, this is an issue which everyone needs to care about. Although addressing many of the social, political, and economic problems in the area may help, nothing will be accomplished until the religious problems are dealt with. Unfortunately, Gorenberg isn't able to offer hope that a religious solution may be possible. Religious fundamentalism riding a wave of eschatological passion sees neither a need nor a value in compromising what are believed to be basic religious beliefs.

When someone is convinced that they are following a script which comes from God, how do you get them to start re-writing their lines?

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