This Question from The Mother of Corrupt Theology:
"I wondered what the difference was, in the NT, between the Synagogue and the Temple! What purpose did each one serve; why was there a distinction between them?"
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- The First Church of Pontius Pilate is Reformed, eschatologically backwards, and is a proponent of Sola Scriptura, & seeks to rebuild America's Foundations through intimacy with God.
9 comments:
Okay, this is not a very imnportant question, but I wondered what the difference was, in the NT, between the Synagogue and the Temple! What purpose did each one serve; why was there a distinction between them? I talked to FOCT, and liked his answer (it made sense), but if he or PP could reply with more information, that would be great!
I've always wondered about thtat
But nobody's answering our question are they??
Maybe they wonder too...and don't know the answer either! :-)
The temple was a massive complex in Jerusalem where Jews worshiped. On special occasions, like the feast of Passover, Jews would travel to the temple (Luke 2:41). Only the priests were allowed to enter the temple (2 Chronicles 26:18). Here the priests would offer sacrifices for the sins of the people (2 Chronicles 7:12). The temple in Jerusalem was the center of worship for the Jews (John 4:20).
Synagogues also were places where Jews worshiped. But unlike the temple, there were many of these smaller buildings in different locations (Mark 1:21). The Jewish synagogue probably arose when the Jews were slaves in Babylon. During this time, the Jews were far away from their homeland and the temple was completely destroyed. They could not go to the temple to worship God, so Jews formed synagogues as places of worship and to study the Law of Moses. This practice continued after the main temple was rebuilt in Jerusalem (Psalm 74:8). Since Jews met each week in synagogues, Jesus and the apostles often taught in them (Luke 4:15; Acts 17:1-2).
Although, from an Orthodox Jewish standpoint, it's different.
Rabbi Simcha Bart says, "Semantics only. Some prefer one term over the other. Usually the more traditional will not use the term Temple so as not to be confused with the Holy Temple of old and the one we are awaiting for the Messiah to rebuild."
Thus, for a believing Gentile, or a Messianic Jew, the Temple HAS been rebuilt in our bodies, therefore we say Temple, and no longer Syngagogue.
However, even for some Protestant Theologians, there are arguments over the two, since some Postmillenlialist and/or Eschatology indicates that the Temple will be rebuilt, implying that we are still to worship in Synagogues.
good point
I think PP had a good point as well, but I also wanted to thank kennyr for the descriptions! There's our answer wagnerlover! Thanks so much you guys! :-)
By the way...I love the new look on the home page!
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