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December 2014 Vol. 52 No. 4

This volume collects nine essays from a 2011 symposium in Boca Raton, Florida.  The gathering sought to introduce “the new archaeological and historical discoveries focused on the Jerusalem Temple ... and also to examine the often-heard assertions that Jesus and his disciples considered the Temple forsaken by God and needing to be replaced.”  The book begins with essays that describe the architectural, material, and social significance of the Herodian Temple.  A hinge essay describes the deep connection of Galilee to the Temple in Jerusalem, despite its geographic separation.  A final section examines the importance of the Temple for the early Jesus movement, from the movement’s inception into the second century CE.  While these essays do not necessarily focus on new discoveries, they show, for a wide audience, the centrality of the Temple materially and symbolically within first-century CE Judaism, including the nascent Jewish Jesus messianic movement.  This is a valuable resource for any library that would enrich Jewish and Christian relations.

--J. W. Wright, Point Loma Nazarene University

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers.