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HISTORIC SITES

The Evangelical Triangle

Though Christianity developed along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, this area has not attracted nearly as many Christian pilgrims as one would expect for a variety of reasons. This may change soon thanks to the plans to create a Christian heritage park that will help the public understand what was happening in the Galilee in the first century.
by Yadin Roman

 

The new Christian center, sponsored by evangelical communities from around the world, which is planned for the outskirts of Capernaum, has refocused attention on the Sea of Galilee – especially on the happenings on its shores during the stormy days of the first century. At that time, the Galilee was the center of the agitation that led to the rebellion of the Jews against the Romans, to the destruction of the Temple, and, as an aftermath, to the reformation of Judaism as we know it today. The messianic yearnings behind those events also made the Galilee the spawning grounds of Christianity. Three-quarters of the events described in the New Testament happened in the Galilee, particularly in the area around the Sea of Galilee.

A better understanding of the heritage of the Sea of Galilee is the key to understanding many of the events that formed western civilization as we know it today. The differences between the two cultures inhabiting opposite sides of the lake – Jewish farmers and fishermen on the northwestern side and sophisticated Hellenist cosmopolitans on the southeastern side – explain the antagonism between Judaism and Hellenism, on the one hand. The proximity and the shared natural settings show why the parables and the teachings of Jesus appealed to both citizens of the Roman cities and Jews.

The Sea of Galilee and its surroundings, where Jesus preached, should be meaningful to religious Christians. (Doron Horowitz)

 

The cultural landscape of the Sea of Galilee is one of the reasons that Christianity caught on so quickly in the urban centers of the Roman Empire. This area is where the concepts of hanging on through the hard times of the Roman Empire and of creating the kingdom of heaven by rebellion were born. The Golan Heights, to the east of the lake, was the base for the rebels who would start the rebellion. They were extreme, messianic, and believed in fighting to the end – against all odds. The seeds of the rebellion, which ended with a mass suicide at Masada following the destruction of the Temple, were sown at Arbel and Gamla. But just below the Golan Heights, around the Sea of Galilee, in the towns of the gentle fishing folk, a different message thrived: “Stay put;” “Stick out the hard times;” and “Do not rebel.” In his sermons, Jesus blessed the peacemakers – those who did not rebel or possess the desire to bring the kingdom of heaven into being by the sword of man. As they sat on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the Golan, Jesus’ listeners knew exactly to whom he was referring.

There are hundreds of sites around the Sea of Galilee connected to the stormy days of the first century. They range from natural sites, which illuminate many of the parables in the New Testament, to the towns, villages, synagogues, trees, beaches, hills, and cities that can play an important part in helping visitors understand both Jewish history and the New Testament.

Despite this, tourists, and especially Christian pilgrims, have spent very little time exploring the Sea of Galilee area. Most pilgrims take a quick half-day tour that crams in a visit to the Church of the Beatitudes, the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, and Capernaum. They devote three or four hours, at the most, to exploring the most significant area in Israel relating to Christian heritage.

The reason for this lies in the way tourism, and especially pilgrimage, developed in the Land of Israel. Until 1967, Jordan promoted itself as the Holy Land. The biblical sites of Judea and Samara, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron were all in Jordan. Most pilgrims visited Jordan. Only a few were ready to face the obstacles involved in crossing from Jordan to Israel via the Mandelbaum Gate in Jerusalem.

In 1964, Pope Paul VI visited Jordan and Israel. In order to avoid going through the official crossing point between Jordan and Israel – two countries whose authority over Jerusalem was not recognized by the Holy See – a special road was constructed that led down Mount Zion and connected the Jordanian-held Old City with Israeli Jerusalem in the west. During his visit, the pope consecrated the new Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and visited the three Christian sites on the Sea of Galilee, all held by Catholic orders. His visit did encourage a few more Catholic groups to visit Israel, but, all in all, these were few and far between.

 

Mass at a church in Nazareth. (Doron Horowitz)

 

The Six Day War was the turning point in tourism to Israel. Following the war, all the sites of the Holy Land were under Israeli control, from the site believed to be Mount Sinai to the monastery of Saint Catharine. But this was not the only factor in the dramatic change in tourism that was about to happen.

 
The full article appeared in ERETZ Magazine 103. To read it, subscribe to ERETZ Magazine.

 

Christian tourists visit a site by the Sea of Galilee. (Tagist Ron)

 

The full article appeared in ERETZ Magazine 103. To read it, subscribe to ERETZ Magazine.

 

 

 

 

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