Destruction of the Temple
- When
- 70 AD
- Where
- Jerusalem
- Kind
- Division
The end of the temple sharply separated the church from the synagogue and shifted Christianity's centre out of Judea.
The destruction of the temple removed the institution at the centre of Jewish religious life, and both the rabbinic movement and the Christian one are in part answers to its absence. For the church the consequences were structural: the Jerusalem congregation and the authority of James's circle were scattered, the centre of gravity moved to the Greek-speaking cities, and within a generation the movement was predominantly Gentile. The separation from the synagogue that followed was gradual and mutual rather than a single event, but the temple's fall is where it becomes visible.
Either side of it
The whole timeline, from the apostolic communities to the present.