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.jpg) John of Patmos watches the descent of New Jerusalem fromGod in a 14th-century tapestry | |
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In theBook of Ezekiel in theHebrew Bible,New Jerusalem (יהוה שָׁמָּה,YHWH šāmmā,[1]YHWH [is] there") isEzekiel'sprophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuiltHoly Temple, to be established inJerusalem, which would be the capital of theMessianic Kingdom, the meeting place of thetwelve tribes of Israel, during theMessianic era.[2][3][4] The prophecy is recorded by Ezekiel as having been received onYom Kippur of the year 3372 of theHebrew calendar.[5]
In theBook of Revelation in theNew Testament, the city is also called theHeavenly Jerusalem, as well as being calledZion in other books of theChristian Bible.[citation needed]
InJewish mysticism, there are two Gardens of Eden and two Promised Lands: the heavenly invisible one and the earthly visible one that is a copy of the heavenly invisible one.[6][7] Heaven in Jewish mysticism includes a heavenlyPromised land – including Jerusalem, the temple, and theArk of the Covenant[6] – and a heavenlyGarden of Eden – including thetree of life, a storehouse for themanna that angels eat, and multiple rivers that water the garden.[6][7] When the Bible mentions a New Jerusalem, heavenly sanctuary, bread of life, or God's throne, it is referring to the Jewish mystical understanding of heaven.[6][7]
The religious text goes on to describe a Babylonian threat to theKingdom of Judah began as the Babylonian Empire conquered Assyria and rose to power from 612 to 609 BCE. Jerusalem surrendered without major bloodshed to Babylon in 597 BCE. An Israelite uprising brought the destruction of Jerusalem byNebuchadnezzar’s army in 586 BCE. The entire city, including theFirst Temple, was burned. Israelite aristocrats were taken captive to Babylon.
TheBook of Ezekiel contains the first record of the New Jerusalem. WithinEzekiel 40–48, there is an extended and detailed description of the measurements of the Temple, its chambers, porticos, and walls.Ezekiel 48:30–35 contains a list of twelve Temple gates named for Israel's tribes.
TheBook of Zechariah[8] expands upon Ezekiel's New Jerusalem. When theSecond Temple was built, after the exile, Jerusalem's population was only a few hundred. There were no defensive city walls until 445 BCE.[9] In the passage, the author writes about a city wall of fire to protect the enormous population. This text demonstrates the beginning of a progression of New Jerusalem thought. In Ezekiel, the focus is primarily on the human act of Temple construction. In Zechariah, the focus shifts to God's intercession in the founding of New Jerusalem.
New Jerusalem is further extrapolated in Isaiah,[10] where New Jerusalem is adorned with precious sapphires, jewels, and rubies. The city is described as a place free from terror and full of righteousness. Here, Isaiah provides an example of Jewishapocalypticism, where a hope for a perfected Jerusalem and freedom from oppression is revealed.
As the original New Jerusalem composition, Ezekiel functioned as a source for later works such as4 Ezra,2 Baruch,Qumran documents, and the Book of Revelation. These texts used similar measurement language and expanded on the limited eschatological perspective in Ezekiel.
Judaism sees theMessiah as ahumanmale descendant ofKing David who will be anointed as theking of Israel and sit on thethrone of David inJerusalem. He will gather in the lost tribes of Israel, clarify unresolved issues ofhalakha, and rebuild theHoly Temple in Jerusalem according to the pattern shown to the prophet Ezekiel. During this time Jews believe an era of global peace and prosperity will be initiated, the nations will love Israel and will abandon their gods, turn toward Jerusalem, and come to the Holy Temple to worship the oneGod of Israel.Zechariah prophesied that any family among the nations who does not appear in the Temple in Jerusalem for the festival ofSukkoth will have no rain that year.Isaiah prophesied that the rebuilt Temple will be a house of prayer for all nations. The city of "YHWH Shamma," (cf. Ezek 48:35) the new Jerusalem, will be the gathering point of the world's nations, and will serve as the capital of the renewedKingdom of Israel. Ezekiel prophesied that this city will have 12 gates, one gate for each of the tribes of Israel. The book of Isaiah closes with the prophecy, "And it will come to pass, that from onenew moon to another, and from onesabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before Me, saysYHWH".
The Animal Apocalypse within1 Enoch (chapters 85–90), is another example where conflict sparks hopes for the New Jerusalem. First Enoch is an apocalyptic response to the persecutions under Seleucid EmperorAntiochus IV. In 167 BCE, Emperor Antiochus returned from fighting in Egypt to quell a revolt in Jerusalem led by Jason, the former High Priest. An agitated Antiochus imposed harsh restrictions on Jewish religion. Circumcision, feast celebration, and Sabbath observance were all banned. Antiochus ordered the burning of Torah copies. Jews were required to eat pork. The worst oppression came in the desecration of the Temple. A polytheistic cult was formed, and worship ofYHWH abolished. A statue to a Seleucid deity was constructed on the Jewish altar.
First Enoch was written in the wake of this calamity between 166 BCE–163 BCE. For the author of 1 Enoch, history is a steep descent into evil from the utopia inEden. The author's vision of the eschaton centers on the restoration of Jerusalem: "I saw until the owner of the sheep brought a house, new and larger and loftier than the former" (1 Enoch 90:29). In this New Jerusalem passage, the sheep are the Jewish people, the builder is God, and the house is the Temple. During the same time period, theDead Sea Scrolls contain a New Jerusalem tradition formed out of strife. As a tiny Jewish sect living in the caves of Qumran, theEssenes opposed Temple leadership and the High Priesthood in Jerusalem. Their condemnation of the Temple focused on criticizing High Priests. They were also frustrated that Judean Kings were also given the role of High Priest.[dubious –discuss] The Essenes were not against the institution of the Temple and its cult per se. The Essenes at Qumran predicted the reunified twelve tribes to rise together againstRoman occupation and incompetent Temple leadership and re-establish true Temple worship.
The surviving New Jerusalem texts in Qumran literature focus specifically on the twelve city gates, and on the dimensions of the entire new city. In 4Q554, the gates of Simeon, Joseph, and Reuben are mentioned in this partial fragment. For the author of this fragment, the New Jerusalem's twelve gates signify the reunification of the twelve tribes of Israel. In 5Q15, the author accompanies an angel who measures the blocks, houses, gates, avenues, streets, dining halls, and stairs of the New Jerusalem. There are two important points to consider regarding the Qumran Essenes. First, we do not have enough scroll fragments to completely analyze their New Jerusalem ideologies. Second, based on the evidence available, the Essenes rebelled against Temple leadership, not the Temple itself. Their vision of the New Jerusalem looked for the reunification of the twelve tribes around an eschatological Temple.
As evidenced above, the historical progression of New Jerusalem language is specifically tied to conflict. The Babylonian Exile, Antiochene persecutions, and corrupt leadership in Jerusalem incited apocalyptic responses with a vision for a New Jerusalem. In the 1st century CE, an even greater conflict exploded inIudaea province; theRoman destruction of Jerusalem, as well as the otherRoman-Jewish Wars. Subsequent apocalyptic responses fundamentally altered the New Jerusalem eschatology for Jews andEarly Christians.
At the core, apocalypses are a form oftheodicy. They respond to overwhelming suffering with the hope of divine intercession and a perfectedWorld to Come. The destruction of theSecond Temple in 70 CE meant an end toSecond Temple Judaism. Naturally, apocalyptic responses to the disaster followed. This section will first cover4 Ezra and2 Baruch. Fourth Ezra and 2 Baruch are important for two reasons. First, they look for a Temple inHeaven, not the eschaton. Second, these texts exhibit the final new Temple texts in Judaism. Jewish texts like 3 Baruch began to reject a restored Temple completely. However, these texts were deemed to beapocryphal by theRabbis who maintained the belief in aThird Temple as central toRabbinic Judaism.
The Jewish apocalypse of 4 Ezra is a text contained in the apocryphal book2 Esdras. The genre of 4 Ezra ishistorical fiction, set thirteen years after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. Fourth Ezra is dated approximately in 83 CE, thirteen years after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. The story follows Ezra's period of mourning following Jerusalem's fall. Ezra is Job-like in his criticism of God's allowance of Jerusalem's downfall.
In Ezra's deep state of grief, he meets a woman lamenting over Jerusalem. Ezra consoles the woman, and tells her to, "shake off your great sadness, and lay aside your many sorrows… the Most High may give you rest." (4 Ezra 10:24). Suddenly, the woman is transfigured in an array of bright lights. She transforms into the New Jerusalem being rebuilt. As a bereaved widow she convinced Ezra to apply solace to himself through the image of a New Jerusalem.
Fourth Ezra has two clear messages. First, do not grieve excessively over Jerusalem. Second, Jerusalem will be restored as a heavenly kingdom. Fourth Ezra also uses the title "Most High," throughout the apocalypse to emphasise that the Lord will once again reign and reside in Jerusalem.
The apocalypse of 2 Baruch is a contemporary narrative of 4 Ezra. The text also follows the same basic structure 4 Ezra: Job-like grief, animosity towards the Lord, and the rectification of Jerusalem that leads to the comfort of the Job-figure. Second Baruch is historical fiction, written after the Roman destruction but set before the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.
Baruch is distressed when the Lord informs him of Jerusalem's impending doom. Baruch responds with several theological questions for God. For this study, Baruch's inquiry about the future of Israel and the honor of the Lord are most pertinent (2 Baruch 3:4-6). Baruch learns that the Lord will destroy the city, not the enemy. Baruch also learns of a pre-immanent heavenly Temple: "[The Temple] was already prepared from the moment I decided to create paradise." And I showed it to Adam before he sinned." (2 Baruch 4:3). This Temple was created before Adam, and shown to him before Adam’s fall.
Two important conclusions come from 2 Baruch. First, the author dismisses hopes for an earthly re-built Temple. The focus is entirely on the heavenly Temple that pre-dated the Garden of Eden. This may be a device to express the supremacy of the heavenly Temple as a sanctuary built before Eden (the traditional location of the earthly Temple). Second, Baruch believes that restoration for the people of Israel exists in heaven, not on earth.
The apocalypse of3 Baruch is the anomaly among post-revolt New Jerusalem texts. Unlike 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra, the text exemplifies an alternative tradition that lacks a restored Temple. Like other apocalypses, 3 Baruch still mourns over the Temple, and re-focuses Jews to the heavens. Yet 3 Baruch finds that the Temple is ultimately unnecessary. This move could be polemical against works which afforded the Temple with excessive veneration. In the passage, an angel comes to Baruch and consoles him over Jerusalem: "Where is their God? And behold as I was weeping and saying such things, I saw an angel of the Lord coming and saying to me: Understand, O man, greatly beloved, and trouble not thyself so greatly concerning the salvation of Jerusalem." (3 Baruch 1:3)
Third Baruch certainly mourns over the Temple. Yet 3 Baruch is not ultimately concerned with the lack of a Temple. This text goes along with Jeremiah andSibylline Oracles 4 to express a minority tradition within Jewish literature. In the first Christian apocalypse, the Book of Revelation coincides with this perspective on Jerusalem. The study will now move to early Christian perspectives on the Temple and the apocalyptic response in Revelation.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
Christians have always placed religious significance on Jerusalem as the site of thecrucifixion of Jesus and other events central to the Christian faith.
In particular, the destruction of theSecond Temple that took place in the year 70, a few decades afterChristianity began its split from Judaism, was seminal to the nascent Christianapocalypticism of that time. In theOlivet Discourse of theGospels,Jesus predicts the destruction ofHerod's Temple, and promises that it will precede thereturn of the Son of Man, commonly called theSecond Coming. This prophecy of the renewal of Jerusalem by themessiah echoes those of the Jewish prophets.John of Patmos' vision of the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation draws on the Olivet discourse and all the historical precursors mentioned above.
Based on the Book of Revelation,premillennialism holds that, following theend times and the second creation ofheaven and earth (seeThe New Earth), the New Jerusalem will be the earthly location where all true believers will spend eternity with God. The New Jerusalem is not limited to eschatology, however. Many Christians view the New Jerusalem as a current reality, that the New Jerusalem is the consummation of theBody of Christ, theChurch and that Christians already take part in membership of both the heavenly Jerusalem and the earthly Church in a kind of dual citizenship.[19] In this way, the New Jerusalem represents to Christians the final and everlasting reconciliation of God and hischosen people, "the end of theChristian pilgrimage."[19] As such, the New Jerusalem is a conception of Heaven, see alsoHeaven (Christianity).
Christianity interprets the city as a physical and/or spiritual restoration or divine re-creation of the city ofJerusalem. It is also interpreted by many Christian groups as referring to theChurch to be the dwelling place of thesaints.
John of Patmos describes the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation in theChristian Bible, and so the New Jerusalem holds an important place inChristian eschatology andChristian mysticism, and has also influencedChristian philosophy andChristian theology. Such a renewal of Jerusalem, if a reconstruction, is an important theme inJudaism,Christianity, and theBaháʼí Faith. Renewed Jerusalem bears as its motto the wordsAd librum (Latin: "as by the book".)[citation needed]
Many traditions based on biblical scripture and other writings in the Jewish and Christian religions, such asProtestantism, andOrthodox Judaism, expect the literal renewal of Jerusalem to some day take place at theTemple Mount in accordance with variousprophecies.Dispensationalists believe in a literal New Jerusalem that will come down out ofHeaven, which will be an entirely new city of incredible dimensions. Other sects, such as various Protestantdenominations,modernist branches of Christianity,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints andReform Judaism, view the New Jerusalem as figurative, or believe that such a renewal may have already taken place, or that it will take place at some other location besides theTemple Mount.
It is important to distinguish between "the camp of the saints, and the beloved city" spoken of in Revelation 20:9, and the New Jerusalem of chapter 21.Rev. 20:9 refers to an earthly city, the description and purpose of which is found in book of Ezekiel, starting with chapter 36 and ending with chapter 48.One of the most obvious differences is that the dimensions of the New Jerusalem of Rev. 21 are 1,000 times bigger than the dimensions of the city in Ezekiel 48 (and, in Rev. 20:9).New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 is 2,225 km in length, width, and height. A city of these gigantic proportions cannot be located on Earth; but, as stated in Rev. 21, the city comes "down out of Heaven from God", presumably onto, the "new earth."
The termNew Jerusalem (Greek:καινὴ Ἰερουσαλήμ,romanized: kainē Ierousalēm) occurs twice in theNew Testament, in Revelation verses3:12 and21:2. A large portion of the final two chapters of Revelation deals with John of Patmos' vision of New Jerusalem. He describes New Jerusalem as "'the bride, the wife of the Lamb'", where the river of theWater of Life flows (Revelation 22:1).
After John witnesses the new heaven and a new earth "that no longer has any sea", anangel takes him "in the Spirit" to a vantage point on "a great and high mountain" to see New Jerusalem "descend out of heaven." The enormous city comes out of heaven down tothe New Earth. John's elaborate description of New Jerusalem retains many features of the Garden of Eden and the paradise garden, such as rivers, a square shape, a wall, and theTree of Life.
According to John, the New Jerusalem is "pure gold, like clear glass" and its "brilliance [is] like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clearjasper." The street of the city is also made of "pure gold, like transparent glass". The base of the city is laid out in a square and surrounded by a wall made of jasper. It says inRevelation 21:16 that the height, length, and width are of equal dimensions – as it was with theHoly of Holies in theTabernacle and First Temple – and they measure 12,000furlongs (approximately 1,500 miles). John writes that the wall is 144cubits, which is assumed to be the thickness since the length is mentioned previously. 144 cubits is about 65 meters, or 72 yards. It is important to note that 12 is the square root of 144. The number 12 was very important to early Jews and Christians, and represented the 12 tribes of Israel and 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ. The numbersymbolizes completeness in Revelation.[20] The four sides of the New City represent the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West.) In this way, New Jerusalem is thought of as an inclusive place, with the 12 gates accepting all of the 12 tribes of Israel from all corners of the earth.
There is no temple building in the New Jerusalem. God and the Lamb are the city's temple, since they areworshipped everywhere.Revelation 22 goes on to describe a river of thewater of life that flows down the middle of the great street of the city from theThrone of God. Thetree of life grows in the middle of the street and to both sides of the river. The tree bears twelve (kinds of) fruit and yields its fruit every month. According to John, "The leaves of the tree were for healing (those of all) nations." This inclusion of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem harkens back to the Garden of Eden. The fruit the tree bears may be the fruit of life.
John states that the New Jerusalem will be free ofsin. The servants of God will havetheosis (i.e. the power or likeness of God, that is "in his image" of holiness) and "His name will be on their foreheads." Night will no longer fall, and the inhabitants of the city will "have need (of) no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light." John ends his account of the New Jerusalem by stressing its eternal nature: "And they shall reign forever and ever."
It had a great, high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels in charge of the gates. On the gates were written the names of thetwelve tribes of the sons ofIsrael. There were three gates on each side: three on the east, three on the south, three on the north, and three on the west (Revelation 21:12–13). The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl (Revelation 21:21a). The gates in the north wall are named forReuben,Judah, andLevi; those in the east wall, forJoseph,Benjamin, andDan; those in the south wall, forSimeon,Issachar, andZebulun; and those in the west wall are named forGad,Asher, andNaphtali (Ezekiel 48:31–34).
The New Jerusalem gates may bear some relation to the gates mentioned inEnoch, Chapters 33–35, where the prophet Enoch reports that from each of the four "heavenly gates – opening in heaven – three (new gates) were seen distinctly separating (off, as if) the extremities of the whole earth" [were pulling apart each of the four gates into three new ones]. Thus, the four gates were each replaced by three new ones, totaling twelve [i.e. 3 x 4 = 12] gates in all. [33, 3.][ref. Laurence translation,Book of Enoch.][citation needed]
In 21:16, the angel measures the city with a golden rod or reed, and records it as 12,000stadia by 12,000 stadia at the base, and 12,000 stadia high. A stadion is usually stated as 185 meters, or 607 feet, so the base has dimensions of about 2220 km by 2220 km, or 1380 miles by 1380 miles. In the ancient Greek system of measurement, the base of the New Jerusalem would have been equal to 144 million square stadia, 4.9 million square kilometers or 1.9 million square miles (roughly midway between the sizes ofAustralia andIndia). If rested on the Earth, its ceiling would be inside the upper boundary of theexosphere but outside the lower boundary.[21] By way of comparison, theInternational Space Station maintains an orbit with an altitude of about 386 km (240 mi) above the earth.[22]
The Book of Revelation may have been composed during the end of the 1st century AD near the end ofDomitian’s reign (A.D. 96), although some date it to the later end of the reign ofEmperor Nero Domitius (54 to 68 CE). The work is addressed to the"seven churches that are in Asia" (1:4). Revelation is normally broken into three sections: the prologue (1:1–3:22), the visions (4:1–22:5), and the epilogue (22:6–20). This study is principally concerned with chapter 21.
The author of Revelation was both aJew by birth and a believing Christian. The author and the addressees of Revelation are searching for the Lord to vindicate them and judge the "inhabitants of the earth" for their suffering (6:10). The fall of Jerusalem, coupled with the Neronian persecutions, form the tension within the subtext of Revelation.
Throughout Revelation, several references to the Temple are madeREV 3:12,7:15,11:19,14:15,16:1. This Temple appears to be of heavenly origin. When the eschaton arrives inREV 21:1, the reader expects the temple to come down from heaven with the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21 even contains typical New Jerusalem terminology that accompanies a restored Temple. Specific measurements are given for the new city (Ezekiel 40–48, 4Q554), and the city is built with gold, sapphires, and emeralds (Isaiah, Tobit). In addition, 21:21 references the "twelve gates." Revelation maintains another typical aspect of New Jerusalem tradition – the reunification of the twelve tribes of Israel (Ezekiel 48:33–34, 4Q554).
Verse 22 marks a sudden and remarkable shift in New Jerusalem apocalyptic rhetoric: "I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb." Following with the tradition of 3 Baruch and 4 Sibylline Oracles, Revelation foresees an eschaton without the Temple. Why has the Revelation suddenly denied an eschatological Temple? Verse 23 sheds light on this disparity.
Verse 23 proclaims, "And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is the light, and its lamp is the lamb." For the author of Revelation, there is no need for a Temple because the Lord will be the New Jerusalem's eternal light and Jesus (the lamb) will be its lamp. This re-interpretation uses Isaiah to make its case:"The LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, or your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended." (Isaiah 60:19)
The Temple is discarded in the eschaton because the Lord will provide illumination for the New Jerusalem, and Christ will be the glory for its residents. Henceforth, Christians believed that the New Jerusalem no longer required a Temple. For Christians,their Lord sufficiently replaced the Temple.
Discovered among theDead Sea Scrolls nearQumran,Israel, were fragments of a scroll which describes New Jerusalem in minute detail. TheNew Jerusalem Scroll (as it is called) appears to contain apocalyptic vision, although, being fragmented, it is hard to categorize. Written inAramaic, the text describes a vast city, rectangular in shape, with twelve gates and encircled by a long wall. Similar descriptions appear inEzekiel 40–48 andRevelation 21–22 and comparison to theTemple Scroll (also found near Qumran) shows many similarities despite no direct literary links between the two.
From the middle of the 2nd century CE to the middle of the 6th century CE, the ancient Christian sect ofMontanism, which spread throughout the Roman Empire, expected the New Jerusalem to descend to earth at the neighboring Phrygian towns ofPepuza andTymion. Inlate antiquity, both places attracted crowds of pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire.Pepuza was the headquarters of the Montanist church. The Montanist patriarch resided atPepuza. Women played an emancipated role in Montanism, serving as priests and also bishops. In the 6th century CE, this church became extinct.
Since 2001,Peter Lampe of theUniversity of Heidelberg has directed annual archaeological campaigns in Phrygia, Turkey. During these interdisciplinary campaigns, together with William Tabbernee of Tulsa, Oklahoma, numerous unknown ancient settlements were discovered and archaeologically documented. Two of them are the best candidates so far in the search for the identification of the two holy centers of ancient Montanism,Pepuza andTymion, the sites of the expected descent of the New Jerusalem. Scholars had searched for these lost sites since the 19th century.
The ancient settlement discovered and identified asPepuza by William Tabbernee andPeter Lampe was settled continuously from Hellenistic times to Byzantine times. In Byzantine times, an important rock-cut monastery belonged to the town. The town is in the PhrygianKarahallı area, near the village of Karayakuplu (Uşak Province,Aegean Region,Turkey). The ancient site ofTymion identified by Peter Lampe is located not far away at the Turkish village of Şükranje. For the Montanists, the high plane between Pepuza and Tymion was an ideal landing place for the heavenly New Jerusalem.
TheCatholic Church places the New Jerusalem in the eschatological role found in Revelation. Catholicism also holds that the New Jerusalem already exists as a spiritual community inHeaven, theChurch triumphant, with an outpost on earth, theChurch militant. Together, the Church triumphant, Church militant, andChurch suffering form theChurch universal.Augustine of Hippo, aDoctor of the Church andChurch Father, draws inspiration from John's account of the New Jerusalem to outline this view in his monumental workThe City of God.
TheCatholic Encyclopedia article on "Heaven" states that Catholic
theologians deem more appropriate that there should be a special and glorious abode, in which the blessed have their peculiar home and where they usually abide, even though they be free to go about in this world. For the surroundings in the midst of which the blessed have their dwelling must be in accordance with their happy state; and the internal union of charity which joins them in affection must find its outward expression in community of habitation. At the end of the world, the earth together with the celestial bodies will be gloriously transformed into a part of the dwelling-place of the blessed (Revelation 21). Hence there seems to be no sufficient reason for attributing a metaphorical sense to those numerous utterances of the Bible which suggest a definite dwelling-place of the blessed. Theologians, therefore, generally hold that the heaven of the blessed is a special place with definite limits. Naturally, this place is held to exist, not within the earth, but, in accordance with the expressions of Scripture, without and beyond its limits. All further details regarding its locality are quite uncertain. The Church has decided nothing on this subject.
Emperor Lalibela ofEthiopia built the city ofLalibela as a new reconstructed Jerusalem in response to theMuslim capture of Jerusalem bySaladin's forces in 1187.
TheEastern Orthodox Church teaches that the New Jerusalem is the City of God that will come down from heaven in the manner described in the Book of the Apocalypse (Revelation). The Church is anicon of the heavenly Jerusalem.[23] TheNew Jerusalem Monastery inRussia takes its name from the heavenly Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem was an important theme in thePuritan colonization ofNew England in the 17th century. The Puritans were inspired by the passages in Revelation about the New Jerusalem, which they interpreted as being a symbol for theNew World. The Puritans saw themselves as the builders of the New Jerusalem on earth. This idea was foundational toAmerican nationalism.[24]
EcclesiasticSwedenborgians often refer to their organizations as part of or contributing to the New Jerusalem as explained byEmanuel Swedenborg in such books asNew Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine,Apocalypse Revealed, andApocalypse Explained. According to Swedenborg, the New Jerusalem described in the Bible is a symbol for a new dispensation that was to replace/restore Christianity. Also according to these books, this New Jerusalem began to be established around 1757. This stems from their belief thatJerusalem itself is a symbol of the Church, and so the New Jerusalem in the Bible is a prophetic description of a New Church.
In theLatter Day Saint movement, the New Jerusalem is viewed as a physical kingdom that will be built inNorth America,[25] centered onIndependence, Missouri.[26] The movement refers to the New Jerusalem asZion. The movement's founder,Joseph Smith, attempted to establish this Zion in the early 1830s, and drafted a detailedplat of Zion based on his view of the biblical description of the New Jerusalem, including plans for atemple. However, due to political and military rivalry with other Missouri settlers, members of the religion were expelled from Missouri in 1838. Subsequently, several Latter Day Saint denominations have established residence there, believing that it will be the center of God'sMillennial kingdom.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that New Jerusalem is made up of anointed Christians serving in heaven as Kings and Priests over the earth. The number of these King-Priests will eventually total 144,000. This belief is based on New Jerusalem being described as "a bride adorned for her husband"REV 21:2, and this same "bride" then being described as "the Lamb's wife"REV 21:9–10.REV 14:1 is seen as depicting a wife-like relationship between the Lamb and the 144,000, therefore linking the identity of the 144,000 with the Lamb's wife and in-turn also that of New Jerusalem.[27]
The religious community known collectively as the Society of Universal Friends that gathered around theQuakerevangelist known as thePublic Universal Friend in the late 18th century was one of religious righteousness and devotion to Christian ideals. In 1790, the preacher founded a community called (New) Jerusalem, planned as acommunal society where righteousness would prevail in the wilderness ofNew York'sFinger Lakes region, in what is today the town ofJerusalem, New York. The society faded away after the death of their leader.
Richard Brothers, the originator ofBritish Israelism, developed a viewpoint that the British are descended from theLost Tribes of Israel, and that the capital city of Britain should therefore be re-modeled as a New Jerusalem for the comingAge of Enlightenment. Supposedly this idea was already present in 16th Century England, and that it reached its height of influence during and just after theFirst World War; certain buildings, such asSt Paul's Cathedral, supposedly contain elements of the plan in their design.
Bedwardism, a Jamaican religious movement active between 1889 and 1921, asserted that August Town (a suburb ofKingston) was the New Jerusalem for the western hemisphere, and that Union Camp, whereAlexander Bedward's Free Baptist Church was located, was Zion. This movement fell apart when Bedward was arrested in 1921.
Kimbanguism, a Congolese sectarian church founded in 1921 bySimon Kimbangu, refers to Kimbangu's birthplace in Nkamba, Congo (a village nearMbanza-Ngungu), as New Jerusalem, where he reputedly performed miracles. Like Bedward, Kimbangu was imprisoned for life in the year 1921, however his movement continues with many followers to the present.
The Kimbanguist believe that people of the Nkamba village saw the New Jerusalem descending from heaven (a building) physically in 1935, by which time Father Simon Kimbangu was in prison. The Kimbanguist has constructed this same design of the building, calling it Nkamba New Jerusalem, in reference to Revelation 21; it has a river with supposed healing power.
In 1853, theTaiping Heavenly Kingdom capturedNanjing (Nanking) during theTaiping Rebellion against theQing dynasty ofChina and renamed the city "New Jerusalem".[28]
TheBaháʼí Faith views the New Jerusalem as the renewal of religion that takes place about every thousand years and which secures the prosperity of the human world.[29][30]Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, identified the New Jerusalem with his claimed revelation (the word of God), and more specifically with the Law of God.[31][32]
`Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, further explains that the New Jerusalem which descends from heaven is not an actual city which is renewed, but the law of God since it descends from heaven through a new revelation and it is renewed.[33]Shoghi Effendi, head of the religion after the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá, stated that specifically Bahá'u'lláh's book of laws, theKitáb-i-Aqdas, is the new Jerusalem.[34][35] Bahá'u'lláh, in theTablet of Carmel, also states that the new Jerusalem had appeared upon the new Mount Zion,Mount Carmel.[31]
The Latin Christian hymn "Urbs beata Jerusalem", dating from the 7th or 8th century, makes reference to the HeavenlySalem" as a place of peace and love and a symbol for the Christian's longing forHeaven. The 1851 English translation byJohn Mason Neale is "Blessed city, heavenly Salem".[36][37]
The Lutheran hymn "Jerusalem, du hochgebaute Stadt", with lyrics written byJohann Matthäus Meyfart in 1626, describes entering the Heavenly Jerusalem. It was set by composers such asMax Reger andSigfrid Karg-Elert.
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