Aelia Capitolina

pg. 159: "Innovation and novelty were suspect, and it was crucial for religious people to know that their faith was deeply rooted int he sanctities of the past."

I thought this passage was interesting because it's still true now. Look at Scientology. Granted there are some odd tax issues associated with the young and purported religion, but people today have very strong reactions to it. It's refreshing to see that these are not new reactions. This is another part of the book that puts human interaction with religion into perspective.

pg. 161: "Hadrian's plan filled the Jewish people with horror."

Not necessarily this passage, but the entirety of the chapter didn't portray the Jewish faith in the most optimistic light. I feel like being Jewish in the Biblical times would be incredibly depressing. Religion today seems more positive.

pg. 168: "Indeed, God's presence with Israel had made the Jewish people a temple for the rest of the world."

This attitude totally contradicts the crappiness of the Jewish situation at the time. They had lost their temple, their city and were beaten into submission by a conquering power who did quite understand them, and they still had the gaul to believe that God spoke through them. This is the point were I would be losing my religion. It's one thing to believe God has a plan for us, but it's another to see how the plan has gone, and come to a new conclusion that elevates your position for no apparent reason. It is very possible that Armstrong has exaggerated or not told the story completely, but that's just how it appears to me now.

pg. 171: "In his view, Christians should liberate themselves from the physical world and seek the wholly spiritual God. They should not cling to earthly places but 'seek the heavenly city in place of the earthly.'"

Maybe we create the holiness of a site through our own perception?