The Temple Paradox

This series of reflections comes out of a lifetime of visiting places of worship across different religious traditions, and, in particular, a sabbatical in South India, where a vibrant temple tradition still exists. Another source was Margaret Barker’s books on the Second Temple in Jerusalem and how the controversies surrounding it influenced Jesus himself and the beginnings of Christian theology after his death and resurrection. The reflections also draw on my own research into the ideas behind the building of the new churches by Wren and Hawksmoor and the Commission after the Great Fire of London. The underlying anxiety behind what I have written is the connection between religion and violence.