What connections exist between the physical geography of Israel and the spirituality of biblical faith? How was the physical space conceived as sacred space? In a wide-ranging study, Professor Robert Gordon leads the readers from the Garden of Eden to Jerusalem, from Genesis through the Psalms and the gospels to Revelation and onwards through the patristic period, the Middle Ages and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Gordon shows in particular how topography of Jerusalem and its environment have been used in diverse ways in the spirituality of Jews and Christians over the centuries. The vexed question of land disputes between Israel and the Palestinians is also considered. Holy Land, Holy City offers a current and contemporary reading of sacred geography in the Bible.

The Oxford Early Christian Studies series will include scholarly volumes on the thought and history of the early Christian centuries. Covering a wide range of Greek, Latin, and Oriental sources, the books will be of interest to theologians, ancient historians, and specialists in the classical and Jewish worlds. Series Editors: Rowan Williams, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at University of Oxford and Henry Chadwick, Master of Peterhouse in the University of Cambridge. The first book in The Oxford Early Christian Studies series, this study examines how Christians, whose faith is rooted historically in the Holy Land, define the precise significance of such a "holy land" in the present. Walker focuses on 325 A.D., when Constantine, the first Christian emperor, established his capital at Byzantium, allowing the Christians to uncover the Gospel sites and develop a theoretical approach to the Holy Land. He systematically compares for the first time the attitudes of two ancient writers, Eusebius of Caesarea and Cyril of Jerusalem--whose works discuss these events--revealing a new and important appreciation of Eusebius as one who, unlike Cyril, did not believe that the city in the Judean hills was truly "the city of God."

This book surveys the various landscapes portrayed by the different New Testament authors and draw these together into an overall biblical theology of the ancient city of Jerusalem..

Jerusalem's rich history stretches back more than two millennia, and three great religions claim the city as holy ground. This lavishly illustrated book celebrates Jerusalem, from its ancient origins to the present day, focusing on such key sites as the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and pivotal moments like the Six Day War. Fifteen removable facsimile documents, including a sixteenth-century letter written by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and a copy of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, bring the city vividly to life.

Drawing on both primary texts and archaelogy, Wilken traces the Christian conception of a Holy Land from its origins inthe Hebrew Bible to the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the seventh century.

Colin Chapman assesses the centrality of Jerusalem in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tracing its history through the ages and showing how the issues of the past are relevant today.

Jerusalem is a deeply divided city. Famously, the Old City has Muslim, Armenian, Jewish and Christian quarters - all separate and at often at loggerheads. The Jewish and Palestinian (Christian and Muslim) populations lead completely separate lives with different schools, shops, taxi companies, languages and newspapers. How has the city become so hopelessly divided and will it always be so? Is there a solution possible and what has been the fate of earlier attempts to reconcile the different communities? Bernard Wasserstein examines the often unhappy history of the Holy City - one of the most contentious places in the world.