Reverberations and Revelations: The Role of the Temple in the
New Testament Heuston Literary Prize Winner By Joshua Epstein
'03 The most tragic of events in the Hebrew Scriptures–the event
that inspired more poetry and song and lamentation than just
about any other–was the fall of the temple in Jerusalem to the
Babylonians. Yet in fact, the scriptural rendition of the fall
of the temple provided a model for much of the New Testament as
well. The depictions and reverberations of the temple in the New
Testament certainly rekindle the Hebrew poetry of the post-
exilic prophets, particularly Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel; but
~e role of the temple is, unsurprisingly, vastly different in
light of the new covenant borne by Jesus, the Christ. The role
and form of the temple undergoes a great and fascinating
transformation from the days of Jesus' testimony to the days of
Revelation, and such transformations tell us a great deal about
the nature and direction of this new faith. To assess the role
of the temple in the N