What did the Early Church Fathers write about the return of Christ during 70 AD?

[DavidPT]

"The coming of the Son of Man" does not have to do with final resurrection (so Frost's video is not relevant to the topic).

Matthew 12:42 is ALSO not about the final resurrection.

I tend to look at it like this. At the time Jesus was in their courtroom being judged then sentenced. Jesus was then predicting that there will come a time in the future when the tables will be turned. IOW they would be standing in front of Him in His courtroom in order to be judged and sentenced. And the way Jesus accomplishes that is by being positioned on the right hand of God, then returning in the clouds, then having the judging and sentencing phase once those alive back at the time are raised from the dead, thus standing in front of Jesus in His courtroom.

Even though I'm certain you disagree with that, I still see all of the above making far more sense than what some of you are proposing. And it's not like it isn't true, that one day in the future those judging and sentencing Christ at the time will be standing in front of the one they judged and sentenced, thus the tables will be turned. And no way can Jesus accomplish that unless He has been positioned at the right hand of God, which He has, then returning in the clouds in order to fulfill this, which He hasn't done yet.

 

[mkgal1]

My understanding of the text does not produce that problem, since Ciaphus will see Christ coming on the clouds in the future judgment described in Matthew 12:42.

Correction - the text says "coming IN/with the clouds" (Revelation says "with the clouds") and led into the presence of the Ancient of Days. This isn't "seen" with our eyeballs.

Daniel 7:13 ~ In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.​

 

[Biblewriter]

BABerean - I know that I, personally, have posted in response to your posts multiple times over the last few months - pointing out that there is a difference between "the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven" and the return of Christ. Using the law of first mention:

"The Son of Man coming with the clouds" is a reference to Daniel's prophecy:

Daniel 7:13-14 ~ In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

​

Josephus wrote from a historical perspective (as far as I know) - but the early church fathers did write about the destruction of Jerusalem being fulfillment of Scripture (specifically Daniel's prophecy).

Quoting from linked article:

Bishop Kouri has added a new resource to Lesson 5, The Apostles’ Revelation: The Jewish Age, Behind, Not Ahead of The Church. Discover what the Post Apostolic Church fathers really believed about the Seventy Weeks of Daniel and the End of the Jewish Age.

AD250 The Non-Negotiables of Apostolic Christianity


THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS AND THE LAST DAYS OF THE JEWISH AGE

BARNABAS:

Written anonymously around 100 AD, the “Epistle of Barnabas” is the earliest extra-Canonical source we have. Although not included in the Canon of the New Testament, it is an incredibly early documentation of the early Church’s beliefs about the last days. The Apostle John was probably alive when it was written. And although the authorship is disputed, we will refer to Barnabas as the author.

The Epistle of Barnabas sets forth the common view held by the early Church that the seventieth week of Daniel ended with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, as Messiah’s Day dawned and Christ’s Church was born. Barnabas writes, "For it is written, ‘And it shall come to pass, when the week is completed, the temple of God shall be built...in the name of the Lord.’ I find...that a temple does exist. Having received the forgiveness of sins…in our habitation God dwells in us….This is the spiritual temple built for the Lord." (EOB, 16:6)

Barnabas uses the expression "the week," but does not mention Daniel. Yet scholars agree from the context that this is definitely a reference to Daniel’s 70th week. And it is assumed by many scholars that the prophecy of Daniel’s seventy weeks was so well known and so widely expounded in the early Church that it needed no further explanation. The early Church did not avoid Daniel’s prophecy.

This early Christian writer connects Daniel’s vision of seventy weeks with the prophecy of Haggai 2:7-9 and the building of a "spiritual temple," the Church. The author of the Epistle of Barnabas obviously believed that Daniel’s 70th week was fulfilled with Christ’s first advent. This was when the Old Temple was destroyed and the new “spiritual temple” was initially established. Writing in 100 AD he clearly believed the 70th week of Daniel was already completed.

It seems clear from this passage in the Epistle of Barnabas that less than a century after Christ’s passion (remember that according to Daniel the Messiah would be cut off in the middle of the 70th week), it was the widespread belief of the Church that the 70th week of Daniel was completed. It is certain that Barnabas placed the end of the 70th week no later than 70 AD. His mention of the building of the Church (which was able to grow largely unimpeded after 70AD) makes it probable that Barnabas saw 67 to 70 AD and the destruction of Herod’s Temple as the end of the Jewish or Old Covenant Age and the dawning of Messiah’s Day. As David B. Currie writes in his book, Rapture, The End-Times Error That Leaves The Bible Behind, "He (Barnabas) assumes his readers will agree that the events of ‘the week’ led to the building of the Church.” (Page 422)


CLEMENT OF ALEXANDREA

Within a century of Barnabas, Clement became bishop of Alexandria until his death in 215 AD. Clement taught that the blessings of the New Covenant required the end of biblical Judaism within the 70 weeks of Daniel. Clement writes of the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD in the prophetic language of Daniel’s seventy weeks, "Vespasian rose to the supreme power (Emperor of Rome) and destroyed Jerusalem, and desolated the holy place” (STO, XXI, 142-143).

Clement of Alexandrea believed the Jewish Age, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel and the great tribulation were behind, not ahead of the Church.



ORIGEN (185-254 AD)

A student of Clement of Alexandrea, Origen agreed that the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD marked the end of the Jewish Age and the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy regarding the 70 weeks. Origen writes, "The weeks of years up to the time of Christ the leader that Daniel the prophet predicted were fulfilled" (TPR, IV:1:5).

Like Clement, Origen also believed the Jewish Age, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel and the great tribulation were behind the Church, not ahead of it.


TERTULLIAN

In 203 AD Tertullian wrote his famous treatise Against The Jews. This early Church father also taught that Daniel’s 70th week had been fulfilled in 70 AD: "Vespasian vanquished the Jews…and so by the date of his storming Jerusalem, the Jews had completed the seventy weeks foretold by Daniel” (AAJ, VII; CID).

Contrary to modern postponement preachers and teachers, Tertullian believed the Jewish age, the abomination of desolation, and the great tribulation was behind, not ahead of the Church.


ATHANASIUS

Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria from 326 to 373 AD. Like the early Church fathers before him, he also taught that the 70 weeks of Daniel culminated and the Jewish Age ended in 70 AD: "Jerusalem is to stand till His coming (Daniel’s reference to Messiah’s appearing in His First Advent), and thenceforth, prophet and vision cease in Israel (the end of the Old Covenant or Jewish Age). This is why Jerusalem stood till then…that they might be exercised in the types as a preparation for the reality…but from that time forth all prophecy is sealed and the city and Temple taken" (INC, XXXIX:3-XV:8).

Athanasius clearly reflects the view of the entire early Church: once the Messiah had come, the role of the Temple in Jerusalem would be ended. “Things to be done which belonged to Jerusalem beneath…were fulfilled, and those which belonged to the shadows had passed away” (FEL, IV:3-4).

This important early Church father clearly believed that the Jewish age ended in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.


IRENAEUS AND HIPPOLYTUS

Irenaeus was a contemporary of Clement of Alexandrea whose widely held view we dealt with above. Irenaeus and his pupil Hippolytus are the only two writers from the early Church period who believed in a still-future fulfillment of Daniel’s 70th week. They both placed the 70th week at the end of the gospel age and so are the first interpreters to postulate a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks (AG, V). Both predicted a specific date for the second coming that has long since come and gone.

But their belief in a future 70th week was never widely accepted! St. Jerome specifically pointed out that the number of years in their system did not coincide with the historical events they purported to cover. He wrote, "If by any chance those of future generations should not see these predictions of his (Irenaeus) fulfilled at the time he (Irenaeus) set, then they will be forced to seek for some other solution and to convict the teacher himself (Irenaeus) of erroneous interpretation” (CID)

David B. Currie points out in his scholarly work, "As a point of history, the views of Irenaeus did give seed to premillennialism. But the early fathers of the Church strongly and universally denounced this concept. The early Church understood the presumptuous-parenthesis theory that rapturists employ…but they resoundingly rejected it.” (David B. Currie, Rapture, page 425)

The prevailing view of the early Church fathers was that Daniel’s vision of the 70 weeks was fulfilled in 70 AD. The final or 70th week began with the baptism of Jesus and his presentation to Israel by John the Baptist. The Messiah was cut off in the middle of the 70th week when Jesus was crucified. The abomination of desolation and the great tribulation spoken of by Daniel were fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD.

These events marked the end of the Jewish age and the dawning of Messiah’s Day.

~ The Early Church Fathers and the Last Days of the Jewish Age

The timeline of Daniel's 70 weeks from the Orthodox Church:

View attachment 265327

​

What is "TPR," by Origen?

 

[mkgal1]

I tend to look at it like this. At the time Jesus was in their courtroom being judged then sentenced. Jesus was then predicting that there will come a time in the future when the tables will be turned. IOW they would be standing in front of Him in His courtroom in order to be judged and sentenced. And the way Jesus accomplishes that is by being positioned on the right hand of God

I appreciate the courtroom language and comparison. Did you happen to watch the short video I shared about the significance of Jesus' use of the phrase "Son of Man"? N.T. Wright also uses courtroom language in his explanation in that same video. Jesus took over as High Priest and as King of Israel. In order to do that completely - the old leaders had to be removed from their positions (and, I believe, they were). He sits on the throne now. He is our High Priest.

And it's not like it isn't true, that one day in the future those judging and sentencing Christ at the time will be standing in front of the one they judged and sentenced, thus the tables will be turned. And no way can Jesus accomplish that unless He has been positioned at the right hand of God, which He has, then returning in the clouds in order to fulfill this, which He hasn't done yet.

What happened in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was the judgement of a nation - that's how the covenant was formed. Christ Jesus did turn the tables on the religious leaders at that time - He took their power away that was the control of the Temple. Look at John 11:47- 48 (this was their fear - they were attempting to avoid this. They'd made the control of the Temple their idol):

John 11:47-48 ~So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”​

I believe any and all future judgement will be individual - and that's God's rightful place now and for all eternity to enact (so that will never "end").

 

[Biblewriter]

The hard truth is that not even one ancient Christian writer that we know about said anything whatsoever about Christ having come in 70 A.D. That idea did not even arise until the invention of Preterism about fifteen hundred years later. This is usually attributed to the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar (1554–1613)

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

The hard truth is that not even one ancient Christian said anything whatsoever about Christ having come on 70 A.D. That idea did not even arise until the invention of Preterism well over a thousand years later.

Why did anyone think of making such a false and outrageous claim ? ! Who was behind that deception, and how did it keep persisting when it is so much contrary to Yahuweh's Plan and His Word ?

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Quoting from Adam Maarschalk's series:
Preterists and Futurists alike agree that Daniel does foretell Jerusalem’s destruction, if nowhere else, then at least in his pivotal 70-Weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:26b). Preterists would maintain that the “time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time” (Daniel 12:1) also refers to 67-70 AD, as does the reference to “a time, times, and half a time” (verse 7),[4] and the reference to the regular burnt offering being taken away (Daniel 8:11-14, 12:11). Regarding this offering, Philip Mauro quotes the following from Josephus to show that it was taken away at the very end of the final siege on Jerusalem, i.e. late July 70 AD (Todd Dennis [21], 2009):

You're changing Scripture to fit your doctrine. The passages do not state "returning on the clouds" that's your own bias revealed in how you're reading.

When Caiphus, the high priest, asked Jesus,
"Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" He responded with:

Mark 14:62 - “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”​

1st century Jewish/Roman Wars........Matthew 24:6

Horses and Chariots shown in Revel 9 and 18............

Chariots in the Clouds - As Recorded by Josephus, Tacitus, Eusebius, and Others

Chariots in the Clouds
DURING THE "SECOND PASSOVER" OF A.D. 66

AS RECORDED BY JOSEPHUS, TACITUS, AND OTHERS

"Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind"
Jeremiah 4:13
"For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire."
Isaiah 66:15, cf. 19:1

Jesus - “there will be terrors and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11)

DURING THE FESTIVAL SEASON OF A.D. 66

The Judgment on Jerusalem According to History

Heavenly phenomena - A star resembling a sword
- A comet (Halley's Comet)
- A bright light shining around the altar and the temple
- A vision of chariots and soldiers running around among the clouds and all cities of Palestine.
Earthly phenomena
(reported by priests) - A quaking
- A great noise
- The sounds of a great multitude saying, "Let us remove hence."
Source: The Last Days According to Jesus, R.C. Sproul
========================
Jewish Wars 6-5-3 | Matthew 24:30 | Second Coming of Christ | Josephus on the Star | Response to the Preterist Position | Evaluating Historical Claims | Answering "Evaluating Historical Claims" | The Return of Jesus to Jerusalem | Coming in the Clouds of Heaven

Matthew 26:64. Jesus told him, "You said it. I am telling you then, that henceforth you shall see the Son of Man sitting from the right of the Power and coming over the clouds of heaven." (Aramaic Bible)

ORIGINAL CONTEMPORARY TESTIMONIES

Josephus (A.D. 75) - Jewish Historian
"Besides these [signs], a few days after that feast, on the one- and-twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared; I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities..............
=================================
Search Chariot/s

Daniel 11:40
“At the time of the end the king of the South[Judah?] shall attack him; and the king of the North[Israel/Gentiles?] shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.
Psa 104:3
He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,

Isa 21:9
And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!”
Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.”
Isa 43:17
Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power
(They shall lie down together, they shall not rise;
They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick)

Zec 9:10
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off.
He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.'
=====================
Used in NT

Act 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
========================================
Rev 9:9
And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.
Rev 18:13
“and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
=============================
Revelation 15:3 [Exodus 15]
and They are singing the Song of Mosheh, the bond-servant of the God, and the song of the Lambkin, saying, `Great and marvelous the works of Thee, Lord! the God, the Almighty, just and true the ways of Thee, the king of the *Ages/Saints/Nations*

Exodus 15:
1 Then sang Mosheh and the sons of Yisra'el this song unto Yahweh, and they spake saying,--"I will sing to Yahweh for He is exalted exalted,--The horse and his rider hath He cast into the Sea.
2 My might and melody is Yah, and He became mine salvation/y@shuw'ah.--This is my 'El and I will glorify Him, 'Elohiym of my father and I will set Him on high". '
21 And Miriam is responding to them: "Sing ye to Yahweh that to be triumphant He is triumphant. Horse and his rider He heaved into Sea

Visual Timeline of the Roman-Jewish War ARTchive
The Historical Fall of Jerusalem in AD70
TRACKING THE FIRST JEWISH REVOLT FROM A
MILITARY POINT OF VIEW

=======================================

 

[Biblewriter]

Why did anyone think of making such a false and outrageous claim ? ! Who was behind that deception, and how did it keep persisting when it is so much contrary to Yahuweh's Plan and His Word ?

The earliest Christian writers (whose works have been preserved to our time) systematically predicted that Christ would come "in earth's six thousandth year." That would mean, using the chronology of the Septuagint, which they used, that they expected in about three hundred years in their own future. But using the chronology of the Masoretic text, which we use, would have made it in the year 2000.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

The hard truth is that not even one ancient Christian writer that we know about said anything whatsoever about Christ having come in 70 A.D. That idea did not even arise until the invention of Preterism about fifteen hundred years later. This is usually attributed to the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar (1554–1613)

The earliest Christian writers (whose works have been preserved to our time) systematically predicted that Christ would come "in earth's six thousandth year." That would mean, using the chronology of the Septuagint, which they used, that they expected in about three hundred years in their own future. But using the chronology of the Masoretic text, which we use, would have made it in the year 2000.

Preterism has been around for centuries..............
Jesus and His followers were futurists............post 70AD Jews became Preterists.......

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

..........

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Like Babylon. (which has been around a lot longer than Christianity)
So ?

So respond to post #47..................

Post 47

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

............

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

yeshuaslavejeff said: ↑
Like Babylon. (which has been around a lot longer than Christianity)
So ?

So respond to post #47..................
Post 47

No. If you have a question, ask it plainly.

There was no question in that post

Jesus' famous post "Last Supper" Garden Discourse.....

Jhn 16:25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 29 His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!

1Co 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

......

 

[mkgal1]

What is "TPR," by Origen?

Origen wrote in Greek, I believe - so I'm unsure of what that stands for. I was quoting the linked article. This one: The Early Church Fathers and the Last Days of the Jewish Age

 

[mkgal1]

The earliest Christian writers (whose works have been preserved to our time) systematically predicted that Christ would come "in earth's six thousandth year." That would mean, using the chronology of the Septuagint, which they used, that they expected in about three hundred years in their own future. But using the chronology of the Masoretic text, which we use, would have made it in the year 2000.

What? I've never heard/read that claim. Please cite your source of that.

That math doesn't even make sense. Isn't John an "early Christian writer"? Barnabus is believed to have written in 100 A.D. How do we go from 400 A.D. (300 + 100) and leap all the way to 2000 A.D.?

If that's true - then what was fulfilled in the year 2000? Or is that a failed prophecy and we should all just quit and go home?

 

[Biblewriter]

Origen wrote in Greek, I believe - so I'm unsure of what that stands for. I was quoting the linked article. This one: The Early Church Fathers and the Last Days of the Jewish Age

Thank you. I was able to find all of them except that one. If that quotation is correct, then Tertullian, as well as Clement, and later Julius Africanus, explicitly taught that the seventy weeks had been fulfilled. The rest of them only spoke of the Daniel's prophecy indicating when Christ would come. But that is also taught by those who teach that the seventieth week remains to be fulfilled.

The comment in the epistle of Barnabas needs to be interpreted to make it apply to Daniel's prophecy.

So I would have to reject the claim that the early church rejected the clear, plain, teaching of Irenaeus and Hippolytus that the seventieth week remains to be fulfilled in the future.

You can find more information about this in the book "Ancient Dispensational Truth," by James C. Morris (me.) It is available on Amazon.com.

 

[mkgal1]

Thank you. I was able to find all of them except that one.

I found this link, but can't see what could be considered TPR. Origen was a very prolific writer, and I'm not even sure if all his writings are listed here:

Links to the Works of Origen in English, Greek, and Latin

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

yeshuaslavejeff said: ↑
Like Babylon. (which has been around a lot longer than Christianity)
So ?

So respond to post #47..................
Post 47

yeshuaslavejeff said: ↑
Like Babylon. (which has been around a lot longer than Christianity)
So ?

LittleLambofJesus said: ↑
So respond to post #47..................
Post 47

yeshuaslavejeff said: ↑
No. If you have a question, ask it plainly.

......

There was no question in that post

Jesus' famous post "Last Supper" Garden Discourse.....

Jhn 16:25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 29 His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!

1Co 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

LittleLambofJesus said: ↑
There was no question in that post

Jhn 16:25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 29 His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!

1Co 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

When did plain figure of speech escape understanding ?
Why remain in something that is carnal / not from Scripture ?

What "profit" , what "use", what possible "benefit" is there in opposing Jesus' and His Word, willingly to accept something men (or demons?) thought up in place of God's Word (as Jesus exposed man's traditions not being good to place over God's Word) ?

Ask the Jews of today that still visit a wall that was built around a pagan Roman Fortress..............

Jesus never mentioned walls in His 70AD Jerusalem/Temple Discourse..........
The Sanctuary and Temple was the heart and soul of OC Jerusalem......not the walls

Matthew 24:

1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said to them, “ are ye not seeing all these? Amen I am saying to ye, not no may be being left here stone upon stone, which not shall be being thrown-down<2647>.”
Mark 13:2 And Jesus answering said to him, “thou are beholding these, the great buildings. Not no may be being left here stone upon stone which not no may be being thrown-down<2647>
Luke 21:6 “These which ye are beholding.
Shall be coming days in which not shall be being left stone upon stone here which not shall be being thrown-down<2647>
[Luke 19:44]
==================
The Destruction of Jerusalem - George Peter Holford, 1805AD
Proof that Matthew 24 was fully fulfilled in 70 AD!
Also see: Rapture refuted

Three celebrated walls surrounded the city on every side, except that which was deemed inaccessible, and there it was defended by one wall only. The most ancient of these walls was remarkable for its great strength, and was, moreover, erected on a hanging rock, and fortified by sixty towers. on the middle wall there were fourteen towers only ; but on the third, which was also distinguished by the extraordinary merit of its architecture, there were no less than ninety. The celebrated tower of Psephinos, before which Titus at first encamped, was erected on this latter wall, and even excelled it in the superior style of its architecture : it was seventy cubits high and had eight angles, each of which commanded most extensive and beautiful prospects. In clear weather, the spectator had from them a view of the Mediterranean sea, of Arabia, and of the whole extent of the Jewish dominions. Besides this there were three other towers of great magnitude, named Hippocos, Phasael, and Mariamne. The two former, famed for their strength and grandeur, were nearly ninety cubits high ; the latter, for its valuable curiosities, beauty and elegance, was about fifty five cubits. They were all built of white marble ; and so exquisite was the workmanship, that each of them appeared as if it had been hewn out of an immense single block of it...........

Before their final demolition, however, Titus took, a. survey of the city and its fortifications ; and, while contemplating their impregnable strength, could not help ascribing his success to the peculiar interposition of the ALMIGHTY HIMSELF. "Had not God himself (exclaimed he) aided out operations, and driven the Jews from their fortresses, it would have been absolutely impossible to have taken them ; for what could men, and the force of engines, have done against such towers as these ?" After this he commanded that the city should be commanded razed to its foundations, excepting only the three lofty towers Hippocos, Phasael, and Mariamne, which he suffered to remain as evidences of its strength, and as trophies of his victory. There was left standing, also, a small part of the western wall; as a rampart for a garrison, to keep the surrounding country in subjection.
=======================================
New Evidence that "The Temple Mount" is the remains of Roman Fort Antonia

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

So people today don't know ?

Just like people in century one, two, three, four, ... ... ... through the twentieth century ?