Unlike their heathen neighbors, the Jews do not have a multiplicity of temples scattered across the land. There is only one cultic center, one unique source for the divine presence, one singular place and no other where a Jew can commune with the living God. Judea is, for all intents and purposes, a temple-state. The very term "theocracy" was coined specifically to describe Jerusalem. "Some people have entrusted the supreme political powers to monarchies," wrote the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, "others to oligarchies, yet others to the masses {democracy}. Our lawgiver {God}, however, was attracted by none of these forms of polity, but gave to his constitution the form of what-if a forced expression be permitted-may be termed a 'theocracy' {theokratia}, placing all sovereignty and authority in the hands of God." Think
( Reza Aslan )
[ Zealot: The Life and Times of ]
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