The Destruction of Pompeii—God’s Revenge?

Biblical Archeological Review ^ | Jul/Aug 2010 | Hershel Shanks

[Pharmboy]

Never knew about these dates as described...thought the article would be of interest to some here. Free site...go there for rest of article.

[Pharmboy]

BAR ping...

[Mere Survival]

Thanks for posting. Never put Vesuvius in a Christian context before.

[Pharmboy]

You’re most welcome...

[NorCoGOP]

thanks - interesting!

[Bob J]

Just so I understand. God destroyed Pompeii because he was angry at the Romans for sacking Jerusalem...why didn’t he just prevent the Romans from destroying Judea in the first place?

I was always taught this happened because the Jews had turned away from God which means the Romans were acting as tool of God’s vengeance. Why would he punish them for that?

Romans were kind of damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

[Sherman Logan]

Surely if God wanted revenge on the Romans, he’d have destroyed Rome, not Pompeii.

Maybe his aim was off a couple hundred miles.

Since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem as agents of God, it seems a little strange for him to revenge himself on them for doing so.

[Pharmboy]

BOTH points that you gentlemen raise have occurred to me, thus I think they are great points.( ;-D Thanks for raising...perhaps some FR scholars can weigh in here.

[P8riot]

To assume that God was angry about the destruction of Jerusalem denies his sovereignty. The prophets under the inspiration of God foretold of the destruction of Jerusalem. Christ, God himself, even stated that it would occur during the current generation. The destruction of Jerusalem was in God’s plan all along, as was the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, not the result of a temper tantrum over the loss of Jerusalem.

[TexasRepublic]

I doubt anyone in Italy saw a connection between the two events. Judea was just an insignificant province on one end of the Roman “pond”.

[Pharmboy]

Jews, however, WERE a significant part of the Roman Empire. Most scholars estimate that they made up about 10% of the empire’s population.

[Fiji Hill]

...The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 C.E AD...Solomon’s Temple, in 586 B.C.E. BC and the Second Temple, Herod’s Temple, in 70 C.E. AD

There, fixed it for you.

[Pharmboy]

I report, you decide. Whatever you prefer...

[Goldsborough]

Additionally why would someone who could target the first born sons of Egypt use such an imprecise instrumentality as a volcano to punish those marked for death? There might have been some Christians in Pompeii in 73 CE.

I know, I know, cue the mysteriousness of it all. . . .When a volcano kills the Romans, God might have been wrathful. When an earthquake flattens an apartment building in California, killing 16, no one blames it on the wrath of God. Curious.

[stuartcr]

I doubt any of the many non-Christians of that time, saw it as God’s revenge.

[TheThirdRuffian]

“why didn’t he just prevent the Romans from destroying Judea in the first place”

Well, he was also mad at the Jewish kingdom. And while (as do all things), the Roman sack fit His plans, His promise to punish people who harm Israel stands.

That said, the eruption seems a bit distant.

I would note that Nero attempted to put up a pagan statue of himself on the Temple Mount and was promptly struck dead before the effort could be completed.

That seems pretty direct.

[TheThirdRuffian]

Correction: Caligulia.

[Captain Beyond]

bflr

[Lakeshark]

Personally, I think it's the reason Italy lost this time around in the World Cup......

I'm sorry....couldn't help myself.....:-)

[MikeSteelBe]

Just because God uses the heathen to discipline his people does not mean he cannot judge the heathen. He is GOD, and His ways are not ours.