Western Wall site of a Satanic Ritual?

[mercytruth]

You are correct, he was not an archeologist. But he appears to have been a talented historian and researcher.

Here is all I know about Ernst Martin’s background (please feel free to add more):

Ernest L. Martin attended grade and high school in Exeter, California and graduated from the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California which specialized in meteorology. From 1950 to 1954 he was a member of the United States Air Force who sent him to the University of New Mexico to further his education in meteorology and following this he then became a weather forecaster in Greenland. He spent another year working at Lowry AFB working in research and development for High Altitude studies at Denver, Colorado.

During 1955 Ernest Martin became a supporter of the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Radio Church of God (later known as the Worldwide Church of God). He attended Ambassador College at Pasadena, California in 1958 and later transferred to the campus in England. He was ordained as a minister of the Radio Church of God in 1959 and continued with his studies at Ambassador College to finally earn an unaccredited Ph.D in education during 1966. From 1960 to 1972 he taught history, theology and elementary meteorology at the Ambassador College campus in Bricket Wood, England where he became Dean of Faculty.

Between 1969 and 1973 Ambassador College entered into an alliance with Hebrew University in Israel which had been negotiated by Martin. This undertaking commenced a five years archaeological excavation near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount during which time he supervised 450 participating college students during the summer months. The program gained mention in a TIME magazine article.

His book The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot claimed that the Temple Mount was not the location of the last Temple. This was significant given his relationship with Herbert W. Armstrong whose editorial in The Plain Truth magazine was cited by Denis Michael Rohan as a reason for setting fire to the Al Aqsa mosque during the 1960s.

The basis of this work began with the first visit by Martin to Jerusalem in 1961 when he first met Benjamin Mazar and later his son Ory Mazar, who informed him of his belief that the Temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were located on the Ophel mound to the north of the original Mount Zion on the southeast ridge. Ory Mazar informed Martin that his father had also inclined to this belief before his death. In 1996 Martin wrote a draft report to support this theory. He wrote: “I was then under the impression that Simon the Hasmonean (along with Herod a century later) moved the Temple from the Ophel mound to the Dome of the Rock area.”

However, after studying the words of Josephus concerning the Temple of Herod the Great, which was reported to be in the same general area of the former Temples, he then read the account of Eleazar who led the final contingent of Jewish resistance to the Romans at Masada which stated that the Roman fortress was the only structure left by 73 C.E. “With this key in mind, I came to the conclusion in 1997 that all the Temples were indeed located on the Ophel mound over the area of the Gihon Spring”.

From these conclusions Martin produced his book in which he asserted that the Temples of Jerusalem were located over the Gihon Spring and not over the Dome of the Rock. He wrote: “What has been amazing to me is the vast amount of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian records that remain available from the first to the sixteenth centuries that clearly vindicate the conclusions that I have reached in this book of research.” (amazon.com/wiki/Ernest_L._Martin/ref=ntt_at_bio_wiki)

Please take the time to read the various theories by the Temple Mount site that I listed.
They are much more extensive in their research from the historical and archeological evidence.

God’s peace

micah

 

[HansTrappist]

This is simply not true. The Shekhinah has never been perverted into a false god by the Kabbalah. If that were so, I can assure you no Hasidic Jew would bother reading and studying the Kabbalah. It may be that this man does not believe in the necessity of studying the Kabbalah since there are plenty of Orthodox Jews who do not study it, but that is a far cry from impugning it as a source of occultist ideology. Or, to give him the benefit of the doubt, it may be that he gleaned this from studying and misinterpreting the meaning of the Kabbalah since it is so very challenging to understand and apply it to the Torah.

My own hypothesis is that he may have been a Hasidic Jew himself who, for one reason or another, became disillusioned with this Jewish movement. We know that converts to any religion can be the most fierce opponents of the religion they had once been a member of.

No, it is not untrue. You simply disagree with his assertion.

Again, in the Wikipedia summation on the Kabbalah that I cited earlier, you will find that following (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah):

Yihhyah Qafahh, an early-20th-century Yemenite Jewish leader and grandfather of Yosef Qafih, also wrote a book entitled Milhamoth ha-Shem (Wars of the Name) against what he perceived as the false teachings of the Zohar and the false Kabbalah of Isaac Luria. He is credited with spearheading the Dor Daim who continue in Yihhyah Qafahh’s view of Kabbalah into modern times.

Yeshayahu Leibowitz 1903–1994, brother of Nechama Leibowitz, though Modern Orthodox in his world view, publicly shared the views expressed in R. Yihhyah Qafahh’s book Milhhamoth HaShem and elaborated upon these views in his many writings.
There is dispute among modern Haredim as to the status of Isaac Luria’s, the Arizal’s Kabbalistic teachings. While a portion of Modern Orthodox Rabbis, Dor Daim and many students of the Rambam, completely reject Arizal’s Kabbalistic teachings, as well as deny that the Zohar is authoritative, or from Shimon bar Yohai, all three of these groups completely accept the existence and validity of Ma’aseh Merkavah and Ma’aseh B’resheet mysticism. Their only disagreement concerns whether the Kabbalistic teachings promulgated today are accurate representations of those esoteric teachings to which the Talmud refers. Within the Haredi Jewish community one can find both rabbis who sympathize with such a view,[citation needed] while not necessarily agreeing with it, as well as rabbis who consider such a view absolute heresy.

So, there can be no doubt that the Kabbalah is a set of esoteric beliefs. It IS NOT authentic Old Testament Judaism. Neither is the Talmud for that matter. Both these sources have their origin not in the Judaism of Moses and the Torah, but in the esoteric mysticism that flourished following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. and which was primarily codified during the Middle Ages.

 

[HansTrappist]

Please take the time to read the various theories by the Temple Mount site that I listed.
They are much more extensive in their research from the historical and archeological evidence.

God’s peace

micah

I was already familiar with those theories.

What struck me about Martin’s theory was that it not only agreed with Christ’s prophecy that “not one stone would be left standing” but Martin based his conclusions primarily on the eyewitness accounts of ancient commentators like Josephus and the known methods of the Romans. I find it a fascinating theory and the more I think and read about it the more it makes sense.

 

[agnes_therese]

What is also disturbing is that some on this thread seem afraid to discuss this topic and wish to shut down the debate by yelling “anti-semite”, etc. That’s a red flag in my book.

Criticizing someone as being anti-Semitic doesn’t mean you’re “afraid” or “wish to shut down the debate.” It’s called expressing your opinion. You have that right, and so do those who disagree.

 

[HansTrappist]

Criticizing someone as being anti-Semitic doesn’t mean you’re “afraid” or “wish to shut down the debate.” It’s called expressing your opinion. You have that right, and so do those who disagree.

Yeah right.

Yelling “anti-semite” or “racist” is one of the dirtiest, most predictable tricks in the book and is one of the quickest ways to shut down a debate.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but not once did I write anything anti-semitic on this thread. If someone is going to claim that I (or anyone else) is an anti-semite, then please at least have the courage to document the instance of anti-semitism. Otherwise, it becomes a case of cheap slander.

 

[meltzerboy]

No, it is not untrue. You simply disagree with his assertion.

Again, in the Wikipedia summation on the Kabbalah that I cited earlier, you will find that following (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah):

Yihhyah Qafahh, an early-20th-century Yemenite Jewish leader and grandfather of Yosef Qafih, also wrote a book entitled Milhamoth ha-Shem (Wars of the Name) against what he perceived as the false teachings of the Zohar and the false Kabbalah of Isaac Luria. He is credited with spearheading the Dor Daim who continue in Yihhyah Qafahh’s view of Kabbalah into modern times.

Yeshayahu Leibowitz 1903–1994, brother of Nechama Leibowitz, though Modern Orthodox in his world view, publicly shared the views expressed in R. Yihhyah Qafahh’s book Milhhamoth HaShem and elaborated upon these views in his many writings.
There is dispute among modern Haredim as to the status of Isaac Luria’s, the Arizal’s Kabbalistic teachings. While a portion of Modern Orthodox Rabbis, Dor Daim and many students of the Rambam, completely reject Arizal’s Kabbalistic teachings, as well as deny that the Zohar is authoritative, or from Shimon bar Yohai, all three of these groups completely accept the existence and validity of Ma’aseh Merkavah and Ma’aseh B’resheet mysticism. Their only disagreement concerns whether the Kabbalistic teachings promulgated today are accurate representations of those esoteric teachings to which the Talmud refers. Within the Haredi Jewish community one can find both rabbis who sympathize with such a view,[citation needed] while not necessarily agreeing with it, as well as rabbis who consider such a view absolute heresy.

So, there can be no doubt that the Kabbalah is a set of esoteric beliefs. It IS NOT authentic Old Testament Judaism. Neither is the Talmud for that matter. Both these sources have their origin not in the Judaism of Moses and the Torah, but in the esoteric mysticism that flourished following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. and which was primarily codified during the Middle Ages.

You are confusing or conflating rabbinical debate (one of the mainstays of Judaism) with occultist ideology. Yes, there were rabbis in the Orthodox community who preferred not to study the Kabbalah but instead focus on the Torah. Even the Rambam (Maimonides) and the Ramban (Nachmanides) had their innings. The Haredi movement itself was divided, but there were also non-Haredi rabbis who resented the relatively new and “different” movement of Hasidism. But to use words like occultist and particularly satanic is going too far. And, as previously noted, it is contrary to the Jewish concept of Satan in the first place. Further, ask ANY Orthodox Jew if the Talmud is authentic Old Testament Judaism–which they do NOT differentiate from rabbinical Judaism–and ALL will agree it is by virtue of its being the Oral Law. This was indeed later codified; however, Orthodox Jews believe it was given to the Jewish people by G-d just as surely as the Written Torah Law. Some Conservative Jews and many Reform Jews disagree. They too are considered by certain Orthodox Jews as heretics (that would include me) but surely not in league with the occult or demonic forces.

 

[mercytruth]

I was already familiar with those theories.

What struck me about Martin’s theory was that it not only agreed with Christ’s prophecy that “not one stone would be left standing” but Martin based his conclusions primarily on the eyewitness accounts of ancient commentators like Josephus and the known methods of the Romans. I find it a fascinating theory and the more I think and read about it the more it makes sense.

There is big difference between not one stone standing of the Temple and the Temple walls , and the walls surrounding the Temple mount complex itself.

 

[Eric_Hilbert]

The creator of the YouTube video has gotten enough free publicity.
Question answered.
Thread closed.