Pompeii is a story that fascinates me. The idea that a village could be so utterly destroyed and swallowed alive, as well as preserved for thousands of years intrigues many. What intrigues me even more is this is a city in existence during the time of Jesus, a place just south of modern day Naples that Paul likely knew, and possibly even visited during his travels.
The destruction of Pompeii is a bit of a metaphor for us in the West regarding the way we look at spirituality, and specifically our theological values (how we believe God operates, what he authorizes, and how he "gets his way"). When Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD (just 9 years after the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, things must've been extremely "apocalyptic" at this point), the blast was so great that Pliny the Younger recorded that people had plenty of time to get out of town, even after the first ash and dirt began raining down—a clear sign of what was to come. Still, even though they could see the destruction about to befall them, roughly 2,000 people stayed, some assured that they would be safe and protected by their gods, their sacrifices and their offerings (sounding familiar?).
As the fallout progressed, more and more ash began making the air too thick to breathe, then suddenly a 100 mile per hour river of lava overtook everything in its path. Buildings, bodies, altars and even fruit and bread were perfectly preserved for thousands of years by the ash and lava.
Hey Caleb, I'd love to read the rest of this article -and a number of others you've written here. How do I go about doing that? When I click "click here to continue" I can't seem to get anywhere - says the page is not found?
Posted by: Karen | April 02, 2017 at 10:49 AM