Outside Reading - Blog #2

 Calvary/Golgatha Hill

 When researching for our first paper on sacred places I decided to research Calvary Hill also known as Golgatha. For people who don't know Calvary is the placed where Jesus was crucified on the cross, as stated in the bible. When researching this topic I came across an article that talked a lot about the hill and how it was discovered. It started out talking about how since Constantine, the Christian world has been lead to believe that the hill where Jesus was crucified is beneath what is now the Holy Sepulcher Church. Helen, the mother of Constantine is credited for identifying its location and instigating the building of the church upon that site. However, this article states that Golgatha is not where for centuries everyone has believed it was. This article says that Golgatha is located on the opposite side of Jerusalem, just outside the eastern wall. Golgatha means "the place of the skull" because the Early Church knew that the place where Jesus was crucified looked like a skull. I found this to be extremely interesting. It is said that when Jesus died, the temple curtain ripped and it could be seen from the people standing on Golgatha. This would only be possible if Golgatha was truly on the eastern side of Jerusalem considering the front of the temple has always faced east. All my life as a Chrisitan I have been taught to believe that the place where Jesus was crucified is not under a church. I had just found out this year that people believe this, and it shocked me. I wondered how someone could have something built over a place that is so sacred, whether it is a church or not. This makes me question, why do people still visit the Holy Sepulcher Church if it is not where Jesus was crucified? How do we know that it wasn't?