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The Destruction of Jerusalem: Illustrated Edition: An Absolute and Irresistible Proof of the Divine Origin of Christianity
A narrative of the calamities which befell the Jews so far as they tend to verify our Lord's predictions relative to that event. With a brief description of the City and Temple. By George Peter Holford (written in 1805). Sixth American Edition, Philadelphia, 1814.
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 2, 2024
The Destruction of Jerusalem: An Absolute and Irresistible Proof of the Divine Origin of Christianity by George Peter Holford was an extraordinary read. The author walked through the Olivet Discourse and its fulfillment by AD70 through the destruction of Jerusalem and the sacking of the Temple by Titus and the Roman armies, this in fact is one of the most extraordinary apologetics for the Christian Faith. The detail that Jesus gave in his discourse (Matt. 24; Mk. 13; Lk. 21), that came to pass word for word just as he prophesied gives insight into the divine origin of Christianity and the veracity of the Christian Scriptures. Also, historically speaking, the quotations from Josephus, Suetonius, and Tacitus, that gave ample historical precedent were fascinating in light of Jesus’ prophecies. The end was incredibly written, a practical wake-up call to the Church, and to each nation to truly turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and repentance, no nation is safe from his wrath apart from his Son. I commend this incredible work!
December 30, 2014
I can't wait to read more about this period of history; after reading this book, I feel that I've missed out on some important knowledge by not having read more about it before. It was also interesting to see a preacher from the early 19th century warn Great Britain of her coming fall if she continue on the same path and refused to repent and believe, and then to have the vantage point of two centuries later to see his words were true. In our day, we see the United States on the same trajectory and the same warnings being given (and ignored). The lesson of history, as always, is that man learns nothing from history.
March 10, 2022
Holford’s work is a short historical and scriptural apologetic for the warnings of judgment issued by Christ and the Apostles to be understood as predictions of AD70 and the events leading up to it.
August 21, 2021
Took this short book really slowly. I enjoyed every page. A wonderful demonstration of the Lord’s judgment on Jerusalem in AD70 with clear evidences of the events both divine and initiated by men. Would recommend.
December 23, 2021
Initially published in 1805 quickly, this work had six more print runs by 1815. Having read Holford’s work, it is no wonder that was the case.
It covers a critical period of history with accuracy, is highly readable, and roots both analysis and application in the inscripturated Word.
I found Holdord’s exhortations, based on the fulfilled prophecies of Jerusalem’s destruction, very pastoral. He delivers appeals to Christians, Christians in name only, unbelievers, Jews, patriotic zealots, and nations.
It covers a critical period of history with accuracy, is highly readable, and roots both analysis and application in the inscripturated Word.
I found Holdord’s exhortations, based on the fulfilled prophecies of Jerusalem’s destruction, very pastoral. He delivers appeals to Christians, Christians in name only, unbelievers, Jews, patriotic zealots, and nations.
August 17, 2010
This was a great read! A short, to the point book giving the history of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the ramifications of that fall as it relates to the Jews and their covenantal relationship with God.
February 2, 2009
Very good.
August 9, 2011
A great defense of our faith through a perspective I've not carefully considered before.
December 30, 2013
Short but excellent description of the events of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. The author shows how these things were predicted by Jesus and their uniqueness proves the truth of the gospel.
June 24, 2021
The Destruction of Jerusalem, written way back in 1805, makes for a fantastic starting place for someone who is beginning to study Preterism. This short piece illustrates poignantly how nearly all the predictions that Jesus gave during His Olivet Discourse were fulfilled during the ransacking of Jerusalem by Rome in year AD 70—and the book made me realize all the more fully how ridiculous it is for the modern church to interpret this discourse as pertaining to the end of the world. However, knowing now that all the gospels are largely regarded by modern scholars to have been written after the ransacking of Jerusalem (except for perhaps Mark, which is usually estimated to have been written between year 66 and year 76 AD), Holford fails in his initial goal in providing “absolute and irresistible proof” of Christianity (at least as far as the modern reader is concerned). Apparently, most scholars believed that the gospels were written far earlier back when Holford published this book, though. Also, I wish that Holford would have done more in the way of illustrating how the verses pertaining to Christ’s return were fulfilled by the ransacking of Jerusalem, as this is the one piece of the puzzle that I am still struggling to grasp.
February 27, 2023
Originally this book is from 1805, but it's as relevant today as it was then. It deals mainly with Josephus' "War on the Jews" and gives the reader an excellent summary/brief version of the most important events related to Jesus' prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple from Matthew 24 in the Bible. This is a particularly good book for those who think that the end-times hysteria today has taken off a little too much, and Matthew 24 is often taken as an income for that. But Matthew 24 is talking about something completely different than the time we're living in.
This one is good, interesting and easy to read, and a simple introduction to the basics that have to do with preterism. I myself have been reading the long version of the "War of the Jews" and I'm close to the end, and thus the aforementioned book was good reading alongside Josephus' work about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
This one is good, interesting and easy to read, and a simple introduction to the basics that have to do with preterism. I myself have been reading the long version of the "War of the Jews" and I'm close to the end, and thus the aforementioned book was good reading alongside Josephus' work about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
December 4, 2024
loved it!
I wish more Christian’s would study this out for themselves instead of listening to Dispys’ try to scare them with “rapture” talk. This is a historical and biblical understanding of the Oliver Discourse which should give the Christian confidence for the future regarding the Kingdom of God.
I wish more Christian’s would study this out for themselves instead of listening to Dispys’ try to scare them with “rapture” talk. This is a historical and biblical understanding of the Oliver Discourse which should give the Christian confidence for the future regarding the Kingdom of God.
December 25, 2024
At under 100 pages, this is a short overview of what took place during the Great War that ultimately led to the destruction of the temple.
Best resource I have seen on this subject due to its brevity.
This is a resource that consolidates information from this period of history, Tacitus, Eusebius, Josephus, etc…. Usefully pulling from various sources.
Best resource I have seen on this subject due to its brevity.
This is a resource that consolidates information from this period of history, Tacitus, Eusebius, Josephus, etc…. Usefully pulling from various sources.
December 22, 2017
Chilling
April 6, 2023
4.8/5 — This exceptional work was like if you combined a commentary on the Olivet Discourse with a SparkNotes version of Josephus’s ‘The Wars of the Jews’. If someone doesn’t want to take the approximately 352 hours it would take to read all the works of Josephus, particularly his account of the Jewish Wars preceding and including the destruction of Jerusalem, then that someone should definitely pick up and read this 69-page page-turner.
Mr. Holfold had it all in this short but potent work— solid exegesis, profound points, effective descriptive language, inspiring passion, and he even ended it by delivering a sound and relevant national challenge to his fellow Brits in the early 19th century.
I’m so happy I found and read this book! It was powerful! Definitely tough to read in spots—sometimes because of his retelling of the deplorable atrocities which transpired in and around Jerusalem between 66-70 AD; and sometimes because of what was obviously a common way of writing in 1805 in Britain but is a tad bit laborious by today’s standards—but I either enjoyed it or benefited from it all nonetheless!
Definitely recommend to anyone who wants to see how the events leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century was indeed a fulfillment of Jesus’s words to His disciples recorded in Matthew 24/Mark 13/Luke 21, among many other passages, of course.
Mr. Holfold had it all in this short but potent work— solid exegesis, profound points, effective descriptive language, inspiring passion, and he even ended it by delivering a sound and relevant national challenge to his fellow Brits in the early 19th century.
I’m so happy I found and read this book! It was powerful! Definitely tough to read in spots—sometimes because of his retelling of the deplorable atrocities which transpired in and around Jerusalem between 66-70 AD; and sometimes because of what was obviously a common way of writing in 1805 in Britain but is a tad bit laborious by today’s standards—but I either enjoyed it or benefited from it all nonetheless!
Definitely recommend to anyone who wants to see how the events leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century was indeed a fulfillment of Jesus’s words to His disciples recorded in Matthew 24/Mark 13/Luke 21, among many other passages, of course.
October 25, 2014
This book was simply amazing in detailing the historical accounts of what exactly happened to Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the events leading up to it, and the divine will of God at play in the destruction of that ancient city and its beloved temple.
Written in the early 19th century, quite before dispensationalism's rise to popularity, the details Holford records (using mainly Josephus and Tacitus) are very difficult to ignore in terms of understanding Jesus Christ's prophecies in the Olivet Discourse.
I'll spare the gory details save just one short passage:
---
The blood of the sufferers flowed in proportion to the rage of this destructive element; and the number of the slain exceeded all calculation. The ground could not be seen for the dead bodies, over which the Romans trampled in pursuit of the fugitives; while the crackling noise of the devouring flames mingled with the clamor of arms, the groans of the dying and the shrieks of despair, augmented the tremendous horror of a scene, to which the pages of history can furnish no parallel.
(Kindle loc. ~729)
---
(And this is a mild passage. Needless to say, don't read this book on an empty stomach.)
While this was written before the Jewish Holocaust (and I say this without any attempt at all to minimize the absolute horror of the Holocaust), it is truly hard to read this book and not see these events as being the fulfillment of Christ's words: "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be" (Mt. 24:21, emphasis mine).
Regardless of your eschatological views, this work offers much to consider.
[The kindle edition was unfortunately flawed with the headings and subheadings not making any sense. But if you ignore them, I'm confident you'll still get the full experience of the original work.]
Written in the early 19th century, quite before dispensationalism's rise to popularity, the details Holford records (using mainly Josephus and Tacitus) are very difficult to ignore in terms of understanding Jesus Christ's prophecies in the Olivet Discourse.
I'll spare the gory details save just one short passage:
---
The blood of the sufferers flowed in proportion to the rage of this destructive element; and the number of the slain exceeded all calculation. The ground could not be seen for the dead bodies, over which the Romans trampled in pursuit of the fugitives; while the crackling noise of the devouring flames mingled with the clamor of arms, the groans of the dying and the shrieks of despair, augmented the tremendous horror of a scene, to which the pages of history can furnish no parallel.
(Kindle loc. ~729)
---
(And this is a mild passage. Needless to say, don't read this book on an empty stomach.)
While this was written before the Jewish Holocaust (and I say this without any attempt at all to minimize the absolute horror of the Holocaust), it is truly hard to read this book and not see these events as being the fulfillment of Christ's words: "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be" (Mt. 24:21, emphasis mine).
Regardless of your eschatological views, this work offers much to consider.
[The kindle edition was unfortunately flawed with the headings and subheadings not making any sense. But if you ignore them, I'm confident you'll still get the full experience of the original work.]
September 22, 2024
In this short summary (30 pages) of the events leading up to and surrounding the Siege of Jerusalem by the Roman General Titus, George Holford connects Bible Prophesies from the Gospels and the Old Testament to actual historical events recorded by the Jewish Historian, Josephus. Many of these descriptions by Josephus match almost word for word what Jesus said around 30 years earlier mainly in the week leading up to His Crucifiction. Read Matthew chapters 19 -24, Luke 17, & 21 for context.
It should be noted as Holford mentions, that Josephus was not a Christian. In all of his works, Josephus mentions Jesus in one paragraph saying He was a doer of good deeds and was crucified by the Roman Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilot. Josephus was captured by the Romans before the Siege took place and was conscripted by his captors to write a history of the Roman war with the Jews. So neither the Romans nor Josephus had any motive to verify the fulfillment of the Words of Jesus.
In the Book Holford does a great job of first quoting a passage from Josephus, with the excellent descriptions and ample detail the historian used to picture an episode, and then brings in the reference to Jesus' words which predicted the event.
This is a great book to read for any one who wishes to verify fulfilled prophesies and present an apologetic for the Christian faith.
As an added bonus, the book answered and dubunks many skeptical arguments that have been used to cast doubt on the Gospel writers accounts of the life and sayings of Jesus. It could be a great sequel to this book to list the skeptics arguments and then debunk them using notes from Holford's pages.
This is must reading for any Christian apologist or workers involved in Evangelistic endeavors.
I highly recommend the reading and study of this concise argument for the validity of the Christian faith.
It should be noted as Holford mentions, that Josephus was not a Christian. In all of his works, Josephus mentions Jesus in one paragraph saying He was a doer of good deeds and was crucified by the Roman Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilot. Josephus was captured by the Romans before the Siege took place and was conscripted by his captors to write a history of the Roman war with the Jews. So neither the Romans nor Josephus had any motive to verify the fulfillment of the Words of Jesus.
In the Book Holford does a great job of first quoting a passage from Josephus, with the excellent descriptions and ample detail the historian used to picture an episode, and then brings in the reference to Jesus' words which predicted the event.
This is a great book to read for any one who wishes to verify fulfilled prophesies and present an apologetic for the Christian faith.
As an added bonus, the book answered and dubunks many skeptical arguments that have been used to cast doubt on the Gospel writers accounts of the life and sayings of Jesus. It could be a great sequel to this book to list the skeptics arguments and then debunk them using notes from Holford's pages.
This is must reading for any Christian apologist or workers involved in Evangelistic endeavors.
I highly recommend the reading and study of this concise argument for the validity of the Christian faith.
November 5, 2018
Informative but skips over some key prophecies.
While much of the things Jesus prophesied were fulfilled in the decades after His death, the author fails to address some key points such as the verses that announce the time of the end, which is supposed to begin after those things come to pass that the author spoke of. If he were to address this "time of the end" verse, it wouldn't quite fit with his interpretation of prophecy and he'd be forced to concede that not all of prophecy was fulfilled shortly after Christ's death.
We have very specific prophecies given in Daniel and Revelation that tell us their beginning and ending events, none of which are addressed by the author. There's a ton of prophecy not spoken of in the book.
The author is clearly trying to impress and using a lot of dramatic imagery to drive home his point, but none of that makes up for what he leaves out. He also comes off as an arrogant, self-righteous intellectual who looks down on the Jews and others. I'm not saying that's how he was, just that that's how his writing comes off. I've read other scholars of his time and their language was far more relatable and down-to-earth.
The book is good for some historical information to help one better understand the events that took place after Jesus' death and during the New Testament books after the Gospels.
While much of the things Jesus prophesied were fulfilled in the decades after His death, the author fails to address some key points such as the verses that announce the time of the end, which is supposed to begin after those things come to pass that the author spoke of. If he were to address this "time of the end" verse, it wouldn't quite fit with his interpretation of prophecy and he'd be forced to concede that not all of prophecy was fulfilled shortly after Christ's death.
We have very specific prophecies given in Daniel and Revelation that tell us their beginning and ending events, none of which are addressed by the author. There's a ton of prophecy not spoken of in the book.
The author is clearly trying to impress and using a lot of dramatic imagery to drive home his point, but none of that makes up for what he leaves out. He also comes off as an arrogant, self-righteous intellectual who looks down on the Jews and others. I'm not saying that's how he was, just that that's how his writing comes off. I've read other scholars of his time and their language was far more relatable and down-to-earth.
The book is good for some historical information to help one better understand the events that took place after Jesus' death and during the New Testament books after the Gospels.
October 28, 2020
New beginnings
If you are like myself, starting to investigate the idea that preterism has something important to offer us today, then this short book is ideal. It has opened up my thinking, along with books by Don K Preston amongst others, that Christendom is possibly waiting for a train that has already left.
History clearly shows us that Jerusalem and its system of worship was destroyed in the same manner described by our Lord, yet many still look for the words of Jesus to be fulfilled. I'm leaning to the belief that waiting for those fulfilled prophecies to be fulfilled, has actually neutered the potency of the body of Christ, the Church. Instead of going forward with crowns of authority, we are hunkered down in fox holes wearing tin helmets waiting for the tribulation and coming doom attached to it.
Follow on with your path, buy this book and be blessed.
If you are like myself, starting to investigate the idea that preterism has something important to offer us today, then this short book is ideal. It has opened up my thinking, along with books by Don K Preston amongst others, that Christendom is possibly waiting for a train that has already left.
History clearly shows us that Jerusalem and its system of worship was destroyed in the same manner described by our Lord, yet many still look for the words of Jesus to be fulfilled. I'm leaning to the belief that waiting for those fulfilled prophecies to be fulfilled, has actually neutered the potency of the body of Christ, the Church. Instead of going forward with crowns of authority, we are hunkered down in fox holes wearing tin helmets waiting for the tribulation and coming doom attached to it.
Follow on with your path, buy this book and be blessed.
May 27, 2009
A quick read that is excellent - originally written in 1805.
July 20, 2012
Great read!
December 13, 2014
In retrospect, I should have just gone straight to R.C. Sproul's The Last Days According to Jesus.
December 26, 2019
Very old book, with the sermonizing prevalent at that time, but a good account of the destruction of Jerusalem.
July 7, 2009
Excellent book
May 2, 2017
Great book, but a few downsides have to be mentioned, the foremost is that he does not reference either the biblical texts or Josephus (or someone else) whom he quotes. Furthermore, he does not really deal with the crucial verses in Matthew 24:29-31 and their relation to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews