The Temple Mount Area

The Temple was rebuilt by Ezra and Nehemiah under the command of Cyrus II in  B.C. 

Another prediction of Jesus which serves as a marker for apocalyptic time is Matthew 24:14 : "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations [or Gentiles], and then the end will come." That is, Jesus said that the gospel would be preached among every tribe, nation, etc. and then and only then could the end come.

According to Paul, blindness in part is come upon Israel (Romans ), but at the time of the Resurrection all Israel would be saved.

A continuing issue, then, and the major point of difference between Christian and Jewish Zionists is over the issue of what Jews call "conversion" and Christians "salvation." In most fundamental Christian apocalyptic scenarios, Jewish people eventually recognize the Messiahship of Jesus.

Conversion to any form of Pauline Christianity is completely unacceptable to rabbinic Judaism, however, as it requires belief in a God Man (the Christian doctrine of Incarnation), human sacrifice (the Atonement) and Trinitarianism which is perceived as incompatible with the Shema.

A Jewish refusal to "convert" and a Christian refusal to relinquish prosyletization efforts among Jews is a source of conflict in and outside Israel between these two groups. (cf. Conversion, Messianic (Christian) Jews, Law of Return, Anti-Missionaries (e.g. Aryeh Kaplan "The Real Messiah"), Who is a Jew?

Richard Landes of the Center for Millennial Studies worries that when Christian Zionism and its eschatology perceive that Jews will not convert, it may turn to anti-Semitism.

Nevertheless, some significant groups of fundamentalist Christian Zionists and Orthodox Jewish Zionists are currently cooperating or sympathizing with efforts to bring about the rebuilding of a Temple structure on Mt. Moriah. Both groups believe that by so doing they will help to usher in the Messianic Kingdom, although they disagree as to the identity of the Moschiach (Messiah or Anointed One) and the exact nature of the Kingdom.

The Vatican wants Jerusalem to be administered as an international city. This view is incompatible, however, with the view of both Jewish and Christian Zionists that Jerusalem is forever and must remain a Jewish city.

The status of Jerusalem is then a potentially difficult and troublesome political situation. At the heart of this is the spiritual desideratum of the Temple Mount and who controls it. Although under Arab control, in a Jewish State, this hill has been at the center of the Jewish religion, Jewish hopes and aspirations for political, material, and spiritual redemption for three millennia.

Orthodox in Israel all know this and so do the Palestinian Arabs, although most Americans may be unaware of this situation. This situation is not going to go away and an intense struggle is already underway within and without Israel for this piece of holy "real estate." Some Ultra-Orthodox Jews particularly are gearing up by creating the Temple implements and trying to lay a cornerstone. There is probably, however, not enough popular sentiment within Israel among Israelis to seek an active change in the status quo, because of what this may cost in a potential confrontation with the Arab Muslim world. The fear is that by changing the status of the Temple Mount a war may be provoked of potentially apocalyptic proportions.

In fundamentalist Christian eschatological narratives, the Temple is connected to the Legend of Antichrist. Antichrist would defile the Holy of Holies erecting there an image of himself that has the power of speech and can kill all who oppose it. This is technically "the abomination that causeth desolation." (Daniel :, Mtt. :) This antichrist would be a false messiah accepted with disastrous consequences by the Jewish people.

This aspect, that of an antichrist inhabiting an apocalyptic time temple in fundamentalist eschatology explains many Christian fundamentalists unwillingness to be proactive in bringing about the rebuilding of a third Temple. In fact, unless the Temple conforms to that spoken of in Ezekiel the one Messiah is supposed to build, many fundamentalist Christians, along with some Ultra-Orthodox Jews may actually oppose a Temple construction on the basis of its illegitimacy. Since fundamentalist Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah, they may also believe a third Temple cannot be legitimately rebuilt until Jesus returns and is recognized.

Traditional Catholic apocalyptic discourse does not possess a "Temple element" connecting Antichrist and the Jewish Temple. Rather "Temple" is understood by Traditional Catholics as referring to the Church Universal, seen by Traditional Catholics in the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

Both Catholic and Protestant apocalyptic narratives place Antichrist in political or spiritual leadership roles or one role incorporating both aspects of the political and the spiritual. However, in Catholic narratives, Antichrist is generally also portrayed as a Christian heretic who tries initially to compromise, then over-rule and later destroy the Holy Mother Church, for Traditional Catholics the Roman Catholic Church.

It is an odd fact that the Catholic apocalypticism which portrays a godly (i.e., Catholic) world emperor who restores the temporal power and  primacy of the Roman Church is like the Catholic Antichrist figure of arch-fundamentalist Protestant Christians. The Traditional Catholic "Heavenly Pope (Petrus Romanus)," resembles the False Prophet of fundamental Christianity! There is, of course, a long tradition, dating to the Reformation, and possibly earlier of viewing the Pope as an Antichrist.¹⁰ The conflict behind this reverse portrayal is over the temporal power of the Catholic Church and the claims to authority of the Pope.

Both Catholic and Protestant Apocalypticists utilize the same source code, i.e., the Book of the Revelation of John. For Catholics, Revelation is understood through Catholic Tradition, that is the Revelation plus tradition, both bases of authority and sources for the apocalyptic imagination.

The Catholic Church at one time did enjoy temporal power and near universal adherence until the Reformation, Enlightenment and Modern periods saw her temporal domain reduced to Vatican City. Traditional Catholic Apocalypticists may hope for a person such as an angelic Pope or Holy Roman Emperor who can restore the Church to her former position of temporal power.