Tuesday, July 15, 2025

It is the 15th of July 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

The 15th of July, today, is a date historically associated with the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem- in fact, today is the annual feast of Dedication for one of the holiest sites in all of Christianity- let’s dig in and learn a little about the festivities happening today and the history of this… I could say “Mecca” of the Christian faith- “Mecca” being both a figurative place but also a city in Saudi Arabia that’s the literal holy site for Islam…

Moving on.

In case you really wanted to know, sepulcher can be spelled with an “er” at the end if you’re a weird American or forced by spellcheck to do so, the “re” or “British” spelling is the most common.

Let’s keep going: a sepulcher is a small room, but in rock or built in stone for the laying of the dead. The Holy Sepulcher, then, is the supposed resting place of Jesus after the crucifixion and before his Resurrection. Today, the 15th of July at the church of the Holy Sepulcher there is a feast of dedication where a special liturgy and the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated in memory of the consecration of the Sepulchre on this day in 1149, which happened to be the 50th anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem on the same day in 1099 which marked the end of the first Crusade with the breaching of the walls and the taking of what would become the Holy site- the pilgrimage site so significant that praying there was the “crusaders vow”- it was the thing that you did to fulfill the requirements for the indulgence.

And so, before you ask… the 64,000 dollar question is: is this the actual location it claims to be? And it doesn’t just claim to be the place of the sepulcher but also the place of the crucifixion- could it be that in the northwest quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem, you could stand at the site of the most important event in human history? Maybe!

The Christians at Jerusalem who would have had the historical memory of the exact place were forced to flee in 66 AD, and, of course, in 70AD, Jerusalem and the Christian holy sites were destroyed.

We have to jump almost 3 centuries to the time of Constantine for the church to have the ability to resettle. It was his mother, St. Helena, who is said to have found part of the “true cross” in the 330s, and the site was consecrated. Despite the historically questionable relic of the true cross and the centuries between the event and the site's consecration, there is a good reason to believe that this is indeed the spot.

In John 19, we read “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus,”. Recently, archaeobotanical analysis (which I didn’t even know was a thing) confirmed that this location is consistent with olive trees and grapevines; it would have been outside the old walls, and the presence of tombs further suggests compatibility with the historical claims and Scripture.

But research has been difficult, either because analysis can cause damage to the presumed holy sites and because that part of the world has been something of a hot potato for, well… forever.  

In the 600s, the site was damaged during the Persian invasions. It was restored only to be destroyed in 1009 by the Islamic Caliph, recaptured and rededicated on the events of July 15th in 1099 and 1149. By 1187, Saladin had conquered the city, by 1517 the Ottoman period began, and in 1767, they agreed to a status quo for various church bodies using the site for worship. The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox conduct services inside- no Protestants, though… the Lutheran church of the Redeemer adjacent to the site is the closest Protestants get to formally worship there (you can, of course, visit as a pilgrim and pray and worship with others if you are allowed, please check the terms and conditions with your church bylaws).

In 1808, a fire damaged the church such that much of what you see today dates from the 1810 reconstruction. From 1981, it has been designated a UNESCO heritage site, and since 2019, the first major renovations (and studies) have taken place since 1810. Today we remember the service happening, the special liturgy of dedication to mark the events of this, the 15th of July in 1099 and 1149 at the church of the Holy Sepulchre.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Psalm 25

For the sake of your name, Lord,
    forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

They will spend their days in prosperity,

    and their descendants will inherit the land.

The Lord confides in those who fear him;

    he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever on the Lord,

    for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

    for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart

    and free me from my anguish.

Look on my affliction and my distress

    and take away all my sins.

  

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 15th of July 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man reading a brochure about horticulture whilst getting a pedicure and admiring the architecture- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who knows that the 64,000 dollar question was initially a 64 dollar question in the 1940s that was changed for inflation… albeit, 64 dollars in 1940 is only about 1400 dollars today… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.