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THE BIBLE UNEARTHED: THE MAKING OF A RELIGION -- ILLUSTRATED SCREENPLAY & SCREENCAP GALLERY |
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A TRULY UNIFIED KINGDOM! The Bible is exceedingly generous in its praise of this king.
[Thomas Romer, University of Lausanne] "NEVER BEFORE had there been a king like Josiah, who TURNED TO YAHWEH with ALL HIS HEART AND SOUL AND LIGHT, OBEYING all the LAWS of Moses."
That is what the Hebrew Bible had to say about Josiah. He is perhaps not a very well-known king, but he was quite extraordinary according to the Bible.
[Narrator] The authors of the Biblical text tell how Josiah ORDERED WORK to be carried out in the Temple of Jerusalem.
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT POINT in terms of our investigation.
[Thomas Romer, University of Lausanne] [Reading the Bible] "During these works, THE GREAT PRIEST DISCOVERED A BOOK. He ANNOUNCED that the BOOK OF THE LAW has been discovered!"
The book was given to the king who, on reading it, TORE OFF ALL HIS CLOTHES as a sign of MOURNING or consternation. He then undertook a MAJOR REFORM which included the PROHIBITION OF ALL OTHER PLACES OF WORSHIP, thereby making Jerusalem the ONLY LEGITIMATE PLACE OF WORSHIP.
[Narrator] Was a book REALLY discovered, or was this just a pretext to launch a project that had been ENVISAGED for some time? NO ONE KNOWS!
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