THIS MIGHT SURPRISE YOU
The answer
Rome crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in AD 70. Josephus, who witnessed the war, gives the fullest account. The Gospels record Jesus foretelling that not one stone would be left on another.
Why it’s interesting
Two temples, two empires: Babylon took the first in 586 BC, Rome the second in AD 70. That second destruction removed the sacrificial cult and accelerated developments already underway across diverse Jewish and Christian communities — synagogue assembly, study of scripture, and diaspora life were well established before 70, not created by it.
Scholarly consensus
You can know the Bible.
Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.