But what about---?

Submitted by john w. mcginley (United States), Jan 29, 2006 at 19:24

For me this article was very helpful and informative. So my first point is a very sincere thank-you. Perhaps there was a typo which deleted a line or some other reproductive glitch. My understanding was that Herod's building program included a major refurbushing and expansion of a "Second" Temple which ALREADY existed. Granted the Temple built about a generation after the return from the Babylonian Exile might very well have been modest. But I was always led to believe that it did exist and that Herod's far more grander project was a huge expansion of something already in existence. Am I wrong? Is my copy of the article faulty? For I see no reference to the building and existence of the second Temple BEFORE -- indeed MUCH before -- the building project of Herod. I am not being cynical. Everything else in the article seemed very professional and, to me, very informative. I did not see this article until today. Perhaps there was a subsequent correction. In any case, thank-you for the information about the quality and veracity of Islam's claim to Jerusalem. John W. McGinley

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