The Testimony of Emperor Hadrian

Emperor Hadrian ruled the Roman Empire from 117-138 BC. During his reign, he systematically replaced holy sites in Israel with monuments to Roman deities. Though some current historian question Emperor Hadrian’s motives, his actions have traditionally been attributed to his animosity to Christianity.
He figuratively marched through the Holy Land, trying to re-write history without Christ. He built the temple of Venus over the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and had a shrine where the place of the Nativity. The emperor of the known world dedicated time, effort, and resources trying to erase the memory of God’s sojourn on earth.
To no one’s surprise, Emperor Hadrian died, but his temples persisted. . . for a while. Today, the Church of Holy Sepulcher has displaced Venus’ temple, and the Church of the Nativity sits where the emperor’s shrine used to be. But the aforementioned buildings lasted long enough to provide historical attestation to Christ’s life. Today, historians are fairly confident that their identifications of the location of multiple events of Christ’s life are accurate, because Hadrian conveniently marked them for us.
Attempting to destroy the life and legacy of Jesus’ earthly life – Emperor Hadrian preserved it for more than a millennia. God cannot be outlasted, outsmarted, or rubbed out by man’s bias or hatred. Unlike the emperor, God is eternal. His plans are eternal; they always come to fruition regardless of man’s wimpy tactics. God won, and He will win today – Emperor Hadrian would tell you this.

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