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The Tearing of the Temple Curtain by Adam W. Jones & J. Daniel Hays
Baker Academic

The Tearing of the Temple Curtain

Adam W. Jones & J. Daniel Hays

Baker Academic · Biblical Studies
Published September 2026 · ISBN 9781540971401

From the publisher

In this book, Adam W. Jones and J. Daniel Hays argue that God the Father tore the curtain of the temple as an act of mourning over his Son's death. This interpretation has been neglected, though it has ancient precedent. In Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures, tearing clothes was a common expression of grief, and early Christian interpreters often linked this custom to the tearing of the temple curtain.

Description adapted from the publisher, Baker Academic.

About the authors. Adam W. Jones (PhD, London School of Theology / Middlesex University) is assistant professor of biblical studies at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

The Theology Shelf note: we'll add our own take once we've read it. For now, this page gathers the publisher's description.

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