Posted on 02/02/2011 2:37:27 PM PST by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
HIRBET MADRAS, Israel – Israeli archaeologists presented a newly uncovered 1,500-year-old church in the Judean hills on Wednesday, including an unusually well-preserved mosaic floor with images of lions, foxes, fish and peacocks.
The Byzantine church located southwest of Jerusalem, excavated over the last two months, will be visible only for another week before archaeologists cover it again with soil for its own protection.
The small basilica with an exquisitely decorated floor was active between the fifth and seventh centuries A.D., said the dig's leader, Amir Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority. He said the floor was "one of the most beautiful mosaics to be uncovered in Israel in recent years."
"It is unique in its craftsmanship and level of preservation," he said.
Archaeologists began digging at the site, known as Hirbet Madras, in December. The Antiquities Authority discovered several months earlier that antiquities thieves had begun plundering the ruins, which sit on an uninhabited hill not far from an Israeli farming community.
Though an initial survey suggested the building was a synagogue, the excavation revealed stones carved with crosses, identifying it as a church. The building had been built atop another structure around 500 years older, dating to Roman times, when scholars believe the settlement was inhabited by Jews....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
No, of course not.
Snort!!!!
Dutchboy88: The church is the assembly of believers in Christ.
1010RD: Which assembly?
Dutchboy88: Yes.
1010RD: Yes, all of them?
Dutchboy88: No, of course not.
So now the complete absence of logic for your premise is obvious. The church can’t just be the assembly of believers in Christ. It must be more specific by your own recognition.
Oh, so now you add the Persians. Funny, that wasn’t in your initial response. It was all Christians’ fault.
Muzzies good, byzzies bad, Perzies bad.
I didn’t blame the Christians, did I? There’s nothing funny about remembering an additional fact later.
Your answers have a hyperbolic combination of Byzantine/Islamist behavior.
You seem a bit pixilated. Have you been shoveling snow?
Once again, the unbiblical teaching the Bible. No wonder a building is called the church.
We’re in agreement, DB, that the building isn’t the Church, just a convenient location to meet.
I’m just boiling down your replies. If it is the assembly of believers in Christ, but not all of them per your previous reply, then which assembly of believers in Christ is the Church?
Do you see where you’re at?
The Scriptures are clear...those who rest their rescue on belonging to an organization cannot, repeat cannot, be comfortable that they have been grafted into the real church, the Body of Jesus Christ.
If you are after which group represents the true believers in Christ, you are looking at the answer. But, you seem to want a brand name, a group name, an organizational name, an earthly association. Yet, the Scriptures tell us that such is not to be found.
Those whom God has set aside, elect from the foundation of the world, chosen to be His holy priesthood, the rescued, the adopted, the saved from every nation and people on earth are the church. And, not every person who calls themselves a Christian, is in fact, among those whom God has drawn to Himself.
Do you see where you are at?
Sophisms, pure sophisms. This is a church as it is commonly understood, a building housing worshipers set aside for that specific purpose. Churches are buildings. The Church isn't, so in that you're correct.
The Scriptures are clear...those who rest their rescue on belonging to an organization cannot, repeat cannot, be comfortable that they have been grafted into the real church, the Body of Jesus Christ.
If you are after which group represents the true believers in Christ, you are looking at the answer. But, you seem to want a brand name, a group name, an organizational name, an earthly association. Yet, the Scriptures tell us that such is not to be found.
Eisegesis, show me that the Scriptures are clear and tell us that such is not to be found.
Too busy to comment earlier on the absurdity of this post. Caught a few moments and couldn't resist.
You claim the singular of "Church" is defined as the "True believers elect in Christ before the foundation of the world" and the plural of the same word is: Buildings?
Your lexicon fell in a mud puddle somewhere on the way to school. It is not your common misuunderstanding that matters. It is the way the Scriptures use the words "church" and "churches" that counts. And, it matters when folks misuse those words and consequently give the world a greater misunderstanding of the Gospel than it already suffers.
"DB: The Scriptures are clear...those who rest their rescue on belonging to an organization cannot, repeat cannot, be comfortable that they have been grafted into the real church, the Body of Jesus Christ. If you are after which group represents the true believers in Christ, you are looking at the answer. But, you seem to want a brand name, a group name, an organizational name, an earthly association. Yet, the Scriptures tell us that such is not to be found."
"101RD:Eisegesis, show me that the Scriptures are clear and tell us that such is not to be found."
You are joking, right? You have identified passages in the Scripture where the specific brand name of a group is identified to be the true believers in Christ? Where is it please...Hesitations 9:18? And you believe I perform eisegesis when I say such is not to be found? Your remarks are beyond absurd.
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