Archaeologists unveil ancient church in Israel

MSNBC ^ | 5 Nov 05 | AP

[gobucks]

MEGIDDO PRISON, Israel - Israeli prisoner Ramil Razilo was removing rubble from the planned site of a new prison ward when his shovel uncovered the edge of an elaborate mosaic, unveiling what Israeli archaeologists said Sunday may be the Holy Land’s oldest church.

The discovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, near the biblical Armageddon, was hailed by experts as an important discovery that could reveal details about the development of the early church in the region. Archaeologists said the church dated from the third century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity across the Byzantine Empire.

“What’s clear today is that it’s the oldest archaeological remains of a church in Israel, maybe even in the entire region. Whether in the entire world, it’s still too early to say,” said Yotam Tepper, the excavation’s head archaeologist.

[gobucks]

I'm guessing the work is good for these prisoners souls.

[gobucks]

ping

[My GOP]

That's a nice find. Interested in learning more about what they find.

[BlackVeil]

Beautiful mosaic.

[Graybeard58]

Ping

[Whitewasher]

Praise God!

[ODC-GIRL]

Thanks for the post. This mosaic is strikingly beautiful. It would be interesting to know what the words in the lower right corner say.

[Ciexyz]

ping for Gods, Graves and Glyphs.

[Ciexyz]

Praise the Lord for this discovery! Slowly, the truths concerning the early practice of Christianity are being recovered from the ground.

[fso301]

Interesting. I never knew the fish was a pre-cross Christian symbol. Now I understand why many Christians use the fish symbol.

[ALWAYSWELDING]

Something about "the great God, Jesus Christ" from what I read.

[Ciexyz]

Interesting that the fish doesn't look like the typical Christian fish symbol that you see on jewelry today, but more like a dolphin.

[Whitewasher]

Ask the Editors

Elesha Coffman
Posted October 26, 2001
What is the origin of the Christian fish symbol?

—Conrad

The Greek word for fish is "ichthys." As early as the first century, Christians made an acrostic from this word: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, i.e. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. The fish has plenty of other theological overtones as well, for Christ fed the 5,000 with 2 fishes and 5 loaves (a meal recapitulated in Christian love-feasts) and called his disciples "fishers of men." Water baptism, practiced by immersion in the early church, created a parallel between fish and converts. Second-century theologian Tertullian put it this way: "we, little fishes, after the image of our Ichthys, Jesus Christ, are born in the water."

Greeks, Romans, and many other pagans used the fish symbol before Christians. Hence the fish, unlike, say, the cross, attracted little suspicion, making it a perfect secret symbol for persecuted believers. When threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, Christians used the fish mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes. According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. Current bumper-sticker and business-card uses of the fish hearken back to this practice.

Critics of the fish symbol either decry it as tacky tokenism or point out that the fish still carries baggage from the days when pagans used it to represent fertility or, more specifically, the female reproductive organs. Though I agree that ichthys symbols in phone-book ads seem to commercialize faith, I don't find the pagan argument compelling. No symbol means the same thing to all people at all times. That early Christians succeeded in transforming an already powerful symbol proves their interpretive creativity, not their ignorance or a tendency to syncretism.

To ask CHB editors a church history-related question, send an e-mail to cheditor@christianitytoday.com. Due to the volume of mail, we cannot answer all questions. Your question may be answered in a future "Ask the Editors" column. Do not expect a direct reply.

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.


http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/features/ask/2001/oct26.html

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks for the ping Ciexyz. There are five or six of these, so I won't be pinging, but I am adding.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
Gods, Graves, Glyphs PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[SunkenCiv]

this is (I believe) the first one:

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Church
(heh JC and Armagedon... are we having fun?)
ap | 11.7.05 | na
Posted on 11/05/2005 9:26:41 PM PST by Flavius
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1516619/posts

[SunkenCiv]

whoops! this is (I believe) the first one:

Ancient church uncovered in Megiddo Prison
Jerusalem Post | 11/5/5 | TIDHAR OFEK
Posted on 11/05/2005 3:38:44 PM PST by SmithL
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1516475/posts

[fso301]

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior

Interesting that "The God, Jesus Christ" was cited as the dedication of the church. A very clear Trinitarian dedication.

[Charles Henrickson]

[Charles Henrickson]