Ancient Christian Church Discovered In Israel

[BJQ87]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_sc/israel_ancient_church

[Ceritus]

Thats pretty neat. Its always good to find ancient things because it allows us to see the dellusions our ancestors had which allows us to learn from them!

[Kopji]

Seems a little ironic that with Israel's need for tourist dollars the site is inside a maximum security prison.

The mosaic is very beautiful and seems well preserved. Doesn't appear to be a secret room of a persecuted sect though. Not too worried about the Christianity thing?

[David Swidler]

That's actually the main objection some archaeologists have to the dating of the find. If the Romans persecuted Christians, what Roman officer in his right mind would sponsor such a church so publicly? The hypothesis that the building was converted to a church later on seems not to fit the structural evidence, based on the little I've read. It's an interesting puzzle.

[PatKelley]

Does it throw doubt on the church or the persecutions? The inscription was dedicated to "the god, Jesus Christ" - which would represent a bit of a different take on christianity by some Romans as another god worthy of a temple, worship and ceremony.

[Beerina]

Razilo [the prisioner who discovered the churgh], who is serving a two-year sentence for traffic violations,

WTF?!?!? I presume he did something like reckless manslaughter with a vehicle, though calling that a "traffic violation" is a bit odd.

"This was a time of persecution and in this way it is quite surprising that there would be such a blatant expression of Christ in a mosaic, but it may be the very reason why the church was destroyed," Pfann said.

Well, though legalization of Christianity was "decades" later, we should not presume it was a homogenous and slow increase, but rather that in various areas, it's public acceptance would go in fits and starts, until it achieved such a critical mass that the emperor declared it legal lest major uprisings occur.

[Pope130]

Beerina,
"Two years for traffic violations" struck me too. Seems harsh. Note to self, study traffic laws very carefully before next visit to Israel.

[Mason]

"Two Years for Traffic Violations" could possibly mean "Two years for multiple counts of operating a motor vehicle on the sidewalk at the local mall during peak shopping hours while in a drunken stupor", and showing an inability to pay the fines associated with such conduct.

Or, maybe they take their "No turn on Red" signs reeeeeealy seriously...