Christian Church from 33-70 AD?

[Someday]

Interesting find in Jordan.
Possibly the oldest Christian Church that according to the archaeologists involved, may date from 33-70 AD. Apparently they have found coins and other datable objects in the site. Their findings have not been peer reviewed yet, so we shall see. It has interesting ramifications if it is true. We have literature and scattered archaeological remnants, but this would be the first actual Christian Church building from this time period. I'll be waiting for the peer review process.

Blessings

[Gray]

Originally Posted by Someday

Their findings have not been peer reviewed yet, so we shall see.

That's rarely been something that's worried your blokes too much in the past...

[JM]

Originally Posted by Someday

Interesting find in Jordan.
Possibly the oldest Christian Church that according to the archaeologists involved, may date from 33-70 AD. Apparently they have found coins and other datable objects in the site. Their findings have not been peer reviewed yet, so we shall see. It has interesting ramifications if it is true. We have literature and scattered archaeological remnants, but this would be the first actual Christian Church building from this time period. I'll be waiting for the peer review process.

Blessings

Why would this have interesting ramifications?

[Someday]

That's rarely been something that's worried your blokes too much in the past...

My blokes in this case are not even Christian.
Tell me who my blokes are, I'm very curious.

Blessings

[Someday]

Why would this have interesting ramifications?

Well, most scholars believe that early Christians did not use such places for one thing. Anyway, there are others, but I will wait to see if it's even true before I mention them.

Blessings

[JM]

Originally Posted by Someday

Well, most scholars believe that early Christians did not use such places for one thing. Anyway, there are others, but I will wait to see if it's even true before I mention them.

Blessings

If you have a read of Pagan Christianity

It details how Church buildings came about, and when and by whom

In AD324 Constantine apparently required them to be built to promote popularity and acceptance of Christianity

AS previous to this only the Jews and Pagans had their so called " Sacred " buildings

It was a move to make Christianity more Legitimate

Constantine was apparently big into superstition and pagan magic much of this continued even after he become emperor.

After his apparent conversion to Christianity he never abandoned sun worship, he kept the sun on his coins and he set up a Sun God that bore his own image in the forum of Constantinople _ summary from pagan christianity

Historians still debate as to whether he was a christian.... im sure today he would easily be classed " not one of the gang " by those who jump on the slightest difference of the bible.

AD321 Constantine decreed Sunday would be a day of rest, a legal holiday.. to honor God Mithras, the unconquered sun.. He said Sunday was the day of the sun

Excavations of St. Peters in Rome uncovered a mosaic of Christ as the Unconquered Sun ( that is not a misspelling of sun )

Creation of Sacred Spaces and Objects

Around the second to third century a shift occured.. Christians adopted pagan view of reverencing the Dead, honoring the memory of martyrs..

Christians picked up from pagans the practise of havin gmeals in honor of the dead.. the christian funeral and dirge came from pagnism in the third century

Third century christians had 2 places they met.. they met in homes and cemeteries.. They met in cemeteries because they wished to be close to their dead brethern

Because the holy matrys were there.. The christians viewed these places as " Holy Spaces " .. they began to build small monuments over these spaces and over graces of famous saints.. see " Protestant Worship and Church Architecture.. monuments would later transformed into magnificent church buildings.


Christians in Rome began to decorate catacombs with Christian symbols.. so art became associated with sacred spaces... The cross of Christs death cannot be found prior to Constantine...

The crucifix and artistic representation of the savior made its appearenace in 5th century... The custom of making the sign of the cross with ones hands dates back to second century


And it goes on.. a lot stems from paginism yet today Christians will defend it nail and teeth and pull out scriptures here and there to give validation to what, why and when ( GOD ) determined we would and should do XY and B

[Gray]

Originally Posted by Someday

My blokes in this case are not even Christian.
Tell me who my blokes are, I'm very curious.

Not the guys who found it.

I was having a go at the Christians who are willing to accept, and then sprout as truth, anything that supports their views regardless of its probability or accuracy.

[Someday]

If you have a read of Pagan Christianity

I haven't read it, but it sounds like from what you wrote to be somewhat accurate. That's one of the reasons I have been so interested in the writings by the early Church Fathers. I don't think many of them would have appreciated the direction that the Church was headed, though some were instrumental in bringing it about. Ironic, huh?

Blessings

[shibboleth]

I have the book Pagan Christianity and it's a real eye opener.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 3 called "The Church Building: Inheriting the Edifice Complex. (I will color green all quotes from the book, the black are mine.)

The modern Christian has a love affiar with brick and mortar. The edifice complex is so ingrained in our thinking, that if a group of believers begins to meet together, their first thoughts are toward securing a building. for how can a group of Christians rightfully claim to be a church without a building? (So the thinking goes.)

The church building is so connected with the idea of church that we unconsciously equate the two.

We talk about how big the church (building) is.
We talk about the church (building) being cold or hot.
We say the church (building) has been our home for many years.
We talk about the church (building) being the house of God.

It can be rightly said that Christiaity was the first nontemple based religion ever to emerge. In the minds of the early Christians, it is the people that constitute a sacred space, not the architecture. The early Christians understood that they themselves--corporately---were the temples of God and the house of God.

Strikingly, nowhere in the NT do we find the terms "church" (ekklesia), "Temple," or "house of God" used to refer to a building. To the ears of a first-century Christian, calling a building an ekklesia (church) would be like calling a woman a skyscraper!

[billinjackson]

Originally Posted by Gray

That's rarely been something that's worried your blokes too much in the past...

Don't be too hasty with this... I am in the medical industry and deal with randomized, prospective, peer review studies on a daily basis - Although I am Catholic and not a fundamentalist.