steve (steve)
11-07-2005, 12:58 AM
The remains of an ancient church have recently been discovered in Israel, the oldest ever discovered there, dating maybe to the third century A.D. (the 200's - before the Nicene era). It is worth mentioning here, in a forum devoted to Community Chapel, because one detail in the story is relevant to the confusion and controversy about Jesus' deity among ex-Chapelites:<blockquote><font color="0000ff">Two mosaics inside the church — one covered with fish, an ancient Christian symbol that predates the cross — tell the story of a Roman officer and a woman named Aketous who donated money to build the church in the memory "of the god, Jesus Christ."
Pottery remnants from the third century, the style of Greek writing used in the inscriptions, ancient geometric patterns in the mosaics and the depiction of fish rather than the cross indicate that the church was no longer used by the fourth century, Tepper said.</font></blockquote>This is another piece of evidence that Palenstinian Christians, who lived in the same culture and spoke the same languages as those who wrote the Bible, had no trouble ascribing deity to Jesus without qualification, unlike many who think the Chapel's theology has given them the tools to remake Christianity into a system that can accomodate the statement that Jesus is not really God. The full story may be found on the Yahoo daily news site (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_sc/israel_ancient_church;_ylt=AjpoU2DrN0JDIgYDzo4cs1S s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-).
Pottery remnants from the third century, the style of Greek writing used in the inscriptions, ancient geometric patterns in the mosaics and the depiction of fish rather than the cross indicate that the church was no longer used by the fourth century, Tepper said.</font></blockquote>This is another piece of evidence that Palenstinian Christians, who lived in the same culture and spoke the same languages as those who wrote the Bible, had no trouble ascribing deity to Jesus without qualification, unlike many who think the Chapel's theology has given them the tools to remake Christianity into a system that can accomodate the statement that Jesus is not really God. The full story may be found on the Yahoo daily news site (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_sc/israel_ancient_church;_ylt=AjpoU2DrN0JDIgYDzo4cs1S s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-).