Posted on 07/16/2008 2:36:32 PM PDT by Beowulf9
Rihab, Jordan - Excavations are continuing on a hilltop in the rural Jordanian town of Rihab to find additional evidence that supports a recent history-making discovery of what renowned archaeologists believe could be the first church on earth.
We believe this is the world's first church, where early Christians took refuge after they escaped Roman persecution in Jerusalem and came here to perform their rituals in secrecy," archaeologist Abdul Qader al-Hosan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Al-Hosan is head of the state-run Rihab Centre for Archaeological Studies and doubles as a professor of archaeology at Hashemiyah University.
"The evidence we have indicates that this church sheltered 70 disciples of Jesus Christ and was built between 33 and 70 AD," he said.
"We believe they remained in this cave until the Christian religion was endorsed by the Romans," he added.
The chapel, which lies directly underneath the Saint Georgeous Church, was dug in an underground cave, the exterior outlet of which leads to a cluster of churches which were built successively at different times, according to al-Hosan.
Therefore, Rihab, 60 kilometres north-east of Amman, is called the town of 30 churches, he said. Al-Hosan said that he "deeply believed that Jesus Christ visited Rihab in the early days of Christianity."
"According to authenticated history, Jesus Christ spent part of his life in Jordan's Ajloun area, 32 kilometres north of Rihab, and was earlier baptised at a site 40 kilometres south-west of Amman," he said.
A mosaic inscription in Greek on the floor of St Georgeous Church described the early Christians as "the 70 beloved by God and Divine."
St Georgeous is believed to be the oldest "proper" church in the world, built in 230 AD according to the inscription in the church.
Going three steps into the cave, one can see a circular area with a 2.5-metre radius, believed to be the apse, and several stone seats for the clerics.
The cave also includes the living places of the first Christians. "A wall with an entrance is the only partition separating the altar from the living area," said Hosan, who holds a doctorate in archaeology from Istanbul University.
"This tunnel is believed to have been used by the first 70 Christians as a gateway to their water system. We hope when we open the tunnel soon, we will get further evidence that this worship place is the first church on this globe," he added.
Al-Hosan said that his excavation team had found pottery believed to have been brought by early Christians from Jerusalem "because such products were not familiar to people in northern Jordan in that period."
His team also found "skeletons and bones" in a cemetrey situated next to the chapel.
"It is divided into three parts, which we believe were devoted to men, women and children," he said.
The City of Rehabis, as it was called during the Roman era, was one of the 10 allied cities, or Dekapolis, which were under the military control of the Roman empire but which were economically and religiously independent, al-Hosan said.
He reproduced letters from at least three churches in Jordan describing the discovery as an "amazing event."
Archimandrite Nektarious, bishop of the Greek Orthodox archdiocese, called the discovery of the cave an "important milestone for Christians all around the world."
GGG Ping...
Uh oh. The posse will be by to inform you shortly. If it wasn’t built upon the “Rock” Peter you can’t call it a church.
Mat 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Mat 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Mar 12:38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
Mar 12:39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
Mar 12:40 Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
Jesus warned us what to look out for...I seriously doubt this was the fisrst Christian church...Or ANY Christian church for that matter...
Do you think thie refers to Luke 10 as well?
Sure...And John, Acts, Romans, etc, etc...
You got your Catholic bashing in pretty fast that time.
That's not Catholic bashing...That's bible...
No he is using Catholics belief in peter as the foundation of the Church to bash Catholics with his snide remark.
Second, the discoverers don't explain how, if this building was supposed to be a "hiding place" for The Seventy, it was considered a good idea to have their names tiled into the mosaic floor at a time that was contemporaneous to their occupancy of the building! That makes no sense at all! Rather, it would make more sense if these names were added some time later (at a time, unfortunately for the claimants here, when the site would no longer be old enough to claim "oldest church" status!), and the names could indicate that the Seventy merely stayed there for a short time while en route elsewhere. It is s jumping to conclusions of the first order that, based on the remains found , this is a "church" that housed these men for possibly decades!
To say, as al-Hosan does, that this group (and their descendants, presumably) stayed here until their religion gained recognition from the Romans seems rather odd, too. Bt the time the upper church (uncontested as a church, BTW) was built around AD 230, people would have long since ceased to skulk around in the cave/building underneath it, at least in a continuous fashion from the mid-1st Century! Roman persecution was certainly severe, but it was sporadic enough to demonstrate that this comment by al-Hosan is also somewhat "hyperbolic," and lends more evidence that he and his group have been under great financial and reputational pressure to "find something important."
When this is all sorted-out, it might be that this find does, in fact, have major significance in the history of the Christian Church. Or it might be that it is more along the lines of the grossly exaggerated and breathlessly sensationalist claims of Simcha Jacobovich, whose "work" in finding the alleged Lost Tomb of Jesus and the so-called Ossuary of St. James is the absolute epitome of what I'm talking about when I point out the "facts of life" at the high end of biblical archaeology. Most likely, this site will turn out to fall somewhere between the extremes: an "interesting" site, but one that is hardly earth-shattering.
That remark sounds a lot more ignorant than you apparently realize. At too many levels for you not to be embarrassed if you knew them.
Jordan archaeologists unearth ‘world’s first church’
AFP | June 10, 2008
Posted on 06/10/2008 7:48:00 AM PDT by Between the Lines
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2028840/posts
Ancient Christian Shrine Possibly Found in Jordan
Fox News | June 10, 2008 | Associated Press
Posted on 06/10/2008 3:03:34 PM PDT by AngieGal
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029082/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2029785/posts?page=4#4
“Oldest Church” Discovery “Ridiculous,” Critics Say
National Geographic News | 6-13-2008 | Mati Milstein
Posted on 06/14/2008 6:56:27 PM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031268/posts
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Jordanian Abdul Al-Hosan of the (Islamic), state-run school says so? Why it must be true! (/sarc)
They tried to make me go to Rihab, I said no, no, no.
Jordanian Abdul Al-Hosan of the (Islamic), state-run school says so? Why it must be true! (/sarc)
They tried to make me go to Rihab, I said no, no, no.
Jordanian Abdul Al-Hosan of the (Islamic), state-run school says so? Why it must be true! (/sarc)
They tried to make me go to Rihab, I said no, no, no.
Oh, drats... y’all can imagine what Amy Winehouse looks like as a Muslim.
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LOL!
Poor Amy.
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