The Assertion Jesus Never Intended That He Would Be Worshipped As God, is Refuted by Archeological Evidence.

Greek Inscription: “Remember Primilla and Cyriaca and Dorothea, and moreover also Chreste” and the second is, “The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial”

Near the ancient site of Megiddo, Israel, two Greek inscriptions have been discovered in an early Christian church bearing evidence that early followers of Jesus Christ believed that He was God.[1]

Paleographic examination has dated these two inscriptions at the third century A.D.

This discovery refutes the idea that Jesus never intended that He would be defined as the Eternal God. Liberal Atheist Theologians like Bart Ehrman have asserted that the entire story of Jesus as God was fabricated by early writers but is not true. This archeological discovery in Israel proves by empirical evidence that just three hundred years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, He was being worshipped as Jehovah-God.

A second inscription found at the the top of the northern panel is dedicated to Gaianus, the centurion who paid for the floor to be paved with mosaics. It reads, “Gaianus, also called Porphyrius, centurion, our brother, has made the pavement at his own expense as an act of liberality. Brutius has carried out the work.”

The artist who created these mosaics is called “Brutius.” His name is placed on the floor of this early Christian church at Megiddo.

The southern panel is decorated with a carpet of rosettes, has two inscriptions. The northern panel, also has an inscription, and reveals an octagon shape surrounded by other geometric shapes, including a meander (labyrinth), stars, a shield, a checkerboard, flowers and a three-dimensional prism, enclosing a medallion revealing a two fish, which are clear references to Jesus of Nazareth.

Archeological Evidence For Jesus’ Death And Resurrection

Four mosaic panels near a location in the early church where the Lord’ Supper was served, are bordered with black and white tesserae and decorated with rosettes, rhombuses (parallelograms), geometric shapes (tessellations) and frames with a guilloche pattern.

In the middle of the mosaic floor, beneath the center of an arch, there are two rectangular stones that were also the feet of the table where the elements of Jesus Supper were served participants.

The inscription on the east side of the southern panel is called the “Women Inscription” because it asks for remembrance of “Primilla and Cyriaca and Dorothea, and moreover also Chreste.”

The most important part of the floor, and the one that makes it undeniably part of a Christian place of worship, is the inscription on the western side of the southern panel, which is dedicated to “the God-loving Akeptous,” who “offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” The table probably refers to the table used for the Lord’s Supper.[2]

Empirical, Archeological Evidence That Jesus Is A Genuine Person Of History

One of the assertions of atheists today is the idea that there is no validation of Jesus Christ as a real person in the historical record, other than the New Testament. This archeological discovery also refutes this contention.

Also a part of the archaeological site is the usage of certain Greek texts that are unique to the Christian church after Jesus was raised from the dead. We find here, a text which uses the Greek word mnemosynon for “remember,” which was not a common word during that period of history, but was used by Jesus in the New Testament to commemorate His death and resurrection.

And Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  ~Luke 22:19-20

The usage of the Greek word, mnemosynon, here at this archaeological site, used in context with a genuine resurrection by Jesus, believed by Christians at this early 300 A.D., period of history, is important evidence to validate that the Resurrection described by the New Testament is, in fact, a proven event of history.

A second Greek word found at this ancient site that was uncommon at that time, but also used in the New Testament is also found in the mosaic inscription, prosferein for “offer.”

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  ~Hebrews 9:14

The name used here at this site for Jesus Christ is abbreviated using only the first and last letters, is described as a Holy name by the inclusion of a a line placed above Jesus name. This was a practice that was common during this period of history and this is likely the earliest known example of this usage.

It is no longer possible to sustain the ideas that Jesus is a myth of history. The discovery of this ancient Christian church at Megiddo, with inscriptions describing Jesus as God, offering His life for the sins of the world, and resurrected from the dead, impeach all assertions by critics that only the New Testament contains evidence of these events.

Jesus lived, died, and rose from the dead, just as the narratives of the New Testament record.

NOTES:

[1] E. Adams, The Ancient Church at Megiddo: The Discovery and an Assessment of its Significance, in The Expository Times, 2008. Quote: “… chronologically distinct. The structure at Megiddo is obviously not a basilica. According to Tepper, the Megiddo church is a unique ecclesiastical form. It could not have resembled the church buildings of the late third century.”
[2] 1. Yotam Tepper, Leah Di Segni, A Christian Prayer Hall of the Third Century CE at Kefar ‘Othnay (Legio): Excavations at the Megiddo Prison 2005. Israel Antiquities Authority, 2006, Jerusalem, Israel. Quote: “The Akeptous lnscription. The inscription is set within a rectangle (67 x 80 cm) in the western side of the southern mosaic panel. Its frame and letters are traced in black tesserae; the characters are 7.5-9.0 cm high.
2. Andrew Lawler, First Churches of the Jesus Cult. Archaeology, 2007. Quote: “… Others are more intrigued. “I’m open to Megiddo as a third-century site,” says Taylor. “It’s idiosyncratic,” she adds, since it does not fit the model of Christian churches during and after the time of Constantine. Those structures are easily recognizable by their basilica shape….””
3. Andrew Lawler Full article Archived 2018-07-11 at the Wayback Machine

Categories: "No proof for Jesus Resurrection", Archeological Confirmation, Bart Ehrman, Empirical Evidence for the Resurrection, Historical Validity of the New Testament, Jesus confirmed by secular sources, Reliability of the New Testament, Robert Clifton Robinson, Salvation through Jesus, The Historical Jesus, The Resurrection

Tags: Brutius, Gaianus also called Porphyrius, mnemosynon, Primilla, prosferein, The God loving Aketous