Posted by PS on November 11, 2005 at 14:53:55:
In Reply to: Interesting abecedary find... posted by giveawayboy on November 11, 2005 at 01:30:29:
: Thanks for sharing this exciting information! What did you think about this find?
There is also a discussion going on about whether or not the church belonged to a heretical monophysite group because of an inscription in the floor. It was a common practice to recognize major beneficiaries of a synagogue or church in inscriptions dedicating the building. It is a speculative translation of one inscription that has led some to make this assertion. Dr. Strange showed me the Greek and how they wrongly translated it. The line in question says literally: "Akeptus the devout dedicated the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial." Like many such inscriptions, key words here are abbreviated (God, Jesus, Christ). The line above the six letters designates them as an abbreviation. (See the picture at bottom.) The speculative translation by a scholar claiming monophysite origins reads: "to the God Jesus Christ." Arbitrarily inserting the word the reinforces the monophysite claims. But Dr. Strange thinks this insertion is questionable, and thinks it is more likely the six letter abbreviation would be understood as including the omitted word and after God, making it "to God and Jesus Christ." Check out these great pictures and more on the abbreviated inscription: MORE ON INSCRIPTIONS AT THE CHURCH YET MORE ON INSCRIPTIONS AT THE CHURCH INSCRIPTIONS AND NOMINA SACRA ABBREVIATIONS This page has a few more links to related articles:
It is very interesting. There are those who deny it could have been Christian, because Christians would never have built a building during the period of Roman persecution before Constantine. This is not sound, in my opinion. The persecutions were sporadic, with only a couple of them briefly being empire-wide. There were substantial periods of tolerance when such a church could have been built and thrived.
PICTURES OF CHURCH FLOOR AND INSCRIPTIONS
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