Monday, November 23, 2009

The House Church


The Christian house church at Dura Europos was the earliest house church discovered by archaeologists. Like the synagogue nearby, layers of dirt used to defend against Persian siege protected it. Yale University dismantled and reconstructed the structure in the 1930’s, so only the foundation remains at the actual site.

Ruins of the house church and possible baptismal pool

The church is extremely important to Christian history, because it proves that some parts of the Roman world tolerated Christianity alongside other religions. Although the early church faced severe persecution at certain times, this church proves that religious persecution did not permeate all societies in the Empire.

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