The Mosaic Church (2025) is an engaging new documentary film about an extraordinary archeological discovery of recent times. In 2004, excavators renovating a prison near the ancient city of Megiddo in northern Israel came across a mosaic floor that, as soon became apparent, originally covered the floor of a Christian worship hall in Roman times. The mosaic was dated to around 230 A.D., making it the earliest remnant of a Christian place of worship in Israel and one of the earliest such sites in the world.
Especially astounding was the inscription on the mosaic, which bears witness to a pivotal moment in early Christianity. One of the commentators in the film calls the chance finding of the Megiddo Mosaic “the most significant biblical discovery of the 21st century.”
Located in the fertile Jezreel Valley, Megiddo was a fortification, a crossroads for travel, and the site of many battles (its name survives in Armageddon, the name for an apocalyptic battle in the end times).
More specifically, the ancient worship hall was located near a legio or Roman military headquarters, and the mosaic’s Greek inscription tells us that Gaianus, a centurion, had the mosaic made at his own expense. Several women are named as benefactors, and the artisan who made the mosaic is also named. The “God-loving” (philotheos) woman Akeptous is cited as having donated the table—obviously an altar for commemorating the Eucharist—at the center of the hall. This was, quite simply, a prototypical church where the early form of the Mass was celebrated.
The citation of a centurion and of several women is significant. As one of the historians observes in the film, women and soldiers were two of the social groups who were most attracted to the Christian faith early on. The feminine, and the most rugged and masculine, both found in Christianity a new allegiance that was liberating and dignifying. The women’s names on the mosaic echo the important roles that women played already in the nascent church of the New Testament, from Mary Magdalen’s discovery of the risen Christ to the many female believers who assisted Paul and his colleagues in Acts.
But the real bombshell comes at the end of the inscription, where the Greek text declares that the table or altar was dedicated “to God Jesus Christ,” with Greek letters used as abbreviations or nomina sacra for these divine names. This marks the earliest explicit archeological reference to Jesus’ divinity, coming a century before the Council of Nicaea. And the bold statement “God Jesus Christ” is striking even after Nicaea.
The year 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of that landmark Christian council. The Megiddo inscription testifies to a deep grass-roots belief in Jesus’ divine nature long before a church council officially defined it.
Also included on the mosaic floor is a depiction of two fish. The fish functioned as an early symbol of Christ—common, secret, easy to depict, yet redolent with rich associations in the story of Jesus (fishermen, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and more besides). And its letters in Greek just happened to spell out the words for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” The fish has a central place on the Megiddo Mosaic, showing that it too was a firmly established icon in the Christian imagination.
The existence of the mosaic and the worship hall shows that the Christians of Megiddo felt more or less free to declare their belief in Christ in public. The site represents a period of respite in the Roman intolerance of Christianity, a rare window of time when Christians could put their faith relatively out in the open. While the earliest Christians worshiped secretly in private homes or catacombs, the Megiddo shrine was a specially designated, aesthetically attractive, public place for Christian worship, showing that the faith was climbing out from the shadows into the world.
The fortunes of Christianity would take a few more swerves before full acceptance under Emperor Constantine, but the Megiddo community shows the future trajectory of the faith. It is a place of a momentous transition. The mosaic bears witness to the early church as a strong, closely knit community of real people with names we know—the prototype for the Church as we know it today, a communion bound by love in which we gather to celebrate the Lord’s life, death, and resurrection.
The winds changed as the persecutions under Diocletian revived in the early 300s. At this time the Megiddo Christians felt obliged to abandon the worship hall, covering it up with pieces of pottery and plaster perhaps in the hopes that they would one day return.
On that day in 2004, the Israeli excavators, picking through the pottery and plaster, became the first human beings to see this early Christian place of worship in nearly 1700 years.
At 90 minutes, The Mosaic Church is not a moment too long and whets the appetite for more exploration into the amazing era of early Christianity. The film features commentary by archeological experts from Israel and the US and such distinguished guests as Cardinal Wilton Gregory and the erudite British theologian N. T. Wright. Among the topics touched upon are matters of objective truth and historical seeking, making the film thought-provoking on a philosophical and theological as well as historical level.
As the film points out, the Megiddo Mosaic shows in a remarkable way the confluence between geography, history, politics, language, theology, and culture. We see, in a graphic way, the Christian faith emerging in the midst of the pagan world. We are reminded that searching for capital-t Truth often means looking at the small-scale particularities of history, place, and culture. It is a point to remember when, so often, in the guise of discussing religion, we superimpose modern ways of thinking on an ancient faith. Ultimately, the historical process is about achieving empathy with human beings in the past—in this case human beings who happen to be our spiritual ancestors.
The Megiddo Mosaic itself is currently being exhibited at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, where it was transplanted last fall and will remain until July. The Mosaic Church was produced by Angel Studios and is available for streaming.
As one scholar declares in the film, “Millions of people hunger for these historical discoveries and these ancient writings.” Speaking for myself, I find it heartening that a 3rd-century mosaic can enflame the enthusiasm for new discovery and truth. And I second N.T. Wright when he asks, “Who knows what the archeologists have yet to discover?”
__________
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
The featured image is a still from the above trailer for The Mosaic Church.
