|
by
Doug Ward |
One day in 79 AD an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius buried Pompeii, a
thriving Italian town of about ten thousand people, under a mound of volcanic
ash. By destroying the town, the eruption preserved a treasure trove of data
about life in the Roman empire in the first century. Archaeologists have been
gathering and analyzing this data for 275 years, with much work still to be
done.
When
my wife Sherry and I had an opportunity to visit Pompeii in 2022, we marveled
at some of the things that have been uncovered, including beautiful mosaics and
frescoes. That trip has fueled our curiosity to learn more about this unique
site.
When
we asked our tour director if there were Christians in Pompeii, he recommended
the book The
Crosses of Pompeii (Fortress Press, 2016). The author, Baylor
University professor Bruce Longenecker, presents evidence for the existence of
a small but recognizable Christian presence in the town before the eruption.
Longenecker
lays out his case carefully and systematically. First, Acts
28:13-14 tells us that there were Christians in Puteoli,
19 miles from Pompeii, when Paul was taken to Rome for his trial in the early
60s AD. Christians in Rome were heavily persecuted by the Emperor Nero in the
64-68 AD period, which actually created some public sympathy for Christians, so
that the period from 68-79 AD was a relatively safe time for followers of
Jesus.
In
Pompeii itself, an earthquake in 62 or 63 AD already
had brought widespread damage, including destruction of temples of the
traditional gods. In the wake of the earthquake there was great interest in
religion and in new religions, like the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis.
It was an auspicious time for Christianity to take root in Pompeii.
Longenecker
describes a number of Pompeiian artifacts that appear to be Christian:
(1) a cross symbol
that adorned the wall of a bakery;
(2) the word "vivit"
("he lives") written on a wall, with the final letters I and T
combined to make a cross symbol;
(3) graffiti on the wall of a residential inn
that says "audi Christianos
pro vici" ("listen to the Christians for the good of the neighborhoods");
(4) a stamp ring belonging to a man named Meges that bears a cross symbol next to a symbol for
eternal life;
(5) nineteen cross symbols inscribed in the
paving stones of the streets of Pompeii, with ten near the bakery and the other
nine on a main street not far from the Christianos
graffiti. The nineteen street crosses are in strategic locations near
intersections and entrances (to the town and to buildings in it), places where
people hoped for protection from the incursion of evil forces.
Pompeiians faced many fears and uncertainties in life, including threats of
disease and natural disasters. Some of them may well have been attracted to
news of a Savior who healed diseases and had conquered death. We can imagine
that when the eruption of Vesuvius came, they may have died declaring, "Vivit!"
File
translated from TEX by TTH,
version 3.66.
On 10 Feb 2023, 17:23.
