medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> >Maybe I have too simple a notion of Christian worship before
> >Constantine legalized Christianity. I tend to think, in the Roman
> >context, of Christian congregations down in the catacombs, or in
> >house churches, rather than in buildings whose sole purpose is
> >Christian celebrations.
It is a Romantic misconception that Christian congregations ever trudged down to
the dank, dark catacombs for services. Individual Christian families, however, may
have occasionally visited their private "cubiculum" for the odd commemorative
meal, "agape", for a dead family member. The so-called "titulus" churches of
Rome, churches on private land that functioned virtually as parish churches, are
certainly documented prior to Constantine's Edict of Milan, and there is some
indication in the literature, if not in the archaeological record, that they had attained
a presence somewhat more developed than the early 3rd-century "house-church" of
Dura Europos. It was only, however, with Constantine's commissioning of the
Lateran Basilica in c.313 that Christian churches began to take on a truly
monumental presence.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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