The Real Apostles

Israeli archaeologists have discovered the best preserved remnant of a Roman road so far unearthed in the Holy land. In the time of Jesus i.e., the Roman occupation of Judea, it used to connect Jerusalem to Jaffa. For Jews, the road does not hold a special significance. If anything, it has a negative connotation. It was along these roads that Roman soldiers marched, and it was along these roads that Jews were driven from their land after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. But, for those interested in the birth of Christianity, this is a major find, although archaeologists never mentioned this connection. How so?

The myth about the spread of Christianity centers around Jesus’ apostles, all of whom get martyred within months of their travels. Is it really realistic to imagine that in the ancient world a religion, which ended up conquering the Roman empire, was spread by twelve individuals who were killed for their beliefs immediately after starting their missions? Obviously, this is impossible. There was no TV, no internet, no iPhones. Twelve individuals could hardly convince twelve villages to join their religion – never mind an entire empire. There was only one way that the religion could spread from one end of the Roman world to the other – the Roman army. These soldiers were the only ones who could transport ideas quickly and efficiently over great distances, and they did it by mastering the technology of super highway building. Given that they faced death on a daily basis, they also had a vested interest in the afterlife. More than this, the Roman army was not Roman. The officer class was, indeed, Roman but the majority of the army was made up of conquered peoples from the various nations where Romans ruled. That’s how revolutionary ideas spread from Judea to the most remote corners of the empire. For example, tombstones of Jewish soldiers in the Roman army have been found as far afield as Germany and Romania.

The road that was presently uncovered connected Jerusalem – where, after the crucifixion, the first church was led by Jesus’ brother James – to the port of Jaffa, which connected Judea to the entire Roman world. There’s no doubt, therefore, that it was along this piece of highway that Christianity first travelled. In my mind, more than anything, Christians should venerate this road as the greatest relic so far discovered for the spread – as opposed to the birth – of Christianity.

See my film “The Roman Army’s Secret Christians” below. From Judea to Pompeii to the British Isles, this episode reveals how Christianity secretly thrived within the very army that was supposed to suppress it.

Click here to see my recent article “Last of the Minoans” on The Times of Israel