Jordan’s Ancient Church Exhibit: A Modernist Distortion of Early Christianity
The Catholic News Agency portal (December 21, 2025) reports on the reopening of an archaeological site in Aqaba, Jordan, identified as a late 3rd- or early 4th-century church. The article frames this as evidence of Jordan’s “long-standing religious plurality,” citing American archaeologist Thomas Parker’s 1998 excavations revealing a basilica-style structure with artifacts including Roman coins and possible bronze cross fragments. Jordanian authorities promote the site as a cultural landmark celebrating interfaith coexistence.
Reduction of the Church’s Divine Mission to Cultural Artifact
The article’s central error lies in reducing the Church’s supernatural identity to a mere archaeological curiosity. While early Christian structures merit historical study, the presentation ignores their raison d’ĂȘtre: the propagation of Catholic truth and administration of sacraments for mankind’s salvation. Pius XI’s Quas primas clarifies that Christ established His Church not as a cultural institution but as a “perfect society” with the divine mandate to “lead all to eternal happiness” (1925). The excavation’s emphasis on architectural layout and artifacts while omitting discussion of the Eucharistic sacrifice performed there exemplifies the naturalism condemned in Pius X’s Lamentabili (1907), which denounced those who treat “the Church’s institutions as human inventions” (Proposition 54).
Omission of Eschatological Finality in Favor of Earthly Pluralism
Nowhere does the article acknowledge the telos (end purpose) of early Christian communities: to save souls from eternal damnation. The Syllabus of Errors explicitly condemns the notion that “the Church is an enemy of…true progress” (Proposition 57) or that “Catholicism cannot be reconciled with modern civilization” (Proposition 80). By celebrating “religious plurality” as inherently valuable, Jordanian authorities – with the article’s tacit approval – promote the condemned error that “every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which he shall consider true” (Syllabus, Proposition 15). This constitutes apostasy from Christ’s command: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
Cultural Relativism Masquerading as Historical Scholarship
The claim that Aqaba Church demonstrates Jordan’s “long-standing religious plurality” constitutes historical revisionism. Early Christians suffered persecution under Roman authorities precisely for rejecting pluralism, as Tertullian attested: “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Apologeticus, 50 AD). The article’s silence about Diocletianic persecutions (303-313 AD), which likely affected this very Christian community, reveals its ideological bias. Authentic Catholic historiography – as demonstrated by Eusebius in Ecclesiastical History – always connects archaeological remains to the supernatural struggle between truth and error, not to postmodern diversity narratives.
Suppression of Catholic Exclusivity in Salvation
Nowhere does the CNA piece affirm the dogma Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus (Outside the Church There Is No Salvation), defined at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and reaffirmed by Pius IX in Singulari Quadem (1854). Instead, it implicitly endorses the heresy that “good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ” (Syllabus, Proposition 17). The discovery of a bronze cross fragment becomes weaponized to suggest that mere cultural Christianity suffices for salvation, contradicting Christ’s warning: “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Archaeology as Trojan Horse for Modernist Ecumenism
The article’s final betrayal comes in promoting Aqaba Church as a bridge to interfaith dialogue. This aligns with the conciliar sect’s apostate teachings in Nostra Aetate (1965), which Pius IX had already condemned in his Syllabus (Proposition 16-18). True Catholic archaeology would emphasize how early churches like Aqaba defied pagan syncretism, as when St. Polycarp refused to burn incense to Caesar (155 AD). Instead, the article’s focus on “cultural landmarks” reduces the Church to a museum piece – precisely the naturalism denounced in Pius X’s Pascendi Dominici Gregis as making religion “a matter of sentiment” rather than divine revelation.
Source:
Church in Jordan reopens as a rare window into pre-Constantinian Christianity (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 21.12.2025