Earliest Evidence of Christianity North of the Alps Found in Roman Cemetery
A few weeks ago, researchers in Germany announced that they had found the earliest evidence of Christianity north of the Alps. During excavations of a Roman cemetery in Frankfurt, a tiny, tightly wound silver scroll dating to the early 200s, was found under the chin of a skeleton. The scroll was found in a phylactery, a kind of amulet worn on a cord around the man’s neck.
This was an unusual thing to find in that part of the world. Amulets like it were more common in the Eastern Mediterranean, where they were used as protective charms against aches and pains, illness, infertility, or demons. This kind of superstition was common during time periods without the medical knowledge we have today. Also, injuries and illness were common, judging from the evidence found in skeletons.
Over 1800 years old, the amulet had folded and was creased, so it could not be unrolled without being destroyed. Instead, a high-resolution CT scan of the scroll was used to create a 3D model of the amulet which was then digitally “unrolled.” Inside was a Latin inscription, also unusual, since most were written in Greek.
The text was clearly Christian, referring twice to “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” There was also a quote from Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, specifically that “every knee bows: those in heaven, those on earth and those under the earth, and every tongue confesses [Jesus Christ],” and the words “holy, holy, holy” from Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. Prior to this find, the earliest known post-New Testament Christian usage of “holy, holy, holy” dated to the fourth century.
The dating of the amulet pushes the arrival of Christianity north of the Alps nearly a century, and places it at a time when being a Christian was a dangerous proposition. The persecutions of Christians were sporadic since Emperor Nero in AD 64. So, it is safe to assume this man was serious about his faith.
Another surprising thing about the amulet, especially when compared to others found in the Eastern Mediterranean, is the exclusive focus on Jesus. While it does acknowledge Saint Titus, it does not mention angels or other supernatural beings. This is different from other amulets from the period and not just the pagan ones. For example, an amulet found in Bulgaria in 2023 and dated to roughly the same period as the Frankfurt one, includes invocations to the archangels Michael and Gabriel and to the “guardian” Christ. Scholars speculate that this may have been an attempt to disguise the owner’s Christian faith. Other amulets include Jewish and pagan elements alongside Christ, indicating a syncretistic approach to Christianity, but that is missing from the Frankfurt amulet.
This discovery upends what scholars thought they knew about the spread of Christianity. Within the Roman Empire, Christianity was strongest in the Greek east. Also, most of the early major Christian thinkers (except for Tertullian) came from the East and wrote in Greek. Yet here, in a frontier town that within decades faced invading Germanic tribesman, is a committed, Latin-speaking Christian whose faith is in Christ alone. The Christian faith presented by this amulet is of a purer kind than in comparable amulets in the Empires’ Christian heartland. And this Christ-follower was in a region decades earlier than scholars thought Christians were. In fact, along with the amulet, he was buried with an incense bowl. Thus, it is at least possible the unknown man was a priest, which means it is also possible that there was a Christian community in this area.
At the very least, the Gospel spread farther and faster than historians thought, and communities of Christians have existed who escaped the prying eyes of both governments and scholars.
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Ballun
Published Date: January 22, 2025
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
