Top Ten Archeology Helps for Catholic Apologetics

Top Ten Archeology Discoveries Used in Catholic Apologetics

Cardinal Newman, an influential 19th-century Anglican priest who later converted to Roman Catholicism, famously observed,

"To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant." 

He personally discovered that studying early church history reveals a sacramental, hierarchical church whose practices align more closely with Catholicism than with modern Protestantism.

Most Catholic apologists who use Newman’s insight read and quote the Church Fathers. This has been done to great effect and it is encouraged. However, many apologists could fortify their arguments if they knew these ten examples of apologetics through archeology…

* CCC - Catechism of the Catholic Church

1. Does your church encourage prayers for the dead? The Catholic Church does (see CCC 958) and the 3rd Century Church did…

Roman catacombs contain inscriptions that do more than identify the deceased. Some offer prayers or wishes for the soul’s peace. A third-century epitaph now in the Vatican Museums says: “Clodianè, may your spirit be in peace.”

2. Does your church encourage the invocation of saints for their intercession? The Catholic Church does (CCC 956) and the 3rd Century Church did…

Graffiti associated with early Christian burial and pilgrimage sites include petitions asking Peter, Paul and martyrs to remember or intercede for believers. At the Roman site traditionally connected with Peter and Paul on the Via Appia, numerous devotional inscriptions were left by Christian visitors.

3. Does your church encourage honor and reverence for holy relics and holy bodies of martyrs? The Catholic Church does (CCC 828, 1190, 1674) and the earliest Christians did...

The catacombs and early basilicas demonstrate that Christians deliberately gathered near the graves of martyrs. Churches and altars were eventually placed over or near honored tombs, including those traditionally associated with Peter, Paul and other Roman martyrs.

4. Does your church encourage the use of sacred art and imagery as a means of holiness? The Catholic Church does (CCC 1159-1162, 2502-2503) and the earliest Christians did…

The Christian building at Dura-Europos, renovated around the third century, contained a dedicated baptistery decorated with paintings of Christ the Good Shepherd, Christ healing the paralytic, Christ walking on water, the women approaching the tomb, Old Testament scenes etc.. Roman catacombs likewise contain images of Christ, biblical figures, the Eucharistic meal, the Good Shepherd, Jonah, Mary and praying figures.

5. Does your church set aside a distinct, sacramental space for the ritual and communal initiation called Baptism? The Catholic Church does (CCC 1220-1239) and the 3rd century Christians did…

Located in modern day Syria, ancient Dura-Europos had a room set apart as a baptistery with an architectural font surrounded with imagery depicting Christ’s saving actions, death and resurrection, entrance into the Christian community, spiritual cleansing and new life.

6. Does your church center itself around the Eucharist as 'source and summit' with eucharistic language referencing the Real Presence? The Catholic Church does (CCC 1324, 1374) and the late-second or early third century Church did…

An inscription of Abercius is one of the most significant Christian inscriptions in existence. Abercius was a bishop who traveled among baptized Christian communities and ate the “Perfect Fish” (ICHTHYS: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior). “Faith everywhere led me forward, and everywhere provided as my food a fish of exceeding great size, and perfect, which a holy virgin drew with her hands from a fountain and this it ever gives to its friends to eat, it having wine of great virtue, and giving it mingled with bread.”

7. Does your church have a formal, liturgical worship space centered around an altar? The Catholic Church does. (CCC 1066-1690) and the oldest church known to archaeology dating back to the 3rd century did…

The 3rd  century Megiddo mosaic came from an early church floor and includes an inscription recording that a Christian woman named Akeptous offered a table “to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” The intricately decorated floor also includes Christian fish symbolism and commemorates gentile donors to the community. 

8. Does your church acknowledge the unique importance of the apostle Peter and venerate his remains? The Catholic Church does (CCC 552-553, 880-882) and the earliest Roman Christians did…

Ancient Christian sarcophagi, inscriptions, burial traditions and monumental sites repeatedly associate Peter with Rome. Beneath St. Peter’s Basilica is a first-century Roman necropolis containing a prominent grave containing a man’s bones dating back to the 1st century that are labeled as belonging to the apostle Peter. Jesus gave him the metaphorical keys and called him the rock on which His Church would be built (Mt 16:13-20). 

9. Does your church encourage the use of sacramentals and sacred objects as a means of receiving God’s grace? The Catholic Church does (CCC 1667-1670) and the 3rd century Christians did…

Early Christians were not hostile to the use of blessed, inscribed or devotional material objects. The Frankfurt silver inscription is a good example. A third-century Christian wore a rolled silver text invoking Jesus Christ, the Son of God, together with biblical and liturgical language. It functioned as a sacramental similar to a crucifix. Here we have an example of a material thing used to carry Scripture, invoke Christ and ask for divine protection.

10. Does your church venerate Mary the Mother of God? The Catholic Church does (CCC 495) and the 2nd Century christians did...

Virgin Mary is a wall painting in the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome, Italy. Painted in the early third century (around 230–240 CE, with some estimates tracing stylistic roots to c. 150 CE), the fresco depicts a seated, veiled woman nursing the infant Jesus, accompanied by a prophet pointing to a star.