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Churches Around The World
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Jesus himself participated in this sort of service as a reader and commentator (Gospel of Luke 4:16–24) and his followers probably remained worshipers in synagogues in some cities, for example the Cenacle in Jerusalem. However, following the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, the new Christian movement and Rabbinic Judaism increasingly parted ways. The Church became overwhelmingly Gentile sometime in the 4th century, the era of Constantine I and Christianity and the birth of the State church of the Roman Empire.
The Syrian city of Dura-Europos on the West bank of the Euphrates was an outpost town between the Roman and Parthian empires. During a siege by Parthian troops in A.D. 257, the buildings in the outermost blocks of the city grid were partially destroyed and filled with rubble to reinforce the city wall. Thus were preserved and securely dated an early decorated church and a synagogue decorated with extensive wall paintings. Both had been converted from earlier private buildings.
The Dura-Europos church from 235 AD has a special room dedicated for baptisms with a large baptismal font.
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