Cave where '70 beloved by God worshipped while Christ was alive' is found

Jordan archaeologists have unearthed what could be the world's oldest church dating back 2,000 years.

Resembling scenes out of an Indiana Jones movie, scientists explored the  underground cavern and discovered a cave underneath the church which they believe it is an even more ancient site of Christian worship than the church site above it.

Archaeologist Abdel-Qader Hussein, head of the Rihab Center for Archaeological Studies, Abdul Qader al-Husan told The Jordan Times:'We have uncovered what we believe to be the first church in the world, dating from 33 AD to 70 AD.

Jesus was an ultra-orthodox Jew as were all his disciples and followers. All members of the early "church" thought themselves wholly as Jews and were identified as such by others. The Christian religion was a much later development. If this cave dates from the period immediately after Jesus' death, far from being a church it is actually a place of Jewish worship and thus a synagogue, though none of this is likely to cut much ice with those who would like to rewrite history and Jews out of it all together.

- Mike, Jerusalem, Israel, 11/6/2008 06:36