THE EARLY ANCIENT CHRISTIAN INSCRIPTIONS IN THE CHRISTIAN EPIGRAPHY

Christian epigraphy is the science about Christian inscriptions which existed in the ancient world. It studies the inscriptions of monumental nature, i.e. all the inscriptions and texts which were written on solid material. As the historical discipline it studies the inscriptions in all their cultural and historical contexts. It makes the inscriptions available for further scientific research. The Christian epigraphy studies the inscriptions in the West until the time of Caroline renaissance and in the East until the time of iconoclasm. Christian epigraphy studies the external form of inscriptions and their arrangement because the ancient written expression was an important source for other scientific disciplines such as Palaeography, Orthography, Linguistics, development of Latin and Greek languages (koivn - koine) and for morphology of late classic languages. Christian epigraphy studies not only a form but also the contents of the ancient Christian inscriptions and texts and it enables to look at the private and public life of first Christians. Ancient Christian inscriptions enable us to understand the inner Church organization, its legal norms, liturgy and artistic expressions of first Christians but chiefly the dogmatic truths of the early Church.