While some liberal Christians believe that the concept of Jesus’ divinity was concocted by Christians at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, archaeological evidence reveals that it was an integral part of Christian belief from the beginning.

In 2024, archaeologists uncovered a mosaic at an ancient church in Israel’s Jezreel Valley. Dated to approximately 230 AD, the inscription on the mosaic shows that some Christians believed Jesus was divine. It reads: ‘The God-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.’

There is another claim that not only verified belief in Christ’s divinity by early Christians, but possibly even by the Romans.

In an article for the Daily Mail, Stacy Liberatore discussed a report in Aequitas Magazine suggesting that Roman authorities considered the question of Christ’s divinity two years after his crucifixion and resurrection.

In his peer-reviewed article for Aequitas, Luigi Zito examined Tertullian’s comments about a Roman emperor who allegedly raised the issue of Christ’s divinity in the Roman Senate in AD 35.

Tertullian was a Christian apologist who lived between approximately AD 150 and 220. According to Tertullian, the Roman emperor Tiberius, who ruled from AD 14 to 37, brought a proposal before the Senate asking whether Rome should recognize Jesus as ‘a god.’

Tertullian reported that the Senate ultimately rejected the proposal.

We do not have records of Senate discussions from this period, and Tertullian was writing approximately 150 years after the event allegedly took place. However, he may have had access to historical records that have since disappeared.

To be fair, ancient Rome had many gods. Roman emperors were also sometimes considered divine.

In his report, Zito asked whether this was the type of issue the Senate would have addressed. He concluded that it was.

Religion and politics were closely connected in ancient Rome, and determining religious matters was clearly within the Senate’s responsibilities.

Zito cited known cases in which the Senate and Roman authorities made rulings on religious matters.

These included the Senate’s regulations concerning the worship of Bacchus, as well as the involvement of Roman officials when the goddess Cybele was introduced to Rome.

“Tiberius accordingly, in whose days the Christian name made its entry into the world, having himself received intelligence from Palestine of events which had clearly shown the truth of Christ’s divinity, brought the matter before the Senate, with his own decision in favor of Christ,” Zito noted.

Although Tertullian suggested that Tiberius believed Jesus was divine, Zito noted that this did not mean the emperor was a Christian. It may only have meant that Tiberius was attempting to accommodate the new religion.

Tiberius probably received reports from Pontius Pilate and others about the growing tensions between Jewish leaders and the emerging group led by Jesus.

Zito also pointed to comments by the philosopher Porphyry, who questioned the resurrection of Christ. Although Porphyry opposed Christianity, he stated that if Christ had actually appeared before the Senate, the Christian faith would have received a much better reception in Rome.

Of course, this didn’t happen. However, Porphyry’s comment indicated that this type of religious discussion fell within the Senate’s responsibilities.

In his article, Zito cited additional historical documents in support of his conclusion that Tertullian’s claim was certainly plausible.

But aside from that it shows that another ancient Christian leader affirmed Jesus’ Divinity more than a century before the Nicaea council. In other words, the Council of Nicaea did not invent the idea of Christ’s divinity, rather it affirmed a belief that Christians had held for nearly 300 years.