Frank Turk's blog is where I'm probably going to spend my summer.
What can I say? I'm a Baptist!
Seriously, I think we all need to spend the summer over there. Cent's going back into Church History and mining the Fathers for anything and everything concerning baptism and what it means. If his first post is any indication, it's going to be an important series.
I'm an Early Church nut anyway. I actually enjoy reading the stuff. I'm still not smart and half the time I'm as lost as a cat in a Chinese Restaurant in there, but I do have the conviction that the writings of the Early Church can be very beneficial to our understanding of Scripture, and so I try.
You can access most everything here.
Old Doxoblogy
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
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6 comments:
Thanks Jeremy
Jeremy! We have common interests! Who woulda thought?
Who is your 2nd favourite early writer, after Tertullian?
Irenaus.
Jeremy, I wonder if I could pick your brain on something from early church history.
In the early church (post-Apostolic age) what was the primary method of preaching/teaching. Was it similar to the way we do it now? Or did various members of the assembly speak as is implied in I Cor. 14.
I am engaged in a discussion that is distantly related to this. Any info that you can share would be helpful.
Thanks.
Gordon,
There was probably a lot of similarity between the worship of the Jews in their synagogues and the worship of the Early Church in their house churches.
Here's a passage form Justin Martyr's First Apology that will probably help.
Chapter LXVII.-Weekly Worship of the Christians.
And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.
It looks really similar to the way we still worship on Sundays. Of course this is just a big picture that Justin paints for unbelievers to grasp what Christians are doing when they are gathered together, and this model probably varied form Church to Church.
I would tend to think that there were Churches where
more than one person would speak every Sunday, but it probably was not the norm.
That is very helpful. Thank you.
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