The video below popped up in my YouTube feed right after David and I were discussing some of these same topics in October. “How Christians Gathered in the 1st Century” with Dr. Tom Wadsworth is eye-opening. If you are familiar with the book Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola, some of this won’t be new to you. But I imagine much of it will be for many Christians.
(If you want to watch the video first without my commentary, skip what follows here and go directly to the video at the end of the post. Then come back and read this.)
There were two ideas in this video that I had specifically been thinking about the previous couple of weeks. Both revolved around how there is almost nothing in the New Testament that would lead us to “do church” the way we do it. This is certainly true of the Roman Catholic Church and also true of the vast majority of Protestant churches.
The section about the way the various elements of pagan temple worship (sacrifice, altar, priest, temple) became established in the Christian church over the first four centuries is one part that stood out to me. I think about that often. Very often. It frequently pops up in conversations David and I have to this day. I’m still processing the significance of that, especially as I sort through topics related to partial preterism.
The other is at the very end where they discuss that the Reformation did not go far enough concerning worship and church structure. The Reformers kept way too much Catholicism in the church which you can still see today. I had just made that very point to David over breakfast the day before I came across this discussion.
One last thing I want to point out is the discussion re: how people benefit the most when they are actively involved. We know this from life as parents, homeschoolers, etc.
In the vast majority of churches, there is almost zero opportunity to be meaningfully involved in what is happening during the “morning service” or what Tom more appropriately calls “the assembly.”
Participate? Yes.
Meaningfully involved? No.
In most churches, 97% of the people could not be there and everything would go on without them. Their attendance isn’t meaningful other than filling a seat so the room is full and the church bank account is kept topped off that week.
Now some people might not like the way I said that, but am I wrong? I don’t think I am. Being meaningfully involved on Sunday morning in a way that promotes spiritual growth and edification is seriously lacking in most American churches.
Let me know what you think of this in the comments.
I watched this video again yesterday when I posted it so if there was discussion in the comments it would be fresh in my mind.
My brain must be processing it because I woke up in the middle of the night with this song in my head out of the blue.
“We bring the sacrifice of praise
Into the house of the Lord.
We bring the sacrifice of praise
Into the house of the Lord.
And we offer up to You
The sacrifices of thanksgiving;
And we offer up to You
The sacrifices of joy.”
A quick search this morning on Bible Hub lead to this:
A “sacrifice of praise” is mentioned in Hebrews 13:10
One use of “sacrifice of joy” in the Bible in Psalm 27:6 and it mentions specifically in the Tabernacle
“Sacrifice of thanksgiving” is clearly Old Covenant and I didn’t find it in New Covenant with a quick search
“house of the Lord” is only found in OT according to my quick skim
So what exactly are we singing when we sing this?
I watched this video again yesterday when I posted it so if there was discussion in the comments it would be fresh in my mind.
My brain must be processing it because I woke up in the middle of the night with this song in my head out of the blue.
“We bring the sacrifice of praise
Into the house of the Lord.
We bring the sacrifice of praise
Into the house of the Lord.
And we offer up to You
The sacrifices of thanksgiving;
And we offer up to You
The sacrifices of joy.”
A quick search this morning on Bible Hub lead to this:
A “sacrifice of praise” is mentioned in Hebrews 13:10
One use of “sacrifice of joy” in the Bible in Psalm 27:6 and it mentions specifically in the Tabernacle
“Sacrifice of thanksgiving” is clearly Old Covenant and I didn’t find it in New Covenant with a quick search
“house of the Lord” is only found in OT according to my quick skim
So what exactly are we singing when we sing this?
I have listened to a Tom Wadsworth video and find the information very interesting from this perspective. Would like to listen to this one as well. The idea never occurred to me that the early church may not have actually had services the way we do today.
I have listened to a Tom Wadsworth video and find the information very interesting from this perspective. Would like to listen to this one as well. The idea never occurred to me that the early church may not have actually had services the way we do today.