Did the entire first century congregation preach?

Leander

I've been wondering about that question for the past few weeks. In my recollection it seems that the disciples were the primary ones engaged in the preaching work. Where the other members of the 1st congregation involved in that preaching work as well?

outnfree

I don't think so.

1 Corinthians 12:28-31 (NWT)"And God has set the respective ones in the congregation, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then powerful works, then gifts of healings; helpful services; abilities to direct, different tongues. Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform powerful works, do they? Not all have gits of healings, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all are translators, are they? But keep zealously seeking the greater gits. And yet I show YOU a surpassing way."

and then Paul writes his famous dissertation on LOVE in Chapter 13. He goes on for some time about tongues and translators, etc. in Chapters 13 & 14 and then asks, 1 Cor. 14:26: "What is to be done, then, brothers? When YOU come together, one has a psalm, another has a teaching, another has a revelations, another has a tongue, another has an interpretation. Let all things take place for upbuilding."

SO, lst century Christians were to upbuild one another with their various and diverse gifts, no in a cookie cutter uniformity of field service. A Christian was to "keep zealously seeking the prophesying" (verse 39) but was not condemned for doing the lesser work of "speaking in tongues."

outnfree

Par dessus toutes choses, soyez bons. La bonte est ce qui ressemble le plus a Dieu et ce qui desarme le plus les hommes -- Lacordaire

JanH

Leander,

I strongly recommend Wayne Meeks' "The First Urban Christians", the standard work on 1st century Christianity from a sociological perspective.

See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300032447/qid=1004542598/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_3_1/102-4671816-8159363

- Jan
--
"Doctor how can you diagnose someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and then act like I had some choice about barging in here right now?" -- As Good As It Gets

nytelecom1

yes...jesus words at Mat. 28: 19,20 were
meant only to a few in the congergation, when he
said "only a few of you should"

But as my nwt is full of errors they left this part out

YoYoMama

I have to agree with nytelecom1. Jesus words were meant for all his disciples, not a special class of them.

metatron

I have no doubt that early christians were personally quite
zealous but Paul speaks of only some being "evangelizers".

More than that, they weren't obsessed with numbers! Check out
the opening chapters of Acts talking about those converted
as "three thousand" or "five thousand". They rounded off to
three decimal places!

metatron

blondie

The question should be from 1879 to 1919, did all of the Bible Students participate in door to door ministry? Any quotes from publications during that time?

hillary_step

Hello,

Further to Jan's recommendation I would add the following two books to the reading list, essential information to truly understand 1st century Christianity.

‘The Book Of Acts In Its First Century Setting’ by Richard Bauckham -
: http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=0QXTW9C99C&mscssid=TQM1K2ED3X7X8PF7E4D89RQLJ3386TT1&isbn=1579105262

‘Jesus & The Rise Of Early Christianity’ by Paul Barnett
: http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=0QXTW9C99C&mscssid=TQM1K2ED3X7X8PF7E4D89RQLJ3386TT1&isbn=0830815880

The Barnett book is written from a Biblical persepective rather than an historical one, but both together fill in many missing blanks.

Best regards - HS

Joseph Joachim

Leander,

I think your question is pointless, since we're not living in the first century. Metatron is right, first-century Christians were very zealous because: 1) they thought Christ's Second Coming was imminent and 2) Christianity was a new religion in a mostly Jewish and pagan environment. Now tell me, who would you preach to in the XXIst century, in countries that are mostly Christian? Unless you have your own sectarian version that you want to propagate for non-christian motives, which is precisely what JW do.

JJ

ozziepost

G'day H.S.

Glad to see you recommending a great aussie author. Paul is Bishop of North Sydney, Australia and has written many authoritative Bible Commentaries. I believe Writing Dept know of him too!

Cheers,
Ozzie

"It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
Anonymous

Did the entire first century congregation preach?

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