House Churches

Satanus

The wt prides itself on closely following first century christianity, well, at least preaching. The bible indicates that christians met in homes, often presided over by the owners of those homes. They are now commonly called house churches. Why does not the wt follow this easy to imitate first cent christian aspect? In recent yrs, it has even MOVED AWAY from this tradition by eliminating private home book study groups. While hosts at times, found this a burden, many jws enjoyed this arrangement. Instead, the wt preferrs to follow established 'pagan' christianity in having a building just for that purpose.

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Satanus

A little pasting:

'“There were no church buildings in the first 300 years of church history,” said Dan Hubbell, a former Southern Baptist minister in Winnsboro, Texas, who now “plants” nondenominational house churches worldwide. “The early church was basically a gathering from house to house.”'

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And, the wt distiorts the house to house churches to mean something else....

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Satanus

"A 2006 survey by his firm — tracking developments for use by researchers and the media — concluded that 9% of U.S. adults attend house churches weekly, a ninefold increase from the previous decade, and that roughly 70 million Americans have experienced a home service."

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bluecanary

I have a feeling it's a legal issue--possibly related to pedophiles--why they've moved away from private homes. They don't even want individual witnesses claiming to be representatives of the WTS. If they can't have complete control over a meeting venue, they'd rather not use it.

Satanus

blue

'If they can't have complete control over a meeting venue, they'd rather not use it.'

It's always about control for them. That shows their cultishness. House meetings wouldn't work so well for them. It does work for some protestant christians, though. They simply use and follow the bible, as they enterpret it. Their main object is jesus, not some men in ny. It worked for christianity for 300 yrs, until it could come out in the open, and it soon became the roman state religion.

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cattails

For some Witnesses the Family Worship Night is turning into a mini bookstudy.

Some people are getting together, sharing meals, doing Bible readings aloud and freely commenting.

That sounds a lot like a First Century House Church doesn't it?

My parents don't go for that, but we don't have a "regular" FWN anyway.

Dad's too busy with 'other' theocratic stuff and Mom is too tired.

Satanus

It may be the natural way for those of similar beliefs to meet. In the jws' cases, isn't it supposed to be just a family? I wonder what the higher ups will do if family 'worship' night turns into minimeetings w free discussions. The wt has warned against private group bible study meetings. They have caused a lot of troubles for wt controllers.

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BurnTheShips

“There were no church buildings in the first 300 years of church history,”

Where is a persecuted religious minority to meet? Of course there were no outwardly obvious religious buildings.

He should also add caves to the list, dating to within decades after the death of Jesus:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/2106752/Worlds-oldest-Christian-church-discovered-in-Jordan.html

And let's not forget the catacombs under Rome, which were used for Christian services, which also date within decades for the earliest examples.

At the very beginning, Jewish Christians met in synagogues also, but they eventually got kicked out.

BTS

snowbird

I wish there were house churches down this way.

Sylvia

BurnTheShips

I wish there were house churches down this way.

I am certain there are many. They just don't get listed in the Yellow pages or are otherwise outwardly identifiable. There are plenty here where I live. My first home after leaving the Witnesses was a house church. I remember trembling outside of one in my car before getting the guts up to finally go in. I was still a Ministerial Servant. I was treated with great love there.

BTS

House Churches

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