Once again, we see the problem with the WTBTS attempting to apply yesterday's literalism to today's reality.
The message I get from the scripture you quote, the mental image I get from reading about how the preaching work was done by the apostles is this: the apostle would walk into town and speak publically, being led to the home of a person favorably disposed to his message by the spirit.
The apostle was to make that his home base as long as he was in town. He wasn't to look around for better lodgings, which offered better table fare, or any other thing.
While in town, the apostle was to go about doing good. This would give him the opportunity to speak to the recipient of his good work about the message of the kingdom.
After days of doing this good work, and this teaching about the kingdom, the apostle could then draw a crowd for the "public talk" (sorry).
Now, if the apostle was following The Master's admonition about setting their light out where men could see it, there would be a nice crowd indeed. You've all known people who were like that. Their goodness and agape was so apparent that people gather 'round.
After the apostle had done his good works, and his announcing of the kingdom, and perhaps establishing a small congregation, he went on to the next town to repeat the above recipe.
There were no scriptures to study, save the Hebrew scriptures which did not contemplate the new faith at all. All they had was what the apostle or disciple had said, and to put it into practice.
Sometime the apostle would hear of trouble in one of the fledgling congregations and he would write to them, encouraging them to good toward each other, toward the goal of revealing the kingdom to still others, etc. And we only have a few of these letters. I'm sure there were many more. These guys never knew their letters were to be collected and put together in book form and regarded as some holy writ. If we had many more of these letters, there would be no possibility of comporting them all. There would be so many conflicting statements and directions we'd never unravel them.
But that's the way I see it happening. I DON'T see it happening like it's done by the Dubs today: waking people up on Saturday or Sunday to harrangue them into purchasing sub-standard and cheap literature written for a person in the third grade which predicts the householders utter demise; they and their entire family if they don't become Dubs. It's a bad, bad business.
I certainly agree with Bang. And the above is how I imagine it really happened.
Francois
