According to Matthew, the only Gospel to use the word "church," the origin of the church goes back to Jesus himself (Matt. 16:18). But problems arise in regard to this passage. For only in Matt. 16:18 and 18:17 does Jesus use the word "church" but according Mark the words of Jesus omit the words of Matt. 16:17-19. If Jesus expected God to establish his kingdom soon (Mark 9:1; 13:30), then he would have foreseen the need to establish a church with regulations for binding and loosing, that is, to decide which actions are permissible and not permissible according to the teachings of Jesus. The passage in Matt. 16:18-19 may well be for the Syrian church's declaration of independence from the synagogue and may be derive from the early community which identified itself with Peter.
The question thus arises: Did Jesus intend to establish the Church?
The answer to this question must be based not on statements of
church dogma but on a careful interpretation of the New Testament
writings. Here one's conclusion will be affected by the degree
to which one assigns various statements of Jesus to Jesus himself
or to the postresurrection church and by one's interpretation of
terms such as "Son of man" and parables such as the fish net, the
leaven, and seeds of growth (Matt. 13:47-50; 13:33; Mark 4:1-20).
Critical study of the Gospels reveals that Jesus probably did not
give teaching for the purpose of establishing and ordering the church.
Rather his whole life and teaching provide the foundations upon which
the church was created and is called into being through its faith in the
risen Lord.
[1]
On the day of Pentecost, a marvelous thing happened: Jesus' disciples experienced a divine visitation that was accompanied by certain visible and audible manifestations, which convinced them that God had poured out his Holy Spirit upon them.
This pentecostal experience did not lead the first Christians to break with Judaism and to form a separate and distinct community. On the contrary, this new fellowship appeared outwardly to be nothing but a new Jewish synagogue which recognized Jesus as the Messiah. They continued the Jewish worship of God in the temple (Acts 2:46); and doubless "the prayers" included the regularly stated Jewish prayers. That the first Christians did not break with Jewish practices is attested by the attitude of the populace.
"2:46 And day by day, attending the temple togetherSuch statements could not be made had the disciples of Jesus rejected the Jewish religion and worship in favor of the new Christian way. Their Christian faith was simply added to their Jewish religion. This is supported by the fact that sometime later Peter claims still to be living as a consistent Jew, observing the legal distinctions about clean and unclean foods (Acts 10:14).
and breaking bread in their homes,
they partook of food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having favor with all the people.
2:47 And the Lord added to their number day by day
those who were being saved." (Acts 2:46-47; 5:13).
However, certain distinctive Christian elements are evident, the first of which is "the apostles' teaching" or didache. This included the meaning of the life, death, and exaltation of Jesus, his enthronement as messianic King and Lord inaugurating the messianic age of blessing, and the future eschatological consummation. These redemptive events constituted the ekklesia, an eschatological community that was destined to experience the eschatological consummation because they had already experienced the eschatological blessings of the messianic age.
The worship of the primitve church is marked with great simplicity. In addition to worship in the temple are gatherings in Christian homes (Acts 2:46; 5:42) for the breaking of bread and taking of food. The wording suggests the same twofold meal observed later in the Pauline churches: a common fellowship meal or agape with which is associated the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:20 and 34). Common meals played a lare role in Jesus's ministry (Matt. 9:10-11; 11:19; Luke 15:1-2; Acts 1:4) and continued to be an important factor in the religious experience of the early church. Private homes provided the meeting places for the distinctive Christian acts of worship. At Pentecost a large number of Jews embraced the Christian faith (Acts 2:41; see also Acts 4:4; 5:14), and there is no evidence that so large a group could assemble in a single place. The pattern is rather that of many smaller "house-churches" -- separate congregations, analogous to Jewish synagoges. This is also the pattern of the Pauline churches, for we frequently read of the church in somebody's house (See Rom. 16:5; I Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Phlm. 2). We do not know how large the upper room was where the 120 gathered before Pentecost (Acts 1:13), and although it is clear that the church had a central meeing place (Acts 12:12), it is difficult to imagine a place large enough to contain the entire body of believers. [2]
To continue press here
[1] In writing this part of the paper, I have relied very heavily upon
Roger L. Omanson's article on Church, The, in the
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pp. 231-233
[Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, Fourth Printing, July 1986]
so that maybe I should put quotation marks around this part of the paper.
Thank you, Dr. Omanson.
[2] In writing this part of the paper, I have relied very heavily upon
George Eldon Ladd's book,
A Theology of the New Testament, pp. 348-349
[Grand Rapids, Michigan: Willian B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974]
so that maybe I should put quotation marks around this part of the paper.
Thank you, Dr. Ladd.