Conclusion
The contemporary pastor is the most unquestioned fixture in twenty-first-century Christianity. Yet not a strand of Scripture supports the existence of this office. Rather, the present-day pastor was born out of the single-bishop rule first spawned by Ignatius and Cyprian. The bishop evolved into the local presbyter. In the Middle Ages, the presbyter grew into the Catholic priest. During the Reformation, he was transformed into the preacher, the minister, and finally the pastor the person upon...
The Origins Of The Choir
This all began to change with the rise of the clergy and the advent of the Christian choir, which dates back to the fourth century. Shortly after the Edict of Milan AD 313 , the persecution of Christians ceased. During Constantine's reign, choirs were developed and trained to help celebrate the Eucharist. The practice was borrowed from Roman custom, which began its imperial ceremonies with processional music. Special schools were established, and choir singers were given the status of a...
How The Pastor Damages Himself
The contemporary pastor not only does damage to God's people, he does damage to himself. The pastoral office has a way of chewing up Davies, New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy, 292. In this regard and contrary to popular opinion , the pastor is not the cerebellum, the center for communicating messages, coordinating functions, and conducting responses between the Head and the Body. He is not called to give authoritative communication of the truth from the Head to the Body. And he is not the...
Exegeting The Building
At this point, you may be thinking to yourself, So what's the big deal Who cares if the first-century Christians did not have buildings Or if church buildings were patterned after pagan beliefs and practices Or if medieval Catholics based their architecture on pagan philosophy What has Consider this next sentence The social location of the church meeting expresses and influences the character of the church.'' If you assume that where the church gathers is simply a matter of convenience, you are...
The Steeple
Ever since the inhabitants of Babel erected a tower to reach to the heavens, civilizations have followed suit by building structures with pointed tops.'' The Babylonians and Egyptians built obelisks and pyramids that reflected their belief that they were progressing toward immortality. When Greek philosophy and culture came along, the direction of architecture changed from upward and vertical to downward and horizontal. All of this suggested the Greek belief in democracy, human equality, and...
Constantines Building Program
Following Helena's trip to Jerusalem in AD 327, Constantine began erecting the first church buildings throughout the Roman Empire, some at public expense.' In so doing, he followed the path of the pagans in constructing temples to honor God.' Interestingly, he named his church buildings after saints just as the pagans named their temples after gods. Constantine built his first church buildings upon the cemeteries where the Christians held meals for the dead saints.73 That is, he built them over...
The Creation Of Sacred Spaces And Objects
In the late second and third centuries a shift occurred. The Christians began to adopt the pagan view of reverencing the dead. Their focus Some have argued that the pre-Constantine Christians were poor and could not own property. But this is false. Under the persecution of Emperor Valerian 253-260 , for example, all property owned by Christians was seized. See Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church Grand Rapids Eerd mans, 1910 , 2 62. L. Michael White points out that the early...
Major Influences On Worship
The advent of the church building brought significant changes to Christian worship. Because the emperor was the number one layperson in the church, a simple ceremony was not sufficient. In order to honor him, the pomp and ritual of the imperial court was incorporated into the Christian liturgy.' It was the custom of the Roman emperors to have lights carried before them whenever they appeared in public. The lights were accompanied by a basin of fire filled with aromatic spices.103 Taking his cue...
The Pentecostal Contribution
Beginning around 1906, the Pentecostal movement gave us a more emotional expression of congregational singing. This included the lifting of one's hands, dancing in pews, clapping, speaking in tongues, and the use of tambourines. The Pentecostal expression was in harmony with its emphasis on the ecstatic working of the Holy Spirit. What few people realize is that if you removed the emotional features from a Pentecostal church service, it would look just like a Baptist liturgy. Thus no matter how...
Many Adjustments No Vital Change
Our study of the liturgical history of the Lutherans sixteenth century , Reformed sixteenth century , Puritans sixteenth century , Methodists eighteenth century , Frontier-Revivalists eighteenth to nineteenth centuries , and Pentecostals twentieth century uncovers one inescapable point For the last five hundred years, the Protestant order of worship has undergone minimal change.' In the end, all Protestant traditions share the same unbiblical features in their order of worship They are...
tWMWnday
Custom without truth is error grown old. TERTULLIAN, THIRD-CENTURY THEOLOGIAN Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you, so they will be ashamed. EZEKIEL 43 10, nlt IF YOU ARE A CHURCHGOING CHRISTIAN, it is likely that you observe the same perfunctory order of worship every time you go to church. It does not matter what stripe of Protestantism you belong to be it Baptist, Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian, Evangelical Free, Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ,...
Constantinefather Of The Church Building
While the emperor Constantine ca. 285-337 is often lauded for granting Christians freedom of worship and expanding their privileges, his story fills a dark page in the history of Christianity. Church buildings began with him. The story is astonishing. By the time Constantine emerged on the scene, the atmosphere was ripe for Christians to escape their despised, minority status. The temptation to be accepted was just too great to resist, and Constantine's influence began in earnest. In AD 312,...
From House Churches To Holy Cathedrals
The early Christians believed that Jesus is the very presence of God. They believed that the body of Christ, the church, constitutes a temple. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He made some radically negative statements about the Jewish Temple.' The one that angered many Jews most was His announcement that if the Temple was destroyed, He would build a new one in three days See John 2 19-21. Though Jesus was referring to the Temple that existed in the architectural sense, He was really speaking...
The Evolution Of Church Architecture
Following the Constantinian era, church buildings passed through various stages. They are too complex for us to detail here. To quote one scholar, Changes in church architecture are the result of mutation rather than a steady line of evolution. These mutations did little to change the dominant architectural features that fostered a monopolizing clergy and an inert congregation.24 Let's quickly survey the evolution of church architecture After Constantine, Christian architecture passed from the...
Exploring The First Church Buildings
Because the church building was regarded as sacred, congregants had to undergo a purification ritual before entering. So in the fourth century, fountains were erected in the courtyard so the Christians could wash before they entered the building. Constantine's church buildings were spacious and magnificent edifices that were said to be worthy of an Emperor. They were so splendid that his pagan contemporaries observed that these huge buildings imitated the structure of pagan temples. Constantine...