Community Life in the Early Church
Overview
The purpose of this book is to examine the pattern of community life that existed in the early church. It suggests how the contemporary church can model this pattern in today’s society. The church must reevaluate how the world sees and responds to her, uniting as one body under the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit, in order to once again be effective witnesses in our communities. In order to accomplish this task the church must come together as one, like the “Community of Love,” and function as one (John 17:1–26).
This book focuses on the first century church, particularly the foundation of the church in the first three decades (4 BC to 30 AD). Though there have been great men and women theologians who have written about community, this book utilizes primarily the Word of God to convey the community life of the early church. The world around us is crying for freedom and the church has been gifted by God to take his message of salvation, freedom, healing, deliverance, restoration, reconciliation, and wholeness to our known world. As Sheldon O. Juell argues in Community Life in the Early Church, only a unified church can carry these principles forward.
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- Examines the geographical, historical, cultural, sociological, and economic background in which the early church was established
- Describes the sociological and economic backgrounds of the early church
- Explores the “Community of Love” that exists between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and how this attitude of love should influence our relationship with others
- The Historical and Cultural Background to the Early Church
- The Sociological and Economic Background to the Early Church
- The Community of Love
- The Community of Love in the New Testament
- Foundations for Community Life
- Prayer and Worship in the Early Church
- Community Life and Commitment
- Leadership in the Early Church
- Community Life and Fellowship
- The Priesthood of All Believers
- Conclusion: Abiding in Community
Top Highlights
“The Jews, unlike the Greeks, did not rely upon human reason in their discovery of God” (Page 11)
“Jerusalem was not blessed with an abundant water supply” (Page 5)
“The rich would give generously to public events and also respond generously to people’s needs in a time of crisis, however, they refused to pay a generous wage to a hired worker.” (Page 20)
“o the Christians it is the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead;” (Page 5)
“A synagogue was to be established wherever there were as many as 10 Jewish men” (Page 12)
It is both a complete and concise summary of those primary qualities that made the early church a community of love, power, truth, and faith—altogether, and all together! From essential relationships to ultimate realities, the issues of everything from people to doctrine, are presented combining careful research with a readable style. It is a good handbook on how to think, live, and love like a Christian!
—Jack W. Hayford, Chancellor, The King’s University
As a pastor in Los Angeles, I look about, observe hectic lifestyles, and proceed to ask questions. Questions like, ‘How did we become so disjointed and disconnected?’ ‘How can we be surrounded by millions of people and be so lonely?’ ‘Is it possible to build community in a commuter society?’ If death can be defined as ‘separation,’ then too many die little deaths daily. We deeply need resurrection life and resurrected relationships. Only Jesus can provide both—after all, He is the resurrection and the life. By knowing where to begin, we can then proceed to discover the key truths for reconnecting and re-establishing healthy relationships. This is where Sheldon Juell takes us in his book Community Life in the Early Church.
—Ed Stanton, from the Foreword
- Title: Community Life in the Early Church
- Author: Sheldon O. Juell
- Publication Date: 2001
- Pages: 163
Reviews
2 ratings
Wes Garvin
3/9/2019
Wes Garvin
3/9/2019
Rich Milne
1/29/2017
What a great title! And the author tells us he wants to develop his thesis from the New Testament documents. (p.2) I have been engaged in this same endeavor myself and looked forward to what I could gain from Juell's discussion. I really wanted to like and benefit from this book. But by the first page, little warning signs began to appear. Poorly written sentences. Incorrect assertions. No, within the first generation the Gospel had not spread throughout the known world. I began to make a few notes on sentence fragments, grammatical errors, oddities of expression. Eventually I thought perhaps he was not a native speaker and I was being too harsh. But if being born and educated in Canada (where I, too, was born) qualifies one to be a native speaker, the author is a native speaker. A simple sentence like "It did not straddle a major trade crossroad like Shechem or Bethel." (5) This is from a section on the topography of Jerusalem, which has several other odds sentences. But his summary on the topography of Jerusalem is" Overall, Jerusalem, was not a well-designed city." (5) But he has only spoken about the geological setting of Jerusalem, nothing about the city at all, let alone how it was planned. So I began to focus just on content, for there is always something one can learn from what others have written. I was particularly looking forward to his discussion of leadership in the early church. Where had it come from, how did it develop through the NT? Well, elders are by all accounts a critical part of the early leadership of the church. So where did elders, the idea of elders, come from? Mr. Juell's entire discussion of the rise and role of elders in Jewish worship is two statements: elders sat in the synagogue(58) , and there was "a council of elders directed by a 'synagogue ruler'" (72) That is the entire discussion of elders before their use by the Early Church. It is very difficult for me to imagine this being a thesis. I have yet to finish the book, but I write this to warn others. This was not a cheap book. ($12.99) If you know nothing about the topic you will surely learn something. Mostly it will be things the author has gleaned from the usual secondary or tertiary sources, to judge from the footnotes. I wanted to like the book, and the topic is a critical one. This does bring together many of the NT verses and passages on certain topics. But this is done in many sources. If you are looking for unique insight, or a reasoned discussion of primary sources, or even precise discussion and dissection of our current context, you will probably be disappointed. It is unlikely I will finish the book. Look for a better resource for this crucial discussion. Your time is too valuable to spend on this book. I wish I could say better things. He does exalt the Lord Jesus. Amen.
