The Earliest Christian Meeting Places: Almost Exclusively Houses?
Overview
Edward Adams challenges a strong consensus found in New Testament and early Christian studies—that the early Christians met almost exclusively in houses. This assumption has been foundational for research on the social formation of the early churches, the origins and early development of church architecture, and early Christian worship. Recent years have witnessed increased scholarly interest in the early “house church.”
Adams reexamines the New Testament, other literary data, and archaeological and comparative evidence, showing that explicit evidence for assembling in houses is not nearly as extensive as is usually thought. He also shows that there is evidence for meeting in non-house settings. Adams makes the case that during the first two centuries, the alleged period of the house church, it is plausible to imagine the early Christians gathering in a range of venues rather than almost entirely in private homes. His thesis has wide-ranging implications.
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- Challenges the idea that the early Christians met almost exclusively in houses
- Presents evidence for meetings in non-house settings
- Discusses early Christians gathering in a range of venues
- New Testament Evidence: Episltes
- New Testament Evidence: Gospels and Acts
- Literary Evidence From 100 to 313 CE
- Archaeological Evidence
- Comparative Evidence
- Retail, Industrial, and Storage Spaces
- Commercial Hopsitality and Leisure Space
- Outdoor Spaces and Burial Places
Top Highlights
“K.S. Wright, ‘A Tiberian Pottery Deposit from Corinth’, Hesperia 49 (1980), pp.135–177 (136)” (Page 231)
“Clement of Alexandria is the earliest writer to speak of ‘going to church’, using the Greek word ἒκκλησία” (Page 81)
“The Baccheion at Athens illustrates how internal space in collegial buildings was ‘multipurpose” (Page 123)
“Going ever further, I would question whether the term ‘house churches’ should be used at all for early Christian groups, even those that did customarily meet in houses.” (Page 201)
“ reference is more obviously to those who receive ‘travelling believers, especially itinerant preachers and missionaries” (Page 70)
- Title: The Earliest Christian Meeting Places: Almost Exclusively Houses?
- Author: Edward Adams
- Series: Early Christianity in Context
- Publisher: Bloomsbury
- Print Publication Date: 2013
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 208
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Church history › Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600; Religious gatherings › Christianity--History
- ISBNs: 9780567663146, 0567663140
- Resource ID: LLS:RLSTCHRSMTNGPLC
- Resource Type: text.monograph.church-history
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:46:49Z