Yesterday we made the second “stop” on our summer series and shared a Holy Meal in house churches. We learned about the Didache (The Teaching of the Apostles) which was likely written in the late 1st or early 2nd Century as an instruction manual of sorts for the earliest followers of Jesus.
Our series, Evolution of Church, will continue for 6 more weeks with a focus on the shifts in music, prayer, gender roles, and location (as in architecture) of the Christian community. We will continue to “walk the paths” of those who came before us in the coming weeks as we move through the generations toward the present day.
How have our first two weeks of this series (Miriam leading the dancing outdoors in week 1 to house churches and sacred meals in week 2) been for you? How did worship feel each week? What, if anything, have you learned? How might these weeks relate to your efforts to root your life in Grace and grow in faith today?
This week we move into an era known often as Classic Christianity (roughly mid-Second Century to early-Seventh Century). We will see a faith community in radical transition. In this era, Christianity quickly transitioned from “being the object of persecution to the official religion of the empire…From a simple gospel message to a highly sophisticated theology, Christianity went from being virtually unknown to dominating the intellectual world of late antiquity” (A Brief History of Christian Worship by James F. White, 41). The church gains power and wealth as it expands and grows, the function of priests becomes more prominent, and ornate architecture emerges. We will explore these shifts in worship this week and reflect on the divisions that begin to take shape between Eastern and Western expressions of Christianity.
Christianity was an object of persecution for its first several hundred years. Within a century it became the religion of the empire. Imagine the enormity of this shift. In what ways, if any, do you think following Jesus should be “political” today?
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