Christian Gatherings in the Second Century, Part 1 – Introduction

Christian Gatherings in the Second Century: 

Institutionalization in Leadership, Practices, and Location in the Congregations of the Roman Empire

Many of proponents of modern house churches who want to “go back” to first century Christianity bemoan the institutionalization of Christianity, saying that such institutionalization is wrong and corrupts its function. Countering this claim, others believe that standardization was necessary to face the challenges of heresy and growth as the church spread throughout the Roman Empire. In order to better understand the transition the early church went through from sect to church, from movement to institution, the key question we must ask is, “How and why did the first century Christian sect institutionalize in the second century?” One of the primary areas of institutionalization that is available for comparison in second century primary documents is texts revealing information about leadership structures of congregations. In addition, a comparison of congregational practices among second century congregations can be used to identify standardization in practices and liturgy. In examining leadership structures and corporate practices, our investigation will reveal primary leaders who pushed toward institutionalization. In addition, archaeological records reveal that it is during this period that the first designated church buildings appeared. A brief look at how and why this change occurred will also yield helpful information about the major shifts toward institutionalization in the second century. Second century sources reveal that the growing diversity of Christian theologies and the increasing age of the church pushed the individually crafted house churches to standardize. Most churches standardized by adopting Ignatius’ three-fold leadership structure and by relying on the patronage of wealthy Christians for designated meeting facilities which further standardized Christian corporate practices. 

While many second century documents offer little explicit discussion of institutionalization, the letters of Clement of Rome, Ingatius of Antioch, Pliny the Younger, and Justin Martyr do.[1]  Each of these sources not only offers a unique perspective on Christianity during the second century, but also offers explicit details about their leadership structures and corporate practices. By examining these four authors across several key documents, a picture of Christian practice and moves toward institutionalization can be clearly seen.

Setting the Scene: Christian Worship in the First Century

Using well-attested first-century sources like 1 Corinthians and the Didache, several firm statements can be made about the Christian congregations before the turn of the century. In Corinth, corporate Christian gatherings included a full meal and the corporate expression and use of spiritual gifts. Up to the writing of 1 Corinthians, there was no formal leadership structure. Paul viewed the community as the body of Christ, with each member performing its necessary and important function. From the Didache, we can see that corporate practices include formalized procedures for baptisms, weekly fasts, daily prayers, and what appear to be Eucharistic rights, either centered on a full meal, the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine, or both. In addition, a formal leadership structure appears to be replacing the initial structures of charismatic leadership. People are encouraged to accept this elected or appointed leadership, with no mention as to whether it is superior or inferior to charismatic leadership.[2]

Drawing on the book of Romans as a source, Peter Lampe counts five different Christian groups meeting within the city. He believes each group conducted worship services on its own, without connection to any other group. Such groups met in a house or apartment without a central meeting location.[3] This agrees with common thought regarding first century Christianity: that early Christian communities met in homes and had no set liturgy, hierarchy, or charter. Each group operated as its own distinct, fully-autonomous community responsible for its own leadership and practice.[4]

How and why these groups moved toward standardized leadership structures, practices, and meeting locations in the second century is the subject of our investigation, and it is to these subjects which we will now turn. 

Christian Gatherings in the Second Century:

Part 1 – Introduction and Background 

Part 2 – Leadership Structures in Roman House Churches

Part 3 – Congregational Practices in Roman House Churches

Part 4 – Dedicated Buildings for Roman House Churches
Part 5 – Conclusions

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[1] While Christian sources from the second century abound, many prove unfruitful for our purposes, including The Epistle of the Apostles, the Acts of John, the Acts of Paul, the Acts of Peter, the Letter of Barnabas, and the writings of Irenaeus of Lyons, Melito of Sardis, Aristides of Athens, and Theophilus of Antioch. These sources do shed light on Christian theology at the time, but offer no help in reconstructing Christian leadership or practices.

[2] These conclusions come from an examination of first century corporate Christianity using the New Testament book of 1^st Corinthians and the Didache as primary sources. This paper can be found online at http://www.alivereligion.com/2012/05/christian-gatherings-in-first-century.html.

[3] Peter Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the Frist Two Centuries (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 359-360.

[4] Hans Conzelmann, History of Primitive Christianity (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1973), 48.