Chapter Five. Preaching In The Gathering Of The Early Church

Abstract

The history of preaching in the first centuries of the Christian Church has not yet been investigated satisfactorily in critical scholarly literature. This chapter examines the origin and development of early Christian preaching and teaching. When writing about the preaching of the early Church a distinction has to be made between the preaching of missionary character and the preaching within the gatherings of early Christian communities. However, only the evidence concerning the preaching in Church gatherings are examined. Summarizing this chapter it can be said that preaching began as an oral contribution to the Christian assembly following the celebration of the Lord's Supper. From the first century to the early second century - along with the local preachers - traveling apostles were allowed to preach during the communal gatherings. The tendency in the second century is to restrict the role of preacher to the bishops, presbyters and deacons, in particular to the bishops.Keywords: bishops; church; gatherings; Lord's Supper; preaching; second century; Sunday evening