Church History Blog Post #1

For my blog I will be tracing Church Structure through the various phases of Church History leading up to the Reformation.

In Gonzalez's book The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 the author takes us through the first and second centuries of the church highlighting different subjects throughout. As far as the structure of the church is concerned there are some interesting shifts that take place during this time period. After the initial spread of Christianity in Judea, the Gospel made its way through the Diaspora. The four corners of the Roman Empire were being brought this new teaching about Jesus and it was primarily delivered through the synagogues established by the Jews living in those areas. Christians would come into the synagogue meetings and explain how Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law. This was met with one of two responses: Acceptance or Anger. The former saw Christianity spread like wildfire, the latter, saw persecution and barring from the places of worship. This led Christians to meet in homes. These often small and intimate meetings usually consisted of prayer, Bible teaching, and communion for those who were baptized. This is how the Church existed for much of the first and second centuries.