tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2860023273901948907.post4681640555083388277..comments2024-03-08T18:04:37.943-08:00Comments on Paul and co-workers: Paul's churches consisted of households, not house-church cellsRichard Fellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06777460488456330838noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2860023273901948907.post-86305702297942529902016-06-25T15:47:03.641-07:002016-06-25T15:47:03.641-07:00Great subject and information. I had heard a littl...Great subject and information. I had heard a little about this, but never realized what it entailed. Great job.Deep Webhttp://www.deepwebsiteslinks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2860023273901948907.post-41145944285687399582013-12-13T19:11:17.065-08:002013-12-13T19:11:17.065-08:00Thanks, John. What you say makes sense. And there ...Thanks, John. What you say makes sense. And there are some other important implications, I think. Presumably Paul's letters were read to the intended audience during the church meetings, for example in the house of Gaius. If, as you suggest, outsiders might come and go during the church meeting, then nothing that Paul wrote could be kept secret from the Jewish authorities or the Roman authorities. Therefore Paul had to censor himself when writing his letters. This, I think, explains why the "brothers" in 2 Cor are anonymous, as I argued <a href="http://paulandco-workers.blogspot.ca/2010/05/illusive-titus-and-anonymous-brothers.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Also, we can no longer infer anything from the relative absence of anti-Roman rhetoric in Paul's letters.Richard Fellowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06777460488456330838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2860023273901948907.post-61103182969169374962013-12-13T06:42:52.751-08:002013-12-13T06:42:52.751-08:00Interesting article, thanks very much. I am thinki...Interesting article, thanks very much. I am thinking, though, about what a "household" really was in the time of Jesus and Paul. Roman households of prominent families were actually rather large and diverse complexes, housing both immediate and extended family members as well as slaves, tradesman and other people using space, often within block-long buildings. At the same time a home was large enough and complex enough that it was in its own way a rather public space for much of the day - it was not an "agora" marketplace, but it would be normal for many people to be coming and going, which may have included household members from other families carrying the gospel and inviting people to their own households to hear more. So although these household churches may not have been models for church planting in the modern sense, as you suggest, they may have provided more public exposure to the faith than a closely-cropped view of households might suggest.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16585054242663836415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2860023273901948907.post-35226568939118874932012-03-31T23:58:02.755-07:002012-03-31T23:58:02.755-07:00That's possible, Simon. However, the games wer...That's possible, Simon. However, the games were every two years so we would have to suppose that P&A switched between Corinth and Ephesus on a two year cycle. This does not seem to have happened during Paul's 18 month stay in Corinth since P&A were there at both the start and the end of that 18 month period. Also one could argue prolonged residence in one place would have allowed them to build up a customer base and develop business relationships. Moving location can be bad for business.<br /><br />Those who were not members of households would meet in the house of Gaius Titius Justus Stephanas along with everyone else. I'm not sure that much teaching or worship happened in the households.Richard Fellowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06777460488456330838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2860023273901948907.post-49462179141179009662012-03-29T12:31:27.182-07:002012-03-29T12:31:27.182-07:00I wonder if Prisca and Aquila travelled because th...I wonder if Prisca and Aquila travelled because they needed to go where the work was. Corinth was good when the games were on, perhaps Ephesus was better in between. Is it possible they returned to Rome because family was still there or the best work was to be found?<br />I wonder too where those who were not members of households - single, unattached labourers, slaves from non-Christian households - fit in with your scheme.simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13470335172330595542noreply@blogger.com