Church history is fascinating. It begins with the book of Acts and shows how God’s people began serving Jesus after his resurrection. The early Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they transformed cities and nations by God’s power.
The First House Churches
The early church met in homes. In houses they broke bread together (Acts 2:46), had participatory meetings (1 Cor. 14:26), grew in their spiritual gifts, and shared life together. The apostles never built church buildings. They never instructed anyone to build church buildings. Church buildings were not constructed until approximately 2 centuries after the apostles died.
The church met in houses throughout the New Testament (see Rom. 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:19, Col. 4:15, Philemon 2).
The Origin of Church Buildings
As time went on, new generations of Christians arose who were not as devoted to Jesus as the first apostles. They began leaving parts of the word of God behind and introducing man-made religious practices.
Throughout the 2nd century and 3rd centuries, Christians increasingly abandoned the word of God and followed human traditions. By the 4th century, the Roman Emperor Constantine supposedly converted to Christianity. His “Christian reign” allowed pagan rituals began to dominate the church, and these traditions overshadowed the commands of Jesus, which were often ignored.
As the church apostasized, they abandoned house churches. They began building religious buildings.
At first church buildings were relatively simple, with little adornment.
The Rise of Cathedrals
As the centuries went on, bigger and bigger church buildings were built. People thought the presence of God was in these buildings. However, God said, “The Most High God does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 7:48).
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church built massive cathedrals. At the same time, they persecuted true Christians and destroyed Bibles.
The First Protestant Church Buildings
Martin Luther threw off the yoke of Roman Catholicism and founded the Lutheran church. After him came Calvin and the Presbyterians, the Church of England, and later John Wesley and the Methodists.
These groups forsook some traditions of men. They began accepting more of the word of God. However, the truth recovery in each of these groups was limited.
This limitation of truth recovery among these first Protestant groups was represented by the way they built their church buildings. They were less ornate than Roman Catholic cathedrals, but their buildings were still very ‘religious’.
Modern Church Buildings Become Simpler
Later, other Protestant groups arose. Baptists, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and Charismatics eliminated further human traditions from their Christian practice and accepted more of the word of God, continuing the Reformation that Luther started.
Unlike their Protestant predecessors, these new groups recognized truths like the need to be born again and the need to be baptized as a believer. Some of these groups recovered the practice of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts. Religious buildings became simpler and simpler, reflecting their gradual return to the faith of the New Testament.
Recovering the House Church
The restoration of the church is still continuing today. We’re heading back to the house church model of the New Testament. This trajectory is inevitable as God’s faithful people continue recovering the word of God and abandoning the traditions of men.
Bethel Cornerstone 