Renovating House Church Assumptions A Reconsideration of Early Christian Church Models
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Abstract
Missiologists have often claimed that early Christian house churches could not have surpassed 15-30 people. The argument often centers on two prongs—persecution and space. Persecution kept house churches relatively small to avoid visibility. The size of Greco-Roman houses kept churches relatively small due to space limitations. For some missiologists, these limitations became advantageous and led to rapid multiplication as the church grew "sideways." This article questions both of these assumptions and instead provides evidence that early Christian churches could and did embrace several models based on their particular context.
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