A Scriptural Analysis of "Meeting in the Home"

Basicila of the Holy Sepulchre, in the Holy Land

One of the most important defining characteristics of 2x2 belief is the concept of "meeting in the home", based upon Stephen and Paul's statements in Acts 7:48 and Acts 17:24, respectively. They maintain that meeting in the home is the only way Jesus wanted His people to fellowship, and therefore all "worldly" churches, with their steeples, stained glass, pews, etc, are merely "temples made by human hands". Let us examine the two passages used to support their presupposition:

1) "Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands" (Acts 7:48)

2) "The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth , does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is He served by human hands because He needs anything. "(Acts 17:24)

The first passage takes place during Stephen's speech directed at the unbelieving Jews. In his discourse, Stephen shows them how Israel's reaction to God's chosen leaders in the past has been consistently a rejection of them, and in doing so he indirectly shows how Jesus is like Moses. It parallels Moses' life to the way Luke's Gospel described Jesus' life - both grew in wisdom (Acts 7:22, Lk 2:52) to become "powerful in word and deed" (Acts 7:22, Lk 24:29). Neither Moses nor Jesus were recognized by their own people that God had designated them to be their saviors (Acts 7:25, Lk 13:34-35; 19-41-11). Stephen shows the Jews that they had misunderstood God's plan for them, and that they placed too much importance on the actual place of worship. He quotes Isaiah 66:1-2:

"Thus says the Lord: 'The heavens are my throne, the earth is my footstool. What kind of house can you build for me; what is to be my resting place?' "

Even in the Old Testament, people needed to be reminded that the temple must be put into perspective - it is not the most important thing in the religion, as indeed, "for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mt 18:20). However, it must be recognized that absolutely nowhere does the Bible say that worship cannot take place in the temple, in direct contrast to what 2x2's claim. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it; in fact, the temple was very important for the morale of the community (Jonah 2:4, Ezekiel 41:4, Psalm 138), which was built because God commanded it. Indeed, the first-century foundation of the synagogue where Jesus taught can still be seen. (See article on Church Buildings)

"Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." (Zechariah 6:13)

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built." (Zechariah 8:9)

While Stephen's speech was directed toward Jews, in the second passage Paul was speaking to pagans who until then had worshipped idols in shrines. First of all, note what Paul does during his ministry:

When they took the road through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they reached Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Following his usual custom, Paul joined them, and for three sabbaths he entered into discussions with them from the scriptures, expounding and demonstrating that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that 'This is the Messiah, Jesus, whom I proclaim to you' "

How ironic that the passage 2x2's use to justify their meetings in the home actually shows that Paul frequently went to the synagogue to preach, as was his custom! Paul praises the Athenians for being so pious and then informs them that their altar to the "Unknown God" was now the one True God. He tells them that the one True God is not a wooden idol to be worshipped, but God the Father, the creator "who made the world and all that is in it." Here he is trying to convert the pagans by appealing to "natural theology" - in other words, evidence from nature for the God who created it.

In effect, Paul was addressing a group of pagans, who typically identified their deities with idols kept in temples, which were regarded as the houses of the deities. His point was that the true God should not be thought of as a deity whose presence is confined to any particular locality or building. He is not denying that God manifests his presence in a special way at sacred places, only that he is not limited to them. This is in harmony with what Solomon said when he dedicated the Temple at Jerusalem:

"Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; How much less this house which I have built!" (1 Kgs 8:27)

Thus, today God may be present in churches in various ways (by His omnipresence), but He is not bound or limited to church buildings.(TR Nov 2000 p.42)

So, we see that the first passage has to do with legalistic Jews, with their Laws and rituals, were placing too much importance on the actual temple, and the second passage has to do with pagans who misunderstood the nature of the "unknown God" whom they worshipped as idols in the temple. At no time, however, is a public meeting place for worshippers of God, condemned in Scripture. Consider Peter's sermon at Pentecost - present were the following:

1) Parthians
2) Medes
3) Elamites
4) inhabitants of Mesopotamia
5) inhabitants of Judea
6) inhabitants of Cappadocia
7) inhabitants of Pontus
8) inhabitants of Asia
9) inhabitants of Phrygia
10) inhabitants of Pamphylia
11) inhabitants of Egypt
12) inhabitants of the districts of Libya near Cyrene
13) travelers from Rome
14) Jews
15) converts to Judaism
16) Cretans
17) Arabs

ALL were present to hear Peter speak. This would not have been possible in a private Sunday morning meeting, or even some private convention ground in an isolated area that only current members already knew about. No, it must not be overlooked that on this important day that the new Christian church began at Pentecost, Peter spoke in a very public place where all believers could come together. Just as the Holy Spirit enabled all to hear in their own language, the Holy Spirit empowers God's people to worship as a community, and three thousand persons were added to the church that day - this could not have happened in Meeting.

As the quickly-growing Christianity movement spread, it did so in public places, just as Jesus used to preach in the temple (Lk 19:47, Jn 7:14, Mt 21:14, Mk 14:49):

Acts 2:46 "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart

Acts 3:1 "Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour

Acts 5:42 "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ"

Acts 9:20 "and straightway, he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God

Acts 13:5 preaching at the synagogues

Acts 13:14-15 went to synagogue

Acts 14:1 went to synagogue

Acts 17:1-2 Paul's custom was to preach at the synagogues

Acts 17:17 synagogue

Acts 18:4 synagogue

Acts 18:7 house joined to synagogue

Acts 19:8 synagogue

Acts 21:26 Paul enters temple

Acts 22:17 Paul prayed in temple

Archeological research has discovered that Peter's house was venerated as early as the First Century, and several churches were built over the site. Stanislao Loffreda, in Recovering Capharnaum, writes: "The traditional house of St. Peter was used for community gatherings as early as the third quarter of the first century A.D....We have shown that the Christian community of Capharnaum paid a special attention to the house of Simon Peter. That house became very soon 'the house' of the followers of Jesus, i.e., a domus-ecclesia. As a matter of fact, the rediscovered house of Peter is the first example of a domus-ecclesia in the Christian world." (Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 1993: p 57) Finally, it must be noted that 2x2 distinctions made about what is "built with human hands" is completely arbitrary. Luke, as a divinely-inspired writer, writes in Acts 7:48 that God "does not dwell in houses made by human hands". He used the Greek word oikodomeô which means, literally, "to build a house". The word he used to describe this house was cheiropoiętos which means, literally, "made by hand, artificial". In other words, no rational person could rightfully claim that the elder's home at Sunday morning meeting wasn't built "with human hands", as also were convention grounds and sleeping quarters "built with human hands"; the libraries, schools and other public buildings for Union and Special Meeting all have the same misfortune of being "built with human hands" ( Click here to see a convention grounds "built with human hands" in Salvisa, KY). The selectively literal 2x2 rubrical inconsistency is further exposed when one notes that the followers of Christ didn't just meet on Sundays and Wednesday nights; instead, "every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area" (Acts 2:42).

It should also be noted that the apocalyptic Book of Revelation verifies that eternal worship of God will not take place in a private home, but in a temple:

"After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and hold palm branches in their hands...Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." (Rev 7:9,15)

And so, it becomes fairly obvious that God is everywhere - not just in the temple of the Mosaic Pharisee or contained within the wooden or golden structure of a pagan's idol. As long as the focus is on God and not simply the place of worship, it does not matter what kind of building people choose.