Review of McKinion's Life and Practice in the Early Church

In Life and Practice in the Early Church: A Documentary Reader, Steve McKinion systematically outlines primary texts related to six early practices of the Church. If you're going to buy it, go for the Kindle version ($10), as the hardback is pretty pricey right now. 

            In this book, baptism, worship, proclamation, the Eucharist, evangelism and Church officers are categorized, and then related writings are highlighted. McKinion's book is a “survey of how theology was actually lived and played out by the community of faith called the Christian church” (p. 1). McKinion perhaps inadvertently shows where the early Church deviated from New Testament writers. As a text that so adequately describes the historical development of the church, the issues of baptism, worship and polity are especially important for missionaries who seek to plant New Testament churches today.

            Baptism was initially a means of initiation into the local church. By the third and fourth centuries, however, it began to be institutionalized. As baptism initiates or catechumens awaited baptism, they had to separate from regular church members and face a period of testing to make sure they were really regenerate. As a result, baptism later was believed to be the final act of regeneration and even infants began to be baptized. Fasting was made a regular part of this observance as well. Some like Tertullian argued for a delayed baptism, but for the most part the Church fathers all saw a regenerative effect of baptism. So by the fourth century only appointed leaders carried out this sacrament. Today on the mission field, questions about who can baptize as well as when and where it is to be done still plague many missionaries. Missiologists explain that rapid church planting occurs when converts are baptized immediately, and many cite the New Testament for justification. But early church history went a different direction.

            The act of worship was initially a part of daily meeting in homes with variation in style and mode. “As time progressed, the components of the worship service became more standardized” (p. 43). Music became a subject of disagreement for some like Clement. Ignatius and Justin argued that worship services were primarily for Sundays. The Didache promoted strict worship attendance by those who had properly prepared for it. Tertullian and the Apostolic Constitutions describe the later worship services which had taken a more rigid form by the fourth century. Catechumens were excluded from certain parts of the service, while a lack of faithful attendance was not tolerated. The emphasis on place became primary for worship services, and the overarching emphasis during the service was reading of Scripture and exposition. It is argued that churches multiply more rapidly when participative worship becomes a daily meeting revolving around shared meals in a home, but this is not the direction early churches went.

            Initially, the roles of bishop and deacon outlined by Paul to Timothy and Titus were expanded into ordained offices for the Church. Jerome said the “distinct office of bishop developed in which the elders chose one of their own to be the primus inter pares, or ‘first among equals’” (p. 151). Eventually, a bishop came to be not just a pastor of one congregation but had authority over many churches. Because of unique needs, the early Church recognized offices of elder, bishop, presbyter, deacon, subdeacon, reader and widow. Because these offices were held in high regard, the issues of marriage and ordination became primary. Some would allow church officers to only be married once, and if they had never been married prior to ordination, they could not ever be married. Ordination was done only “in the presence of two other bishops, and preferably three, in order to have had adequate testimony to the candidate’s character” (p. 163). Missiologists say that the best form of church polity is a representation of shared accountability and obedience to Scripture. It looks like the early church may have initially gone this direction, but restrictions placed on what later developed into a separate clergy had a stifling effect on growth.

            The book is a good reference tool for anyone interested in early church history as well as for those who want to see the role the early documents play on current ecclesiology. His writing is straightforward and unbiased, creating a book I'd recommend across denominational lines.