Homer wrote:Dwight,
You wrote:
Acts 20:17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
17. From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.
Dwight: Again the church at Ephesus was comprised of many home churches, so "elders of the church" refers to all the singular elders of each individual church. If you are correct, then there would be only one individual church in Ephesus, but we know that can't be true. There were too many believers in the whole city for all of them to meet in one location on a regular basis.
You are going far beyond what the scriptures say. You say there was one church in Ephesus composed of many individual churches, each having one individual elder. Where do you find proof for your position in the scriptures, or even a hint of it?
How do you know, for example, that there wasn't two dozen home groups, some with an elder among them, some with none? How do you know there wasn't six elders overseeing 24 home groups? The church we attend has a number of home groups with five elders overseeing all of them.
Dwight: If this was the only scripture we had to go on, then I would agree with you. All of those scenarios would be possible, EVEN MY SCENARIO - are you willing to accept that possibility? Where is my proof in the scripture? I will not presume to call it "proof", but there are scriptures that do "hint at", i.e. seem to indicate there was one leader. One of those is the same one I've been referencing all along, i.e. 1 Timothy 3:4-5 "He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?)"
Dwight: So if he does know how to manage his own household (and meets the other requirements), he (singular) will be qualified to manage the church of God. I can see how many believe (maybe you are one) that this does not necessitate that he is the only elder in an individual church. But can you see that another valid interpretation of these verses is that one elder is sufficient (and possibly even preferred) for each individual church, just as one father/husband is God's ordained plan for each family?
Dwight: How about another place where single-man leadership is suggested? Jesus, after He was raised from the dead, and before He ascended to the Father, told Peter, "Shepherd My sheep". Jesus had been their pastor or shepherd for 3 1/2 years. Now He is going to physically leave them, but He did not leave them without a shepherd (pastor). Peter was the leader among the remaining 11 apostles. In each of the 3 lists of the 12 apostles, Peter is the first one listed. In fact, in Matthew 10:2, Matthew actually calls Peter "the first".
There seems to be considerable evidence the early church organization was patterned after the synagogue. Following is from Biblica (the International Bible Society):
Dwight: If this is true (and I am skeptical), then it was a huge mistake. Paul made no mention of it. In fact, he gave instructions about church meetings in 1 Corinthians 14. Again, there is no mention here of following a synagogue pattern. In fact, if synagogues were governed by a plurality of men, this could be where some Christians mistakenly think the New Testament church should do the same thing. Paul warned about going back to the way the Jews lived, while under the law. Of course, the synagogue was totally a man-made idea, not prescribed in the Old Testament. So it would be a mistake for us today to pattern the New Testament church after a man-made Jewish tradition.
D. Church government was identical to synagogue government:
1. When Jews were converted to Christianity, they wholesale adopted the pattern of church government from the synagogue.
a. Churches and synagogues were governed by a PLURALITY of men, not a single man like in the Roman Catholic church.
b. The Greek word Presbuterion is plural for elder and signifies an equal BODY of men.
2. Both synagogue and church share these qualities:
a. Synagogue leaders were a body of plurality of qualified, older, experienced men and directly correspond to church overseers/elders/shepherds.
b. Synagogue attendants were servants of Synagogue leaders with no oversite except that delegated from the Overseers and directly correspond to church deacons.
c. Pharisees were the legal experts who preached and taught the Law of Moses and correspond directly with church pulpit ministers.
We do not find the single head of a congregation until later.