Pneumatikos Publications

Worship in the Second Century:

The Spiritual Dimension

by Paul A. Hughes

Originally published as "Worship in the Second Century:   the Spiritual Dimension," in Paraclete 21 (Fall 1987):20-25.

Much study has been devoted to the forms of worship in the primitive Church. Scholars have painstakingly detailed the practices of baptism and the Eucharist. They have studied the evolution of worship services from the Sabbath to Sunday, examined the controversies surrounding the Easter observance, and developed great taxonomies of orthodox worship.

In the midst of all this, there are more practical concerns in the minds of everyday Christians. Many of these Christians are searching, not for correct form, but for correct response toward God.

Some seek continuity with the early disciples of Christ in the worship experience through religious form. Because this emphasis seems empty and powerless, many are forsaking such vacuous religiosity for a truer relationship with God in Christ, a worship "in spirit and in truth."

This article is intended to examine the worship of (roughly) the second century. It will attempt to demonstrate a continuity of this spiritual worship with that of the apostles and the New Testament church, and to describe the workings of this worship which was indeed spiritual rather than mechanical, and personal as well as corporate.

The remainder of this article is now included in:

Christ in Us:  The Exalted Christ and the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

How does the Holy Spirit indwell the believer, and why should one seek that experience?  In this collection of articles based on over twenty years' personal experience as well as academic study, the author relates Spirit Baptism and spiritual gifts to their source, the exalted Jesus Christ.  He describes this Exaltation of Christ and constructs a theory of how the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, drawing from psychology and medical science as well as Scripture.  Finally, he proposes a new Theology of Exaltation that sees the whole sweep of church history as the ongoing glorification of Christ and Redemption of the world.

ISBN 978-0-6151-3840-4 paperback, 192 pp., 6 x 9 in., with index and appendices.

God's Trombone Books by Paul Hughes

Article Outline

  1. Introduction
  2. Prayer
  3. Praise and Worship
  4. Charismata
  5. Conclusion

Article Sources

  1. Acts 2:4-11

  2. Acts 16:25

  3. 1 Corinthians 14

  4. Colossians 3:16

  5. Ephesians 5:18-20

  6. Ephesians 5:19

  7. Philippians 4:6-9

  8. 1 Timothy 2:8

  9. Athenagoras Plea

  10. 1 Clement

  11. Epiphanius Panarion 

  12. Eusebius Ecclesiastical History 

  13. Hippolytus Apostolic Tradition

  14. Ignatius Trallians

  15. Ignatius Magnesians 

  16. Ignatius Romans

  17. Ignatius Philadelphians 

  18. Ignatius Smyrneans 

  19. Ignatius To Polycarp

  20. Irenaeus Against Heresies 

  21. Irenaeus Proof of the Apostolic Preaching

  22. Justin Apology

  23. Letter to Diognetus

  24. Letter of Polycarp

  25. Martyrdom of Polycarp 

  26. Origen Against Celsus

  27. Pliny Epistles

  28. The Didache

  29. Tertullian Apology 

  30. Tertullian De Oratione

  31. Tertullian On the Soul 

  32. Tertullian Prayer

  33. Roy J. Deferrari et al., eds., Eusebius Pamphili: Ecclesiastical History, trans. Roy J. Deferrari (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1953), p. 322n.

  34. George W. Buchanan, "Worship, Feasts, and Ceremonies in the Early Jewish-Christian Church," New Testament Studies 26 (April 1980)

  35. James L. Ash, Jr., "The Decline of Ecstatic Prophecy in the Early Church," Theological Studies 36 (June 1976)

  36. Erich Nestler, "Was Montanism a Heresy?" Pneuma 6 (Spring 1984):67-78


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© 1999 Paul A. Hughes
Last updated May 2007. For more information, comments, or suggestions, write pneuma@aggienetwork.com.