The Ordering of Public Worship
Excerpt
This section, dealing with the importance of public worship and the conduct appropriate at it, and the following chapter with its directions for the ministry, form the earliest manual of church order we possess. The necessity of clear regulations for congregational gatherings was speedily realized in the primitive Church, and as early as 1 Cor. 14 we find Paul concerned about the misunderstandings and disorder caused by the unsupervised exercise of ‘prophecy’ and ‘talking with tongues’, as well as by the eagerness of women to assert themselves at meetings. His golden rule was that whatever was done in church should be done ‘decently and in order’ and should contribute to edification, i.e. building up the faithful (1 Cor. 14:40; 26). More
Kelly, J. N. D. The Pastoral Epistles. London: Continuum, 1963. Print. Black’s New Testament Commentary.
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