Going to Church in the First Century

This book was a delightful surprise, have heard about it on many house church sights and podcasts I finally got a copy for Christmas. Weighing in at a mere 50 pages I decided to conquer it as my first book of the year. The delight came when I realized it was written as historical fiction and would not be a dreary list of facts and references.

Going to Church in the First Century tells the story of a Roman named Publius as he attends a house church meeting in Rome in the home of Prisca and Aquila, the author states in his preface that they were selected because of there connection with Paul and because more was probably known about them than other biblical persons. The story takes a few litterary liscences but when possible sticks to biblical and historical evidence to create an accurate portrail of a first century house church. The meeting seemed a bit informal to me especially when one of Paul’s letters is referenced and he is said to have “a special kind of wisdom in matters affecting their common life, and they often found it helpful to consult him personally about suck matters or go over what he had written.”

The book covers, new converts, master and slave relationships, cultural issues of the day and a few other matters. All in all I would say it does a good job of bringing the book of Acts to life.

I was able to read this book in one sitting, albeit a long one as I waiting in the hospital with my wife. It was a fun quick read. I would give the book a 7 out of 10.