S5 DIV2

WORSHIP IN THE EARLY CHURCH

Worship in the early church is characterized by the f f;
✓ The early church Christians spent most of their time in worshipping places
praising the lord. This life style was influence by the Parousia whereby they
expected the return of JESUS CHRIST therefore they wanted to go with him
to heaven.
✓ Worship involved confession and repentance of sins. Christians could repent
and confess their sins as they were waiting for the Parousia.
✓ Believers gathered for fellowships and they engaged themselves in long
prayers and sometimes overnight fellowships were organized
✓ During fellowship the believers could be filled with the holy spirit who
inspired them to speak terms and perform miracles.
✓ There was reading and interpretation of the scriptures to show at J.CS
ministry feelfillty of the old testament prophecies.
✓ Worship involved conversation of new people who could accept J.C.
New converts were welcomed during worship and they became
children of God.
✓ The believers could have organized and celebrate the last supper J.C ha
with his disciples.
✓ The apostles could lay hands on the converts and pray for them to
receive the holy spirit.
✓ Worshippers publically praised God in open streets, in the temples and
without any fear because Christ was coming back soon.
✓ During worship miracles would be formed e.g. peter healed a lame man
from the temple.
✓ Worship would be arranged in the brethren honor e.g. Mary’s house
the mother of john mark they use her house for prayers.
✓ During workshop believers would share property and this promoted the
spirit of brotherhood among the believers.
✓ Involved preaching the good news as seen by example of John and
Peter who preached in the temple Act 3;11.
✓ The converts would give testimonies during the time of worship. This
would show the mercy of J.C towards his people.

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 ✓ The apostles could also baptize the new converts and initiate them into
the church of Christ.
✓ During worship there was symbolism like the sign of the cross,
showing the death and of Christ and the salvation brought to man.
✓ There was composing and singing religious songs during the time of
worship.
✓ During the worship the believers would fast which was a sign of total
commitment in faith.
COMPARISON BETWEEN WORSHIP IN THE EARLY CHURCH AND
WORSHIP TODAY.
SIMILARITIES
✓ They used to gather for prayers just like Christians today are
doing.
✓ In both preaching of the good news is common. Christians in the
early church and today do preach the good news during
workshop.
✓ In both during worship there was praising of God. Christians
could sing songs of praises just as it is done today.
✓ In both miracles are performed in the early church miracles like
healing were common just as its done today during worshipping
in the Pentecostal churches.
✓ In both during worship there’s baptism. New converts were
baptized during worship in the early church just as it is done
today where by new converts re baptized during worship.
✓ In both Christians understand themselves as new people of God.
Christians in the early church regarded themselves as the new
creation of God. Just as today believers take themselves to be
children of God.
✓ In both worship was conducted by trained people. In the early
church, it was carried out by the eye witnesses of JESUS
CHRIST and today its carried out by trained people in religion.
✓ In both fellowship is common in worship. People in the early
church it was carried out by the eye witnesses of JESUS CHRIST
and today its carried by trained people in religion.
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✓ In both fellowship is common in worship. People in the early
church held fellowship together during worship just as Christians
fellowship during worship.
✓ In both Christians give alms to the poor or needy in the early
church the rich believers could assist the poor or needy just as
today a rich Christian to assist the poor or needy.
✓ In both there’s offertory, offerings, given during worship. during
the early church Christians could give offerings in the church just
as it is done today.
✓ In both there’s reading of scriptures. Christians in the early
church could read and interpreted just as its done today during
worship.
✓ In both symbolism is common. This has been inform of gestures,
kneeling, showing of the cross.etc
✓ In both confession and repentance are common during worship.
Christians could confess and repent their sins just as its done
today during worship.
✓ In both believers give testimonies. Christians in the early church
could confess the good things they have received from Christ.
Just as its done today.

DIFFERENCES
✓ In the early church, the holy spirit was greatly felt but today its
less felt.
✓ In sharing of meals, it was common in the early church but today
it has been replaced by the holy communion.
✓ In the early church there was selling of property and then shared
the money among the believers but this is not common where
there is a lot of individualism.
✓ Today baptism is mainly for the infants while in the early church
they would baptize only the grown-ups.
✓ In the early church baptism was by immersion while today its
mainly by sprinkling.

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✓ In the early church worship was uniform while today is has
greatly changed due to many religious denominations. Therefore,
each denomination has its own way of worship.
✓ In the early church worship was less orderly while today its more
orderly and formal and it involves written documents, prayer
books etc.
✓ In the early church worship, women didn’t play any active role
while today women are active in the church. E.g. pastor
Namutebi, Joyce Meyer.
✓ In the early church gift of prophesying was common while today
the gift of prophecy is limited.
✓ In today’s worship reading the holy scriptures is universal i.e. can
be done by anybody while in the early church it was only the
church leaders who read the holy scriptures.
✓ In today’s worship the scripture is written in different languages
e.g. Luganda, Kiswahili etc. but in the early church it was only
Aramaic
✓ In today’s worship we have many holy days e.g. Marty’s day,
Christmas, Easter etc. but in the early church there were few.
✓ In the early church worship always took along time while today it
takes a short time.
✓ In today’s worship leaders e.g. pastors receive special training
before conducting the service but in the early church leaders
depended on the inspiration of the holy spirit.
✓ In the early church, women had to put on veils during worship
while today women dress freely
✓ Today’s worship involves watching tvs, films, etc. therefore
worship can be organized on the screen while in the early church
technology was not there.

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THE PROCESS OF WRITING THE GOSPELS
Gospel means good news. The good news originally was spread orally and oral
preaching acquired a permanent format known as kerygma. The kerygma
contained the message.
NB: write the contents of the kerygma.
• These are the notes to be put here.
However, circumstances changed demanding for a written gospel.
The gospel to be written was the gospel according to Mark.
✓ It was written by John Mark.
✓ He wrote it at around 64 AD.
✓ He got the information from the oral tradition/Kerygma and Peter the
disciple of Jesus.
The second gospel to be written was the gospel according to Matthew
✓ It was written by Mathew himself.
✓ It was written at around 70 AD.
✓ He got the information from Mark and an independent source and also
from oral tradition.
The third gospel to be written was the gospel according to Luke.
✓ He got the information from Mark and an independent source “L”.
✓ This gospel was written at around 80 AD.
✓ It was written BY Luke himself.
These three gospels are called synoptic gospels meaning gospels with similar
information.
The last gospel to be written was the gospel according to John
✓ It was written by John, the beloved disciple of Jesus.
✓ He wrote it at around 90AD.
✓ He got the information from oral tradition and an independent source.”J”

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 QUESTION
“Before the gospels there was a gospel” Discuss.
THE CRITERIA OF SELECTING THE 27 BOOKS/NEW TESTAMENT OR CANON.
To select the 27 books which make up the new testament Canon, they considered
the ff:
❖ The writer had to be one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. If a disciple of
Jesus Christ wrote about, then it had to be considered.
❖ The writer had to be a close associate to Jesus Christ’s disciples or could
have moved closely with Jesus. If such a person wrote his book had to be
considered.
❖ The writer had to be inspired by the holy spirit. Those writers who were
inspired by the holy spirit, their books could to be considered.
❖ The books which had a universal message to all the Christians in the world
were always considered. If the books had messages which could benefit all
the Christians in the world could be considered.
❖ The book to be considered, the material had to be in agreement with the
old testament scriptures. The books which were in the agreement with the
old testament they had to be considered to be part of the Canon.
❖ The books written to a specific community or a group of people were
accepted to form the Canon e.g. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
❖ The books written during the apostolic period were considered. Those
books which were written in the early church were considered to be part
of the Canon.
❖ The books that had morally edifying messages were always accepted.
Those books were encouraging good morals in the society were always
considered to be part of the Canon.
❖ The books which were in the line of the teaching of the kerygma were
considered.
❖ The books which had been used in the liturgy or worship in the early
church were considered to be part of the Canon.
❖ The books which could agree with the other books in the new testament
were always considered to be part of the Canon.

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 ❖ The books which emphasized Jesus Christ as a central Figure in their
writings were always considered to be part of the Canon. Those books
which stressed Jesus as a son of God, such books were taken to be part of
the Canon.
❖ If the writer had a sound moral background, his book was considered to
part of the Canon.
❖ If the book was in the line with authodocs teaching, it had to be
considered. Those books which had the original teachings of Jesus Christ
were considered to be part of the Canon.
❖ The book had to be in the circulation for a long period of time. Those books
which were written early enough and circulated in Christians were always
considered as part of the Canon.

REASONS WHY SOME BOOKS WERE LEFT OUT (HYPOCRIPHA BOOKS)

Some books were left out because of the following reasons:
❖ Some writers were not inspired by the holy spirit. Those writers who
depended on their own wisdom their books were rejected.
❖ Some writers contradicted with the teaching of the old testament as
they as they contradicted, their books were rejected.
❖ Some writers did not emphasize Jesus as a central figure in their
books therefore such books were rejected to be part of the Canon.
❖ Some books were written by people who were not eye witnesses of
Jesus Christ and they were not even close associates to Jesus’
disciples. Therefore, books written by such people could be rejected.
❖ Some books had not saturated for a long period of time. Those
books which had saturated for a short period of time had to be
rejected.
❖ Some writers’ message was not universal; therefore, their books
could not benefit all Christians in the word. Such books were
rejected to be part of the Canon.
❖ Some writer’s had poor moral background like being persecutors of
Jesus’ disciples.
❖ Some writers had been false teachers therefore their books could
not be approved to be part of the Canon.

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 ❖ Some books lacked specific audience i.e. it wasn’t directed to a
particular group of people therefore such books were rejected.
❖ Some books were not morally edifying. Those books which were not
encouraging good morals in society were rejected to be part of the
Canon.

THE PROCESS OF WRITING THE NEW TESTAMENT

/CANON
The new testament/Canon consists of 27 books.
➢ The new testament literally means the new covenant i.e. the
covenant or agreement between believers and Jesus Christ.
➢ After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the good news was spread
orally/by the world of the mouth.
➢ This oral preaching was known as Kerygma.
➢ The Kerygma was later known used by the gospel writers to write
the Canon or the new testament.
➢ Mark wrote the first gospel and this gospel was according to Mark.
John Mark wrote the first gospel
➢ He wrote this gospel at around 64AD
➢ He got the information from the Kerygma and from Peter the
disciple of Jesus Christ.
➢ The gospel according to Matthew followed and it was written by
Matthew himself.
➢ He wrote this gospel at around 70AD
➢ He got the information from the Kerygma and from Peter the
disciple of Jesus Christ.
➢ The gospel according to Matthew followed and it was written by
Matthew himself.
➢ He wrote the gospel at around 70AD
➢ He got the information from the Kerygma, Mark and an independent
source “Q”
➢ The gospel according to Luke followed. It was written by Luke
himself.
➢ He wrote it at around 80 AD

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 ➢ He got the information from Mark, source “Q” and an independent
source “L”
➢ The last gospel to be written was the gospel according to John.
➢ It was written by john himself the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ
➢ He got the information from Kerygma and an independent source “J”
➢ He wrote his gospel at around 90 AD
➢ The last book of the new testament is the revelation.
➢ These books/documents were written in Greek (Koine)
➢ All the above books/documents were in saturation for a long period
of time so that they could be accepted to be part of the Canon.
➢ The scholars who sat down and selected these books were always
inspired by the holy spirit.
➢ Some of the scholars who selected these books are Augustine,
Justin, Cyprian, Ignatius etc.
➢ The main centers for collection and completion of these books were
Rome and Carthage
➢ By 200AD the final manuscript or final book had been formed.
➢ The books which were accepted to form the Canon were called
Codex and those which were rejected were called Apocrypha.
➢ Gradually the books which had been compiled were translated from
Greek to Synac, Latin and finally to English as it is now.
➢ These books to be selected the fooled the following criteria
NB: under this,
Write the criteria of selecting the 27 books.
➢ The writer had to be one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. If the
disciple of Jesus Christ wrote a book, it had to be considered.
➢ The writer had to be a close associate to Jesus Christ’s disciples. such
a person his book had to be considered.
➢ The books that had morally edifying message were always accepted.
These books were encouraging good morals in the society.
➢ The books that were in line with the teaching of the
kerygma were considered.

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 ➢ The books that could agree with other books in the New
Testament were always considered to be part of the Canon.
➢ The books which emphasized Jesus as the central figure in
their teachings were always considered to be part of the
Canon.
➢ If the writer had a sound moral background, his book was
considered to be part of the Canon.
➢ The book had to be in circulation for a long period of time.
Those books had the original teachings of Jesus Christ were
considered to be part Canon.
➢ The books written during the apostolic teachings were also
considered. Those books were written in the early church
were considered to be part of the Canon.
➢ The book had to have material in agreement with the old
testament scriptures. The books were in agreement with
the Old Testament they had to be considered to be part of
the Canon.
REASONS FOR THE WRITING OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT/CANON.
The New Testament or Canon was written because of the
following reasons;
➢ It was written to show that Jesus Christ was a universal
messiah. That he had come for both Jews and Gentiles, this
is seen when he moved around healing and preaching to
people in gentile land.
➢ It was written for apologetic purposes and to explain wat
Christianity was not anti- government but was to spread the
word of God.

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➢ The eye witnesses had started dying, therefore the
witnesses decided to compile a standard book always to
refer to.
➢ The delay of Jesus to come back (delay of Parousia) so the
apostle decided to write the good news and compile it into
a standard book.
➢ It was written to encourage believers who were facing
persecutions in the world. It was written to encourage them
never to give up but to stand firm.
➢ The New Testament was written because the writing
materials were available and cheap.
➢ It was written to keep a permanent record for preaching.
The Canon was compiled so that a permanent record is
made always to help in the preaching.
➢ It was written to avoid the false teachers who had come up
in the church to confuse the believers. Therefore, the Canon
was compiled so that the true information was kept in the
records for the believers.
➢ It was written because the people had been inspired by the
holy spirit to write the Canon.
➢ It was written to give a moral guidance and combat
immorality among Christians e.g. Christians were advised to
ex-communicate immoral people from their society.
➢ It was to show that Jesus was the messiah i.e. the one who
was sent by God to save mankind.
➢ It was to show that there’s was life after death. Since Jesus
resurrected Christians will also resurrect.
➢ It was to show that humanity of Jesus Christ that Jesus ha
qualities of human beings e.g. he could get hungry e.g.
cursing of the fig tree, angry.

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 ➢ It was to show the divinity of Jesus Christ that had extra
ordinary powers from God e.g. he resurrected the dead, he
could cast out demons, feed the hungry, like the 5000 and
4000, walk on water e.tc
➢ the It was to show that Jesus Christ had to come to establish
God’s kingdom on earth to replace Satan’s kingdom. This is
seen when he defeated evil spirits.
➢ It was to show the struggle between God’s kingdom and
Satan’s kingdom but the divine kingdom through Jesus
Christ defeated Satan’s kingdom.
THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN THE EARLY CHURCH
This had both positive and negative effects on the Christian
community as seen below;
POSITIVE EFFECTS
➢ Discipline became more courageous and bold before the
persecutors. the more they were persecuted the more they
became bolder and courageous to spread the word of God.
➢ Believers got more scattered in various areas. wherever
they went, they preached the good news e.g. they preached
in the gentile areas and these promoted Christianity in
some of these areas.
➢ Persecution led to writing of the gospel e.g. John Mark
wrote after the death of James and Philip. This was because
that they feared that potential preachers were all to be
killed. it was also written to encourage those who were
facing persecution.
➢ Wherever Christians went they built churches and they
promoted the spreading of the good news. The dispersing

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 of Christians spread the written books and this facilitated in
the spreading of good news.
➢ Gave them fellowship.
➢ Gave them chance to strengthen one another.
➢ The endurance of the persecuted Christians inspired others
to accept Christianity. those who inspired included the
Jewish priests who formally opposed the gospel.
➢ As persecution increased the lord intervened the lives of the
lives of the apostles through the holy spirit e.g. in prison the
disciples were released by the holy spirit and Saul was
converted into Christianity by the help of the holy spirit.
➢ Those in prison preached to the in mates.
➢ The disgust from roman government for beating Christians
encouraged many.
➢ Persecution strengthened unity among believers. Believers
got united since they identified themselves as members of
Christ.
➢ In court publically preached gospel.
➢ Persecution enabled Christians to share the experience of
Jesus Christ. Jesus suffered therefore Christians were able
to share that experience with him. Those who were
persecuted and martyred became religious and swaths e.g.
St John, St Peter e.tc.
➢ Persecution strengthened faith of believers. as Christians
were persecuted, they endured the pawn of suffering and
this strengthened their faith in Christ since he also suffered.
HOWEVER, THE PERSECUTIONS HAD NEGATIVE EFFECTS AS
SEEN BELOW;

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• Some Christians were killed hence there was reduction in numbers
of Christians and this affected the church.
• Potential converts were scared of going to the church or
Christianity. They feared to be killed or jailed because of following
Christ.
• Persecution made some Christians to give up with Christianity.
Those who gave up never wanted to lose their lives for the sake of
Jesus Christ.
• Persecution brought a big setback on the preaching on the gospel
e.g. Jewish council and Sanhedrin put a ban preaching on the
gospel publically.
• Apostles were arrested and flogged into prisons and this created a
lot of fear among the Christians and thus reduced the preaching
of the good news.
• Churches were burnt during the time of persecution and thus
affected the spreading of the good news.
• Christians were sent into exile e.g. some ran to Samaria, Judea,
Damascus, Antioch etc.
• Houses and property of the believers were destroyed e.g. Saul
moved from house to house dragging men and women and in the
process their property was destroyed
• Followers of Christ were hated by fellow Jews and were thrown
out of the temple. For them they ended up organizing their
prayers in people’s houses (brethren houses)
• False witness could be arranged to testify falsely about the
preachers or believers. This made some preachers/believers to be
jailed, and some ended up being jailed. Act 6:10

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REASONS WHY THERE WAS PERSECUTIONS OF THE EARLY
CHURCH CHRISTIANS.
They were persecuted because of the following reasons;
➢ The Jewish religious leaders were scared of the big numbers of the
Christians. therefore, the Jewish leaders became un popular hence
stated persecuting the Christians.
➢ Teachers of the law were not ready to accept challenges of the
apostles like Peter and John whom they knew they were ordinary men
without education so they had to organize and persecute them.
➢ Jesus had said that those who follow him must be ready to be
persecuted and suffer, so the teachers of the law had to persecute the
apostles in order to fulfil what Jesus had preached.
➢ The apostles and other believers of Christ boldly confessed in the
name of Christ and yet some of the Jews had hated and Crucified him,
so they didn’t want to hear from him anymore.
➢ The miracles performed by the apostles were a challenge to the Jewish
leaders, the religious leaders and the Pharisees there fore they got
envious towards Jesus’ disciples or followers.
➢ When Peter and other apostles told the Jewish council that they killed
Jesus but God raised him, the Jewish leaders became furious and
started persecuting them. Act 5:29-33
➢ The apostles appeared stubborn and disobedient when they insisted
on preaching yet the Jewish council had put a bun of preaching.
➢ Christianity didn’t emphasize the law but instead emphasized faith in
Christ and this attracted hostility from the strong believers of the law
like the Pharisees hence leading to persecutions.
➢ The apostles and believers maintained that Jesus was the messiah, this
annoyed the Pharisees because they knew that the messiah had not
yet come. Therefore, this proved persecution from them.
➢ Some people made false accusations against the followers of Christ
hence leading to death of some of these apostles of Jesus Christ e.g.
Steven was killed because of false accusations.

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 ➢ Christians refused to worship the emperor for them they only wanted
to worship the almighty God.
➢ Christians were falsely accused of treason i.e. rebelling against the
Roman Government. This made the Government leaders to persecute
the Christians.
➢ Christians were accused to be cannibals, when they said that they ate
and drank the body of Christ.
➢ The Romans believed that the emperor was the son of God which
Christians refused and thus the emperor and thus the followers to
start persecuting the Christians.

HOW ARE CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED TODAY?

They are persecuted in the following ways:
1) Some Christians have been killed by the politicians for criticizing
them for their bad leadership e.g. Bishop Luwum was killed by
general Amin Dada, Uganda Martyrs killed by kabaka Mwanga
2) Some students have been expelled from schools for organizing
fellowships e.g. some students were expelled from Namagunga.
3) The banning of the night fellowship by Kampala city council.
Christians have been stopped from organizing night fellowship
that they make noise.
4) Preachers along the roads and streets have been abused by the
passers. They are always criticized and they even used obscene to
demoralize them from preaching
5) Some Christians have been denied jobs because of their faith. This
is especially in moslem institutions therefore Christians are
discriminated.
6) Some students have been denied school fees by their parents
because they are saved.
7) Some devoted Christian women have been divorced by their
husbands that they waste all the time in prayers.

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8) Some Christians have been denied visas while going to Muslim
countries to preach the good news there.
9) Some Churches have been closed by the politicians that they are
related to the cults or they are devil worshippers.
10) Some Christians have refused to preach in some areas e.g. in
the bars and clubs.
11) Some Christians have been accused falsely e.g. some have
been associated with having powers of the devils, accused of
being thieves when they are doing door to door preaching

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