Public Reading of the Scriptures

By Joel Stevao

Public reading of Scripture in the early church was an essential part of the service. We find in Paul’s letters a series of recommendations for the public reading of his epistles. In Colossians 4:16, Paul declares, ” After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.” (NIV). In 1 Thessalonians 5:27, Paul again reinforces the reading of the letters, ” I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers ” (NVI). Also in 2 Corinthians 10: 9, in the context that Paul is defending his apostleship he mentions the public reading of the two letters and expresses concern about their impact on them: “I don’t want it to appear to be frightening you with my letters ”.[1]

The practice of reading Scriptures worship in worship can be traced back to the Jewish synagogue where portions from the Old Testament were routinely read aloud to the congregation (Luke 4: 17-20, Acts 13:15, Acts 15:21).

Some claim that the Gospels of Matthew and Mark were written with a liturgical structure that indicated that they were used for public reading throughout the year in worship.[2]

Early Jewish Christians converted in the church, it was common to read the Torah in synagogues, as Paul’s gospel and letters also being regarded as sacred Scriptures as the writings of the Old Testament prophets were.

Justin Martin, apologist of the second century wrote the following:

And on the day called Sunday, all who live in the cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as the time permits; when the readers has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.[3]

These memoirs of the apostles were a reference to the gospels and the Old Testament was also read. It is interesting to note how Justin first mentions reading the apostles’ memories before reading the Torah, showing that reading the Gospels preceded in importance to reading the Torah.[4]

Köstenberger says that this Christian community had a disposition toward the written texts, recognized the authority of the apostles’ writings, and the operation of the Holy Spirit.[5]

In our churches today, the Bible is not read in worship in the way taught by Paul and done in the early church, in some churches it is barely read during the services. The early church also sang hymns, a practice also brought in from synagogues. But Bible reading and teaching took precedence over other things. Paul exhorted Timothy saying: “Dedicate yourself to public reading of the Scriptures, exhortation and teaching. (Tim. 4:13).

We don’t need to copy everything exactly as the early church did, but I think we need to bring back Bible reading in worship as worshiping God. This lack of Bible reading has led Christians to a “lack of biblical knowledge”.

We are living in a time when we are getting hungry for the Word of God and little by little we are dying spiritually. If this sounds like an exaggeration, here are some data from some scholars on the subject.

Wheaton College professor Timothy Larsen comments that “Bible literacy has been shown to continue to decline.” Gallup research confirms the statistical descendant.

In “The 9 Most Important Issues Facing the Evangelical Church,” theologian Michael Vlach cites “Biblical Illiteracy in the Church” as his final concern. He agrees with George Barna’s assessment that “the Christian body in America is immersed in a crisis of biblical illiteracy.”[6]

New Testament scholar David Nienhuis summarizes his understanding of the situation in an article titled “The Problem of Evangelical Biblical Illiteracy: A View from the Classroom”:

 “For well over twenty years now, Christian leaders have been lamenting the loss of general biblical literacy in America. … Some among us may be tempted to seek odd solace in the recognition that our culture is increasingly post-Christian. … Much to our embarrassment, however, it has become increasingly clear that the situation is really no better among confessing Christians, even those who claim to hold the Bible in high regard.”[7]

Lack of Bible reading can lead to a weakening of faith, it can lead to idolatry, to being deceived by the enemy, deceived by false religious leaders, false teachers, and other charlatans.

Most importantly, God has commanded us to know his word (Joshua 1: 8), because it brings light to our path (Psalm 119: 105), because it is in it that we know God (Jeremiah 9: 23-24 ), because man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4: 4), because only in Scripture we do have hope (Romans 15: 4), because it makes us grow for salvation ( 1 Peter 2: 2), because it helps us not to sin against God (Psalm 119: 10-11), because we have nothing to be ashamed of (2 Timothy 2:15), because it makes us grow in faith (Romans 10:17), because it sanctifies us (John 17:17), because God’s word is the truth that sets us free (John 8:32), because the Scriptures will not pass away (Matthew 24:35) because in it we find eternal life (John 5: 39-40).

[1] Andreas J. Köstenberger, The Heresy of Orthodoxy (Illinois: Crossway,2010), 133.

[2] Ibid.,114.

[3]  1 Apol, 67,3.

[4] Andreas J. Köstenberger, The Heresy of Orthodoxy (Illinois: Crossway,2010), 134.

[5] Ibid., 136.

[6] http://magazine.biola.edu/article/14-spring/the-crisis-of-biblical-illiteracy/ accessed on 9/1/2020

[7] https://thebattlecry49.com/2013/07/24/the-problem-of-evangelical-biblical-illiteracy-a-view-from-the-classroom-david-r-nienhuis/ accessed on 9/1/2020.