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Roles in the Very Early Church
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 6:54 am
by _moksha
Weren't the roles in the very early Church basically those of Teacher and Disciples? Was everything that came next truly necessary?
Re: Roles in the Very Early Church
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:26 pm
by _Mercury
moksha wrote:Weren't the roles in the very early Church basically those of Teacher and Disciples? Was everything that came next truly necessary?
Well, there is the office of shill, lookout, fencer (for stolen goods), enforcer and bookkeeper.
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 3:41 pm
by _LifeOnaPlate
Almost all the priesthood offices can be found in the earlier revelations of Joseph Smith (pre-1840,) but it seems to me they were fleshed out over time.
Brigham Young called one man to the office of "Complainer" during the trek west, incidentally.
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:13 am
by _moksha
Actually when I spoke of the Very Early Church, I was referring to the time of Jesus.
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:35 am
by _CaliforniaKid
I think it's pretty clear that the structure of the church was something that emerged for practical reasons. An example of this can be seen in the creation of the first deacons, in order to serve the widows in the congregation. In fact, there's really only one place in the Gospels where the word "church" is put in Jesus' mouth. Until the expulsion from the synagogue, Christians were merely practicing Jews who followed what they called "the Way". Development of church offices continued with the emergence of elders, bishops, metropolitans, monks, popes, and cardinals, in roughly that order. Eventually it all turned out to be pretty counterproductive. I think offices can be nice in a functional sense, like in the case of the deacons. But when they become an excuse to lord it over anyone, I'd much rather they shove off.