When did the Church begin? By David Buck (4/26/2011)

There are several different views associated with the origin of the Church. Some believe that it started in Genesis 3 with God’s promise to bruise the serpents head. Others believe that it began in Matthew 3 with John the Baptist’s first water baptism. Covenant Theologians believe that it began with Abraham in Genesis 12. Many others believe that it began with Christ. There are even some who hold to the view that the Church began with Paul because of his huge role in the Church after his conversion in Acts 9. The view that I hold to, and believe has the most support from scripture, is the view that the Church began in Acts 2 at Pentecost. If you look at what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 you can immediately dismiss the views of Genesis 3, Genesis 12, and Matthew 3. He said “I WILL build My Church”. Notice, He did not say that He would continue to build His church, but that He would (future tense) build His Church. This means that up to that point there had obviously not been a Church. Then, in Ephesians 1:20-23 Paul stated “that he (the Father) worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and GAVE HIM AS HEAD OVER ALL THINGS TO THE CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Here we see that after Christ was raised from the dead and seated at the Father’s right hand, He was made the head of the Church, who is referred to as the body. Therefore prior to the resurrection of our Lord, there could have been no head of the Church. A body cannot function without a head. In addition to this, Paul stated the following in Ephesians 4:8-12: Therefore it says, "When he ASCENDED on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." … “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the BODY OF CHRIST (the Church).” Here, we see that the necessary gifts for building up the Church were not given to believers until after Christ’s ascension. Christ did not ascend into Heaven until Acts 1:9-11. This was only a short 15 verses before Christ’s followers were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. This point chronologically discounts every view except the view that states that the Church began with Paul. However, this view is also dismissed by Paul himself since it was he who wrote the book of Ephesians, which points to the start of the Church as beginning on the day of Pentecost. It is for these reasons that I believe that the Church began on the day of Pentecost and that all other views are incorrect.

Ryrie, C. C. (1986, 1999). Basic Theology. Chicago, Illinois, United States: Moody Press.
Willmington, D. H. (1993, 2003). Great Truth's From God's Word. United States: Fidlar Doubleday.