Precedents of a church being a special and holy place set aside solely for worship can be found throughout the OT. There were the Tent of Meeting (which housed the Ark of the Convenant) and the temple built by Solomon. According to the OT, God had very stringent rules about who and how one could enter those places, further establishing that set aside places of worship be holy and sacred. The Tent of Meeting is referenced many times throughout Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers and again in 1 & 2 Chronicles, where the OT tells of the Israelites worshipping at the Tent again until Solomon had completed the temple.
On the other hand, when those disciples who followed "the way" were just starting out, they *did* meet in homes of the followers in addition to meeting at the temple courts. Look at Acts 2:42-47, especially verse 46 and again in Acts 5:42. The NASB version uses the phrasing "house to house"; however, regardless of translation, the passages convey that people did, in fact, meet to study and worship in their own homes.
I have more to say... I just gotta do it later. I'll be back....
- the fabulous one (the slow jam connoisseur)
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