SPECIAL TOPIC: LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

The early church adopted the procedure of letters of recommendation to assure the orthodoxy and trustworthiness of itinerant ministers. There were no acceptable places for traveling missionaries and church leaders to stay, so local Christians had to open their homes. It was crucial to know who was an acceptable leader, preacher, teacher and who was not.

Here are some examples from various parts of the NT.

  1. delegation from Jerusalem to Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia ‒ Acts 15:22,25-27
  2. Paul ‒ Acts 18:27
  3. Phoebe ‒ Rom. 16:1
  4. Timothy ‒ 1 Cor. 16:10-11; Phil. 2:19-24
  5. the household of Stephanas ‒ 1 Cor. 16:15-18
  6. persons taking the collection from the Gentile churches to the mother church in Jerusalem ‒ 2 Cor. 8:16-24
  7. Tychicus ‒ Eph. 6:21-22
  8. Epaphroditus ‒ Phil 2:25-29
  9. Philemon ‒ the book of Philemon
  10. Demetrius ‒ 3 John v. 12

SPECIAL TOPIC: ORTHODOXY OF THE PASTORALS

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