The Sunday Collection

     “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I ordered the churches of Galatia, so you do also. On the first day of every week, let each of you by himself store up whatever he is prospered, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).¹

     The perí dé (“now concerning”) formula in 1 Corinthians draws attention to Paul’s answers to questions these brethren had asked in their earlier correspondence to him (7:1, 25; 8:1, 4; 12:1; 16:1, 12). The current response, pertaining to “the collection for the saints” (v. 1a), presupposes their previous knowledge of it.² Even though Paul is issuing an apostolic “order” or “command” (diatassō) (v. 1b), it is not to be regarded as burdensome (2 Corinthian 9:7; cf. 1 John 5:3). 

     The same directives had been communicated to the churches of Galatia (v. 1c),³ and the Macedonian churches were also involved (v. 5; cf. Romans 15:26; 2 Corinthians 8:1–9:7).⁴ Paul goes on to reference the churches of Asia (v. 19), who apparently participated as well (Acts 20:4), plus all the churches in the province of Achaia (Romans 15:26; 2 Corinthians 1:1; 9:2) that would have included Corinth, Cenchrea, and potentially Athens (Acts 17:24; 18:18, 27; 19:21; Romans 16:1).⁵  Throughout 1 Corinthians the readers have consistently been reminded of what is taught and practiced everywhere in all the churches (1:2; 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33).

     “On the first day of every week” – katá mían sabbátou (v. 2a) – indicates a regular occurrence on a specific day each week. The implication is that the Corinth church and her sister congregations in various places were assembling weekly on this particular day (cf. 11:17-26; 14:23, 26; Acts 20:7). The first day of the week (Sunday) marks the historical juncture when our Lord conquered death (Mark 16:9), providing the cornerstone of the Christian faith (Romans 1:4; 6:4-11; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 12-22; 1 Peter 3:21). Thereafter it was this day of the week on which the resurrected Christ appeared to his disciples (John 20:19, 26),⁶ the Lord’s church was established (Acts 2:1; cf. Leviticus 23:15-16; John 19:31), and early Christians assembled together to commemorate Jesus’ atoning sacrifice (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:17-26; 16:1-2).

     “Each of you by himself” (v. 2b) describes a personal responsibility (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:7). The expression “let him store up” (thēsaurízōn) (v. 2c) means to treasure up or store up in a common treasury. Just as the observance of the Lord’s Supper involves both individual and collective components (11:20, 26, 28), so too does the contribution. The qualifier “whatever he is prospered” (v. 2d) is clearly not a set percentage (in contrast to the old covenant tithing system).⁷ Contributions stem from each one’s ability or level of prosperity (cf. Acts 11:29; 2 Corinthians 8:3). When Paul says, “that there be no collections when I come” (v. 2e), he implies a communal church treasury as opposed to separate, individual gifts; note the singular “gift” in v. 3. Their mutual “gift” at this time was to be delivered to help meet the needs of their Judean brethren (vv. 3-4; see also 2 Corinthians 8:16-24; Acts 20:4; 21:17; and compare Acts 11:29-30).

     This benevolent aid that was intended for a particular situation does not negate the broader implications of how the work of the church is to be financed. These verses constitute an apostolic command issued to multiple congregations in various locations to be regularly observed on a specified day each week. Was the giving to stop when the present need was met? Beyond this explicit injunction, there are numerous examples of the Lord’s work funded through the free-will offerings of Christians collected in a common treasury (cf. Acts 2:42, 44, 45; 4:32, 34-37; 5:1-2; 6:1-4; 11:29-30). The churches of Macedonia, apparently under the same directives as the churches of Achaia and Galatia (2 Corinthians 8:1–9:7), also contributed to evangelistic efforts (2 Corinthians 11:7-9; Philippians 4:15-20). Moreover, a one-time benevolent opportunity was not the only work the Corinthian and Galatian brethren were expected to support (1 Corinthians 9:11-14; 16:6; 2 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 6:6).⁸

     No other method of financing the Lord’s work is biblically sanctioned beyond the intentional and generous giving of members of the local church. “Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God indeed loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation.

     ² For additional information on this particular collection, see Galatians 2:10; Romans 15:25-28, 31; and 2 Corinthians 8–9.

     ³ Cf. Acts 16:6; 18:23; Galatians 1:2. These are probably the churches in the southern region of the Roman province of Galatia, including Antioch of Pisidia, Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium (Acts 13, 14, 16), rather than the North Galatia territory. Note that Gaius of Derbe and Timothy of Lystra were part of the delegation that carried the funds to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4). Unless Paul had sent a letter or a representative that we do not know about, the last opportunity he would have had to communicate this information to the Galatians was nearly three years before 1 Corinthians was written (Acts 18:23).

     ⁴ Macedonian cities where churches had been planted were Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea (Acts 16:9–17:14). Representatives of the Thessalonica and Berea congregations helped deliver the funds (Acts 20:4), and Luke may have represented the church at Philippi (Acts 16:12; 20:6). The generosity of the Philippi saints is further highlighted in Philippians 1:5-7; 2:25-30; 4:10-19.

     ⁵ A summary of the churches potentially involved include those in the Galatia cities of Antioch, Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium; the Asia cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Colosse, and Troas; the Macedonia cities of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea; the Achaia cities of Athens, Corinth, and Cenchrea; and possibly more.

     ⁶ Christ’s second appearance to his disciples, according to John’s testimony, was “after eight days” (John 20:26), an idiom signifying “a week later.” John is writing to a Gentile audience, and it was not uncommon for the ancients to count any portion of a day as a whole day. If the counting began on the previous Sunday (John 20:19), then eight days later would be the following Sunday. Compare Matthew 17:1 (written from a Jewish perspective) and Luke 9:28 (written from a Greek perspective). Note also John’s allusion to “the Lord’s day” in Revelation 1:10. He employs the adjective kuriakos, and the only other occurrence of this word in the New Testament is in reference to “the Lord’s Supper” (1 Cor. 11:20), which was to be observed as often as these Christians assembled together in one place (vv. 17-34), which was apparently every Sunday (16:2).

     ⁷ See my article on Tithing.

     ⁸ The qualifiers “if you might approve” and “if it is suitable” in 1 Corinthians 16:3-4 indicate some degree of flexibility. We could also include the churches of Rome and Asia in this discussion (Romans 12:6-8; 15:24; Acts 20:35; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; 6:17-19). Furthermore, Jesus and his immediate disciples received donations (Luke 8:3) and maintained a collection of funds to finance their needs as they carried out their public ministry (John 12:6; 13:29).

Related Posts: God's Ability to Provide, Questions about the Lord's Supper, The Frequency of the Lord's Supper, Church Benevolence 

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The Collection and Canonization of New Testament Writings (Part 1 of 2)

     The word "canon" (Greek kanōn) is derived from a Semitic word for stalk or reed that came to be used for a measuring rod and thus a "standard" or "rule." A literary canon is simply a list of titles of various works or the actual collection of documents itself. Applied to biblical writings, "canon" refers to the list and compilation of books recognized as genuine, authoritative, and divinely inspired.

     While most scholars propose that the New Testament canon was settled sometime around the fourth century (cf. F. F. Bruce, Canon of Scripture [1988]: 256-63), Wayne Walden maintains that it was not until the sixteenth century that the final details were complete ("Luther: the One Who Shaped the Canon," RQ 49 [2007]: 1-10), whereas David Trobisch argues that it was confirmed as early as the mid-second century (First Edition of the NT [2000]). What does a straightforward assessment of the historical facts reveal?

Formation of the NT Canon
     The earliest Christians did not possess a New Testament canon. They relied instead on the verbal instruction of inspired teachers (1 Corinthians 12:28-31), oral accounts of Jesus’ words and deeds (e.g. Acts 20:35), the Old Testament scriptures (Acts 8:30-35; 17:11; et al.), and other inspired writings as they were produced and circulated (cf. 2 Peter 3:15-16).
     The first record of an official canonical list is from the heretic Marcion (ca. 144), only a few decades after the New Testament writings were completed. Although Marcion’s canon consisted merely of an abbreviated version of Luke’s Gospel and ten of Paul’s letters (minus the parts with which Marcion disagreed), Tertullian of Carthage (ca. 160-225), in his five volumes Adversus Marcionem, sternly criticized him for having cut out the majority of books from the New Testament. This demonstrates that at the time, the generally recognized Christian canon was considerably more extensive than Marcion’s limited version. While Marcion’s list may have been the first to be publicized (as far as we know), he was certainly not the first to consider the concept of a compendium of authoritative writings.

Early Developments
     Very early on, even within the New Testament era itself, Christian documents were used, circulated, collected, and quoted. The apostle Paul wrote his letters over a period of at least fourteen years, sending them hundreds of kilometers in numerous directions. By the year 56 multiple writings of Paul were known and acknowledged by his critics (2 Corinthians 10:10). In the spring of 62 Paul’s expressed intention was that his letters be circulated rather than kept isolated in their respective localities (Colossians 4:16). Not long thereafter, writing to Timothy in Asia Minor, Paul quotes Luke as "scripture" on the same level as the Hebrew Bible (1 Timothy 5:18). By the mid-60s Paul’s writings were recognized (at least from Asia Minor to Rome) as a well-known collection and regarded as "scripture" (2 Peter 3:15-16; cf. 3:1; 1 Peter 1:1; 5:13). Sometime after this Jude apparently had access to and quotes from the epistle of 2 Peter (cp. Jude 17-18; 2 Peter 3:2-3) (see The NT Epistle of Judas).
     We simply do not have enough available information to reach any definitive conclusions about exactly how and when the documents of the New Testament were first collated. It is not improbable that before his death Paul preselected which of his letters to include in a published collection. It was common in the Greco-Roman world for authors to keep copies of their works, and there is no reason to assume that Paul (a man of his time) would not have done this. In 2 Timothy 4:13 he mentions his collection of ta biblia ("the scrolls") and tas membranas ("the parchments"), which potentially refer to papyrus scrolls and parchment codices or notebooks, including copies of his letters. Rather than requiring years to collect the apostle’s writings from multiple locations, they could have easily been made available to the brotherhood all at once by Timothy, Mark, and/or Luke soon after Paul’s death (2 Timothy 4:11-13). This possibility is made even more plausible by the fact that all extant manuscripts comprising the Pauline writings are remarkably consistent in the number of epistles they contain and even the order in which they are arranged.
–Kevin L. Moore

Related Posts: Collection & Canonization NT Part 2

Related articles: Joshua Hames, What Books Belong in the Bible?