Scripture reading

A Brief History of Scripture Reading

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The reading of Scripture has been a significant part of both Jewish and Christian worship, an appropriate liturgical priority for a religion that is based on God’s revelation. This article traces the history of the reading of Scripture in worship throughout the history of the church.

So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years … during the Feast of Tabernacles when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God.… ” (Deut. 31:9–12)

These verses formally introduce the institution of Scripture reading in the history of Judeo-Christian worship. No longer binding his communication to the ephemeral thunderings on Sinai, the spatially confined burning bush, or the fleeting prophetic pronouncement, God now commands the repetition of a text as his immanent and permanent voice incarnate. Thus, reading the Word of God becomes the very core of worship, affording each hearer an opportunity for a personal encounter with the divine (J. Edward Lantz, Reading the Bible Aloud [New York: Macmillan, 1959], 43).

The homage reserved for presenting God’s recorded Word is evident in the honored position the reading of Scripture has held in the liturgy, doctrine, and history of the Christian church. The verses quoted above from Deuteronomy introduce that portion of its suzerainty structure where the arrangements of the covenant between God and his people are scheduled for public review (R. K. Harrison, “Deuteronomy,” in New Bible Commentary Revised, ed. D. Guthrie and J. A. Motyer [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970], 202; Meredith Kline, “Dynastic Covenant,” The Westminster Theological Journal 23 [1960]: 13, 15). Thus, as early as the writings of the Pentateuch, oral reading of Scripture became a normative worship practice. Because these books laid the foundation for the Jewish concept of covenantal worship, this practice of public reading assumed seminal significance for later developments in Christian worship (Richard G. Moulton, The Literary Study of the Bible [Boston: D. C. Heath, 1906], 268).

As the Jewish worship traditions developed, standards emerged for the habitual reading of various Scriptures in the synagogue. The liturgy essentially consisted of two readings: the first came from the Law (i.e., the books of Moses) and the second from the prophets (see Luke 16:16; Acts 13:15) (Pius Parsch, The Liturgy of the Mass, 3d. ed., trans. H. E. Winstone [St. Louis: B. Herder, 1957], 72).

While Scripture reading was required in synagogue worship, preaching was optional (Luke 4:16–20) (Arthur T. Pierson, How to Read the Word of God Effectively [Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1925], 3-4; Lantz, Reading Aloud, 3). Preaching naturally developed in ordinary worship services as an exposition or hortatory application of what was read, but sermons were based on the readings (Edwin C. Dargan, A History of Preaching, vol. 1 [New York: Hodder and Stoughton, 1905], 39). Further, as was demonstrated annually in the Passover observances of individual families, worship of the highest order could always be oriented around the Word and prayer without sermonic exposition (Joseph A. Jungman, The Mass of the Roman Rite, German rev. ed., trans. Francis Brunner [New York: Benzinger Bros., 1950], 8; The Union Hagadah, rev. ed., [New York: the Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1923]). The Christian church did not revoke this aspect of its Jewish worship heritage nor subordinate the importance of Scripture readings. Instead, the readings were expanded.

New Testament worship services echoed the Jewish synagogue patterns for prayers, readings, and exposition; but apostolic writings were added to the canonical materials (cf. 1 Thess. 2:13; J. H. Srawley, The Early History of the Liturgy, The Cambridge Handbooks of Liturgical Study, 2d ed. [Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1958], 188; Dargan, History of Preaching, 39). As the Old Testament prophets arranged for the perpetuation of their message in the readings of the temple, the New Testament messengers created literature for repeated use in the church (Acts 15:23–31; 2 Cor. 3:1–3; 1 Thess. 5:27). In his Colossian letter, Paul commands, “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you, in turn, read the letter from Laodicea” (Col. 4:16). The Scripture poem of Philippians 2:6–11 is apparently intended for liturgical use, and Paul specifically commands his protege, Timothy, “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching” (1 Tim. 4:13).

Readings of the newer writings did not replace the Old Testament readings but augmented them. That the apostolic writings were being read in the churches along with the ancient Scriptures is apparent from Peter’s commentary on Paul (2 Pet. 3:16), and Paul’s own commands for the continued use of the Psalms (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Further, the reading of the New Testament gospels and epistles, with their many Old Testament quotations and analogies, would necessarily keep both testaments echoing in the church.

Sensing the continued respect of the apostolic writers for the older Scriptures, the church continued reading publicly from both testaments in the early centuries of the Christian era. By the end of the fourth century, the dominant liturgical pattern included three readings: one from the Old Testament and two from the New—an epistle and a gospel. The last reading was always the gospel, and the people stood during this reading (James D. Robertson, Minister’s Worship Handbook [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1974], 52).

As with most key features of Christian worship, the reading of Scripture has also occasionally been the focus of abuse and controversy. In Elizabethan England, debates boiled between Puritans and the established church over John Whitgift’s rhetorical question, “Is not the word of God as effectual when it is read as when it is preached? Or is not reading preaching?” (Donald J. McGinn, The Admonition Controversy [New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1949], 176. The great debate between Whitgift and Cartwright is conveniently abridged in this most helpful work that topically arranges the original arguments of Cartwright’s Admonition, 1572, Whitgift’s Answere, 1572, Cartwright’s Replie, 1573, Whitgift’s Defense, 1574, and Cartwright’s Second replie, 1575, and The rest of the second replie, 1577). The divergent viewpoints were argued expertly and expansively by Whitgift when he was Bishop of Worcester, and also by the Puritan scholar Thomas Cartwright (Edwin Hall, The Puritans and their Principles, 2d ed. [New York: Baker and Scribner, 1846], 108; McGinn, Admonition Controversy, 145–147).

Whitgift’s insistence on the sufficiency of readings, though argued on theological grounds, was a political necessity. In order to suppress Puritan teachings and provide services in parishes whose ministers had been removed (i.e., defrocked, imprisoned, or executed), a series of approved readings and homilies were prepared for reading in the churches (Hall, Puritans, 110–112). Approved clergymen made the rounds through the rebel churches presenting nothing but these readings (Ibid., 109).

Cartwright argued for the Puritans, “It may be that God doth work faith by reading only, especially where preaching cannot be, and so he doth sometimes without reading by a wonderful work of his Spirit; but the ordinary ways whereby God regenerateth his children is the Word of God which is preached.”

Whitgift adroitly replied, “Did not St. Paul preach to the Romans when he writ to them? … Was not the reading of Deuteronomy to the people a preaching?” (McGinn, Admonition Controversy, 186–187)

The argument progressed with increasing vehemence. Cartwright eventually concluded that “reading [i.e., dictated homilies and Scriptures] is not feeding, but it is as evil as playing upon a stage, and worse too” (Ibid., 189–191). While the harsh words of Cartwright and the harsh measures of Whitgift’s church may tempt the modern reader to take sides in the ancient debate, there are more fruitful conclusions to draw. The fact thrown into historical relief by the Elizabethan controversy is that Scripture reading is an inherent and indispensable feature of Christian worship.

Even when events were so exceptional as to cause the merits of reading Scripture to be weighed against preaching, no one argued for excising Scripture from worship. The Puritan preachers insisted that preaching be an exposition of Scripture (Irvonwy Morgan, The Godly Preachers of the Elizabethan Church [London: Epworth, 1965], 25). While they vigorously opposed “bare readings,” they never argued for bare preaching (i.e., preaching apart from Scripture reading). Cartwright might argue, “The word of God is not so effectual read as preached” (McGinn, Admonition Controversy, 176). But he would conclude, “[M]en’s works ought to be kept in and nothing else but the voice of God and Holy Scriptures, in which only are contained all fullness and sufficiency to decide controversies, must sound in his church.… ” (Ibid., 169) Thus, at the very time in the history of the church when events and passions would seem poised for the denigration of Scripture reading in certain worship traditions, all factions continued to treasure the practice.

Since the Reformation, divergent commitments to fixed forms of worship exemplified in conflicts between English Puritan and established church leaders have influenced Scripture reading practices in Protestantism. Traditions valuing nonprescribed forms of worship tend to deemphasize Scripture “reading,” viewing “interpretation” of the Word in preaching as the focus of worship. Traditions maintaining a high regard for ritual often organize worship around Scripture “readings” in liturgical forms, while giving less attention to formal exposition of those texts.

Recent movements in a number of denominations have sought to unite the strengths of the Word of God, which is promoted both by its reading and preaching. Musical and dramaturgical influences have also added new creativity and power to the way Scripture is “read” in both regular and special services. The force of these movements stems from the ancient ethic—confirmed throughout the church’s liturgy, theology, and history—that the public reading of Scripture is a touchstone of authentic worship.

Scripture Reading in the Old and New Testaments and the Early Church

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In the assemblies of the early church, the Scriptures were read to the congregation by a lector, or reader. This practice was modeled on that of the synagogue, wherein the Old Testament Scriptures were read aloud every Sabbath by a reader appointed from the congregation. The practice of the synagogue, in turn, had developed from the ancient concept of a literary document as something recited, rather than something read silently from a manuscript.

Reading of the Law in the Old Testament

Ancient literature in general was intended to be read aloud or recited and not to be read silently, even if written copies existed as a control. The form of ancient manuscripts suggests they were intended as guides for public reading; the very structuring of the words on written documents (all capital letters run together with no space between words) defied silent reading and required special skills of interpretation.

The poetry of the Israelite prophets was composed orally and handed down by disciples who memorized it (Isa. 8:16). Jeremiah’s prophecy was read in the house of the Lord and then to the Judean royal officials, and when the king destroyed the manuscript the prophet was able to dictate it again, with additions (Jer. 36). Messages or letters, even when written down, were not properly “delivered” until the messenger had read them to the recipient (Ezra 4:18, 23). Paul asked that his letters be shared among the local churches by being read to the congregations (Col. 4:16). Even archival material was sometimes read aloud; in the narrative of Esther, the Persian monarch, unable to sleep, had the royal chronicles read to him and thus discovered that Mordecai had never been rewarded for supplying information about a plot to assassinate the king (Est. 6:1–3).

Ancient treaties often contained a provision that the “words” or stipulations of the agreement be read periodically to those to whom the treaty had been granted. This requirement is the background for Moses’ instruction that the people assemble every seven years for the reading of the Law at the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 31:10–11). Moses himself had read the Book of the Covenant to the Israelites at Mount Sinai (Exod. 24:7). Joshua read the Book of the Law in a ceremony at Mount Ebal (Josh. 8:34–35); in the renewal of the covenant at Shechem, Joshua’s action in establishing “a statute and an ordinance,” which were written “in the Book of the Law of God,” suggests a public reading of the covenant stipulations (Josh. 24:25–26). Subsequent leaders, however, failed to obey the Mosaic directive; in fact, by the time of Josiah, the Law had been lost and was recovered from the temple by Hilkiah the high priest. It was then read aloud by Shaphan the scribe to King Josiah (2 Kings 22:8–10), who in turn read “all the words of the Book of the Covenant” to an assembly of the people of Jerusalem in a ceremony of renewal (2 Kings 23:1–3).

Following the reestablishment of worship in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, Ezra took it upon himself to read the Law to the captives returned from Babylon. Ezra was a “scribe trained in the Law,” who “had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach the statutes and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:6, 10 NRSV). After the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, Ezra gathered together all the Jews to hear a reading of the Scriptures. Ezra and some trained companions “read from the book, from the Law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense so that the people understood the reading” (Neh. 8:8 NRSV). This indicates that the people, having been in Babylon for over 70 years, needed help in comprehending the Hebrew, as well as in understanding the meaning of the text. Thus, the reader functioned as both translator (into Aramaic) and interpreter. This event marked the beginning of a practice that took place in the temple and in synagogues.

Scripture Reading in the Synagogue

Even though there is no Old Testament record of the Scriptures being read in the synagogues, we know this must have become a practice from intertestamental times until the time of Jesus. The Jewish philosopher Philo, who lived at the time of Christ, described a meeting in an Essene synagogue where “one takes the books and reads them aloud, another more learned comes forward and instructs them in what they do not know” (Quod omnis probus, liber sit, 81–82).

The Gospel of Luke also tells about the reading of Scriptures in the synagogue. Luke 4:16–21 says that it was Jesus’ custom to read the Scriptures on the Sabbath in his hometown synagogue at Nazareth. The event is described as follows:

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16–21 nasb)

The Greek expression kata to eiōthos autō (“according to his custom”) grammatically governs the whole expression in Luke 4:16—“as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read” (nasb). Jesus was handed the scroll of Isaiah, from which he read Isaiah 61:1–2 and then proclaimed its fulfillment. Jesus selected this text because he had just been anointed with the Holy Spirit and thereby empowered for his ministry. He read the passage, then provided an explanation by way of self-fulfillment.

History tells us that the Jews first read the Law (Torah) and then the Prophets every Sabbath day in the synagogue. For example, when the apostle Paul entered the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, it is said that Paul was given a chance to speak after “the reading from the Law and the Prophets” (Acts 13:15). Very likely, the reader of the Law would be the main teacher in the synagogue—a man trained in biblical studies. The reader of the Prophets would also have to be trained in Hebrew and in biblical interpretation. Thus, Jesus must have had this training if it was his custom to read the Prophets in his synagogue.

The important point of this brief history is that the majority of Jews never read by sight the written Hebrew Scriptures but rather received them through oral transmission by trained lectors. The lectors were those who understood the Scriptures in the original language (or in a translation such as the Septuagint); they could read the text to the congregation and could perhaps offer an interpretation. H. Lietzmann said that these readers “understood the difficult art of reading aloud at public worship with melodic and rhythmic correctness the prescribed biblical lessons out of codices written without word-division or punctuation” (Geschichte des alten Kirche [1911; 1961], 256; translated by E. G. Turner in The Typology of the Early Codex, [1977] 84–85).

Christian Reading of the Scriptures

With respect to the oral reading of Scriptures, early Christian meetings greatly resembled the Jewish synagogue. “Public recitation of scripture which was part of Temple worship became the essential feature of synagogal worship in pre-Christian times and appears in the New Testament as a well-established custom” (P. R. Ackroyd and C. F. Evans, eds., The Cambridge History of the Bible [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970], vol. 1, 201). In church meetings, Christians were encouraged to recite the Scriptures to one another and sing the Psalms (1 Cor. 14:26; Eph. 5:18–19; Col. 3:16). Church leaders were exhorted to read the Scriptures to their congregation (1 Tim. 4:13). Whereas the Jews would read the Law and then the Prophets, the Christians would read the Prophets (with special emphasis on messianic fulfillment) and the Gospels. Writing around a.d. 175, Justin Martyr indicated that when all the believers would assemble on the Lord’s Day for worship and Communion, “the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits” (Apology I, 67). Melito of Sardis, speaking of a Christian meeting, said that the Scripture of the Hebrew Exodus was first read, then explained (Cambridge History of the Bible [1970], vol. 1, 574).

As in the synagogue, so in the early church: one person was given the task to be the reader. There are allusions and clear references to this “reader” in the New Testament. This “reader” is probably referred to in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 by way of a parenthetical expression: “let the reader understand.” (The use of the singular in Greek [ho anaginōskōn] points to one reader—the one who read the Gospel to the congregation.) Other passages clearly point to the one who read the Scriptures aloud to an assembly of believers. In 1 Timothy 4:13, Paul urged Timothy to “devote [him]self to the public reading of Scripture.” Revelation 1:3 promises a blessing to “the one who reads the words of this prophecy”—speaking specifically of each of the readers who would read the book of Revelation to each of the seven churches addressed in the book.

Some Christians who were educated and who could afford copies of the Scriptures read them in their homes. Some of the wealthier Christians had Bibles copied at their own expense and given to poorer brothers and sisters. For example, Pamphilus had Bibles copied to keep in stock for distribution to those in need (Jerome, Against Rufinus 1.9). And some of the writings of several early church fathers indicate that Christians were encouraged to read the Scriptures in private. Irenaeus, for one, encouraged the unrestricted use of Scripture (Against Heresies 5.20.2). Clement of Alexandria exhorted married couples to read the Scriptures together (Paedagogus 2.10.96), promoted the personal study of Scripture (Paedagogus 3.12.87), and said that such reading should be done before the chief meal of the day (Stromata 7.7.49). Origen, who believed the Scriptures were accessible to all, spoke frequently of individuals reading the Scriptures at home, as well as at church (Homily on Genesis 2.8) and recommended that Christians read the Old Testament, Apocrypha, Psalms, Gospels, and Epistles (Homily on Numbers 27.10).

Although some read the Scriptures privately, the majority of early Christians never read by sight the written Scriptures but heard them read by a lector. These lectors were trained to read the texts in Greek and perhaps to provide interpretations. In the early days of the church, the reader was simply a member of the church who knew Greek well enough to read and write it. In the third century, lectors were appointed to this function but were not ordained. Hippolytus says, “The reader is appointed by the bishop’s handing to him the book, for he does not have hands laid upon him” (The Apostolic Tradition 1.12). One such reader was Procopius (martyred in a.d. 303). Eusebius said he had rendered a great service to the church both as a reader and as a translator from Greek into Aramaic (Martyrs of Palestine 1.1). Other lectors were Pachomius and his companion Theodore, both of whom read the Scriptures to their fellow monks. After the fourth century, the lector was generally a minor church officer. According to the part of the Apostolic Constitutions, the reader must also be able to instruct and explain the text. And according to Basil, in the fourth-century lectors read from the Law, the Prophets, the Epistles, Acts, and the Gospels (Apostolic Constitutions 8.5.5).