Expert: Brandon Harper - 7/5/2006

Question
What scriptural backup do you have to show a witness that preaching from door to door isn't a biblical practice?

Answer
Joseph,

The way the question is formed makes it a difficult one to answer. It is very tough to prove a negative. There is only one Scripture in the Bible that says, "Do not be transferring from house to house." (Luke 10:7)

However, the context makes plain that this is speaking of establishing a single base from which an entire city or village would be reached. If no one would receive them hospitably, the disciples were to leave that city or village and move on.

However, the weight of Scriptural evidence can be examined to find out how the preaching work was done, and it can then be determined whether house to house preaching was likely a practice in which early Christians engaged.

Part of the answer will involve a cursory consideration of the meaning of the Greek words translated "house to house". You are welcome to request further details on that point, if you like, but I do not consider it necessary for answering this initial question.

Firstly, we need to describe how Jehovah's Witnesses perceive the house-to-house preaching work (also referred to as door-to-door).

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Watchtower April, 1, 2005 p. 28 Making Jehovah Your God

Herbert and Gertrud were baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses in Leipzig, in the former German Democratic Republic, in 1952. Life then was difficult for servants of God, since their public ministry was under ban. How did Herbert feel about preaching from house to house?

“We were very anxious at times. When we went from house to house, we did not know whether the authorities would suddenly appear and arrest us.” What helped Herbert and others to overcome their fear? “We did a great deal of personal Bible study. And Jehovah gave us the strength to carry on our preaching work.” In his public ministry, Herbert had a number of experiences that fortified—even amused—him.
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Take special note that according to Jehovah's Witnesses, house to house preaching, as carried out by Jehovah's Witnesses, is a form of public preaching, not private preaching. This will become important later in the answer.

Here are all the references I could find in the Gospels to show the contexts in which "preaching" and "teaching" occurred, starting with the references to the ministry of John the Baptizer:

Matthew 3:1-6; 4:17; 4:23-25; 5:1-2; 9:9-13; 9:35-38; 10:5-15; 10:27; 11:1-15; 13:53-58; 21:23-27; 22:15-28; 22:15-46; 26:55

Mark 1:4, 14-15, 21-28, 35-39; 2:13-17; 3:13-20; 4:1-9; 5:18-20; 6:1-6, 7-13, 30-34; 8:27-31; 9:14-29; 10:1, 13-22; 11:15-18; 12:35-40; 14:49; 16:20

Luke 3:3, 10-14; 4:14-21, 31-32, 44; 5:1-3, 17-18; 6:6; 8:1-3; 9:1-6, 37-38; 12:3, 8-12; 13:10; 19:36-40, 47; 20:1; 21:37-38

John 6:59; 7:14, 28; 8:2, 20; 14:25-26

Of these, none refer to Jesus ever going from residence to residence. All of these relate to forms of public preaching, with the exception of a few verse in John that refer to the teaching of individuals that the Holy Spirit was prophesied to accomplish after it was poured out.

This does not mean that a door to door preaching activity is precluded by the Scriptures. It only means that it would be inaccurate to call this public ministry from house to house a Scriptural requirement. It is certainly not. There is no Scripture instructing anyone to publicly preach from house to house.

Note the two places in Acts where the expression "house to house" appears:

Acts 5:42
42 And every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.

Acts 20:20
20 while I did not hold back from telling YOU any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching YOU publicly and from house to house.

At first glance it may seem that I have been mistaken. However, note in the instance at Acts 5:42 an unquestionably public method ("in the temple") is mentioned along with "house to house."

When we look at the context of the second usage in Acts, this is even more striking. Paul was specifically speaking to the older men of the Ephesian congregation and he said he did not hold back from teaching them "publicly" AND "from house to house.

If "house to house" referred to a public teaching work, as Jehovah's Witnesses teach, why does Paul use "publicly" as a contrasting form? He doesn't. In fact, private homes is implicit in the meaning of the Greek words translated "house to house." This is how the gatherings of the first century Christians was described by the early church writers, as being from house to house. The houses referred to are the private homes of believers, not the public.

In the book of Acts there are over 20 occurrences of variously preaching in "public", "temples", "synagogues", or "marketplaces." On the other hand, there are only two instances of the usage of "house to house" and on both occasions it is used to describe private teaching as opposed to public teaching.

In short:

(1) Jesus did not use this method of public preaching
(2) Jesus did not direct the use of this method of public preaching
(3) The usages of "house to house" in Acts refer specifically to private, as opposed to public, venues for teaching.

I hope you have found this answer informative and satisfactory.

Respectfully,
Brandon Harper