Ever wonder how “The Synagogue” came to be? We read about synagogues all the time in the Gospels and in Acts, but where did they come from? We don’t read about them in the Hebrew Scriptures. There’s no command, example, inference, or precedent authorizing the Jewish people to form these small communities focused on prayer and the reading of Scripture. Yet by the first third of the first century AD, the synagogue is playing an important role in Jewish spiritual formation.

According to Harper’s Bible Dictionary, “The origin of the synagogue remains unknown, but the question has produced a number of theories. Many have suggested that the synagogue arose in the Babylonian exile as a response to the loss of the Temple as the center of Jewish religious life. Though the suggestion is reasonable, no direct evidence exists for its presence and the biblical passages cited (Ezek. 11:16; 14:1) are far from convincing. . . .Some scholars suggest that the Hellenistic crisis during the second century b.c., in which there was a conflict among Jews over acculturation and fidelity to tradition, produced the synagogue as a mode of resistance to Hellenism, i.e., Greek culture and custom. Since the synagogue existed in developed form in the first century a.d., it is likely that it came into being in the two centuries preceding, but no direct evidence for it then exists. ”

Even if we can’t be sure how the synagogue came into being, I think we can safely assume that it arose as a response to a specific cultural situation not directly addressed by the Hebrew Bible. The synagogue was an extra-biblical innovation motivated by a cultural circumstance.

I come from a tradition that has championed the slogan, “Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” My tribe is not typically known for its innovative spirit, in part I think, because this slogan hard-wired us to shun anything even remotely resembling creativity. Forget about innovation in response to culture. Our mission has been to slavishly implement what the New Testament tells us “church” is supposed to look like.

Apparently, “Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent” wasn’t one of the guiding phrases for Jesus’ ministry. Otherwise, I don’t think he would have made it his custom to participate in an innovation that wasn’t authorized by the Bible he read.