Christ meaning of the word church

If you were to ask people what they think of when they hear the word church you would get many differing responses. Some responses may be accurate and some may not be accurate. However, most people are surprised to learn what is the Bible definition of church and what is the Biblical view of the church.

What is the common definition of church?

Church is commonly defined as a building used for public worship (1). However, many people refer to a church as an organization. Examples are the Catholic Church, the Church of England, and the Southern Baptist Church amongst many others.

What is the Bible definition of church?

The word church in the Bible comes from the Greek word ecclesia, which means a called out company or assembly. Wherever it is used in the Bible it refers to people. It can be a mob (Acts 19:30-41), the children of Israel (Acts 7:38), and the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 5:25, 32).

We see the word church used three different ways: First, as the body of Christ, the church is often defined as a local assembly or group of believers (1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1-2). Second, it is defined as the body of individual living believers (1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13). Finally, it is defined as the universal group of all people who have trusted Christ through the ages (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 5:23-27).

What the church is not

• The church is not Jews or Gentiles

We see three distinct groups of people in the Bible: Jews, Gentiles, and the church (1 Corinthians 10:31-33; Galatians 3:26-29). Jews are all born as descendants of Abraham through Isaac (Romans 9:6-7). Gentiles are all other people born who are not Jews.

When a Jew or a Gentile trusts Christ as their Savior, they are born again into God’s family, become a child of God, and are part of the church. They are no longer a Jew or a Gentile (Galatians 3:26-29). The wall of separation between Jew and Gentile is torn down and they become one body (Ephesians 2:14-16).

• The church is not a kingdom

Some people try to make the church the kingdom of Heaven that has already come. They ignore the following: The church inherits the kingdom (Matthew 25:34; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Corinthians 15:47-50). The church is here on earth, but the kingdom of Heaven is not here (Isaiah 9:7; Matthew 5:19-20; Matthew 8:11)

• The church is not a physical building or business organization

Too often people describe a church building or organization as the church. This is because they emphasize the facility or organizational hierarchy as what constitutes a church. Most churches are organized in such a way that the public face of a church is seen as a business. However, since many people have a difficult time putting a label on a church, the term local church is often used to denote the local assembly of believers along with their meeting place and operations.

What is the Biblical view of church?

• The church is the building or temple of God

Although the church is not a physical building, believers are referred to as the building or temple of God. Like a physical building, believers also have a Cornerstone; Jesus Christ. The foundation is the prophets and apostles. (Matthew 16:16; 1 Corinthians 3:9-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:6; Ephesians 2:19-22).

• The church is the bride of Christ

The Bible makes reference to the church being the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-32). This also alluded to in John 14:1-3 when Jesus talked about making a place at His Father’s house for us. This is a direct reference to when a man proposes to a woman and they are engaged. The man goes back to his father’s house to build on an addition. When the addition is done and everything is ready, he comes to call for his bride, which symbolizes the resurrection (Matthew 25:1; Revelation 19:7-9).

• The church has a Spiritual purpose

The local church or assembly of believers has different roles that God gave to specific believers for the purpose of perfecting or training the believers, doing the work of the ministry, and strengthening of the church body (Ephesians 4:11-14). The roles given in the Bible are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Deacons are also mentioned in Acts 6:1-7 and 1 Timothy 3:8-13 as servants to wait upon people with physical needs.

The church body also serves as a local group to resolve conflicts (Matthew 18:15-20) and serve as a court (1 Corinthians 6:1-8). In addition, baptisms and the Lord’s Supper or communion are observed by the church body (Acts 2:37-40; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34). Depending on the size of the church body, other ministries are performed by the members of the church as God has gifted each person (Romans 12:3-13; Ephesians 4:1-8).

Conclusion

When Jesus had dinner at Matthew’s house He was asked how He could spend time eating with sinners (Matthew 9:9-13). When Jesus heard this He answered with words that were very telling. He said, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

With these words, Jesus described the church. Imperfect people who know they needed a Savior, working together to build relationships, help those in need, and to glorify God by striving to be like Christ and share His love with others.

Article By Dr. Michael Williams

Dr. Michael L. Williams is a pastor, author, Christian educator and Biblical counselor who has served in ministry since March of 2000. Dr. Mike holds under-graduate through post graduate degrees in Christian Education and formerly worked as a nurse. Dr. Mike is the Senior Pastor of Selah Mountain Ministries, which he founded in March of 2010 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (selahmountain.org). In addition to counseling, he teaches how to overcome life issues Biblically on topics such as anger management, marriage, addictions, and other subjects typically referred to as mental illnesses. Dr. Mike is also a writer at What Christians Want To Know. Dr. Mike lives with his wife Pamela Rose and adult daughter Hollie Rose. He and Pamela have other adult children and several grandchildren as well. Learn more about Dr. Mike at his personal ministry web site Wisdom4Today

Resources – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Resource – Williams, Michael L. (2014). Ecclesiology: The Doctrine of the Church. Bible Doctrines: An introductory study of the doctrines of the Bible (Chapters 12 & 13). http: //www. wisdom4today. org. (1) Google. (2014). “Church”. Retrieved from Google, https :// www. google. com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=what+is+a+church

CHURCH

church:

$ I. PRE-CHRISTIAN HISTORY OF THE TERM$

$ II. ITS ADOPTION BY JESUS$

$ III. ITS USE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT$

1. In the Gospels

2. In Acts

3. In the Pauline Epistles

$ IV. THE NOTES OF THE CHURCH$

1. Faith

2. Fellowship

3. Unity

4. Consecration

5. Power

$ V. ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH$

1. The General and Prophetic Ministry

2. The Local and Practical Ministry

LITERATURE

The word «church,» which is derived from kuriakos, «of or belonging to the Lord,» represents in the English Versions of the Bible of the New Testament the Greek word ekklesia; Latin, ecclesia. It is with the signification of this word ekklesia as it meets us in the New Testament, and with the nature of the society which the word is there used to describe, that the present article is concerned.

$ I. Pre-Christian History of the Term.$

Although ekklesia soon became a distinctively Christian word, it has its own pre-Christian history; and to those, whether Jews or Greeks, who first heard it applied to the Christian society it would come with suggestions of familiar things. Throughout the Greek world and right down to New Testament times (compare Acts 19:39), ekklesia was the designation of the regular assembly of the whole body of citizens in a free city-state, «called out» (Greek ek, «out,» and kalein, «to call») by the herald for the discussion and decision of public business. The Septuagint translators, again, had used the word to render the Hebrew qahal, which in the Old Testament denotes the «congregation» or community of Israel, especially in its religious aspect as the people of God. In this Old Testament sense we find ekklesia employed by Stephen in the Book of Acts, where he describes Moses as «he that was in the church (the Revised Version, margin «congregation») in the wilderness» (Acts 7:38). The word thus came into Christian history with associations alike for the Greek and the Jew. To the Greek it would suggest a self-governing democratic society; to the Jew a theocratic society whose members were the subjects of the Heavenly King. The pre-Christian history of the word had a direct bearing upon its Christian meaning, for the ekklesia of the New Testament is a «theocratic democracy» (Lindsay, Church and Ministry in the Early Centuries, 4), a society of those who are free, but are always conscious that their freedom springs from obedience to their King.

$ II. Its Adoption by Jesus.$

According to Matthew 16:18 the name ekklesia was first applied to the Christian society by Jesus Himself, the occasion being that of His benediction of Peter at Caesarea Philippi. The authenticity of the utterance has been called in question by certain critics, but on grounds that have no textual support and are made up of quite arbitrary presuppositions as to the composition of the First Gospel. It is true that Jesus had hitherto described the society He came to found as the «kingdom of God» or the «kingdom of heaven,» a designation which had its roots in Old Testament teaching and which the Messianic expectations of Israel had already made familiar. But now when it was clear that He was to be rejected by the Jewish people (compare Matthew 16:21), and that His society must move on independent lines of its own, it was natural that He should employ a new name for this new body which He was about to create, and thus should say to Peter, on the ground of the apostle’s believing confession, «Upon this rock I will build my church.» The adoption of this name, however, did not imply any abandonment of the ideas suggested by the conception of the kingdom. In this very passage (Matthew 16:19) «the kingdom of heaven» is employed in a manner which, if it does not make the two expressions church and kingdom perfectly synonymous, at least compels us to regard them as closely correlative and as capable of translation into each other’s terms. And the comparative disuse by the apostolic writers of the name «kingdom,» together with their emphasis on the church, so far from showing that Christ’s disciples had failed to understand His doctrine of the kingdom, and had substituted for it the more formal notion of the church, only shows that they had followed their Master’s guidance in substituting for a name and a conception that were peculiarly Jewish, another name whose associations would enable them to commend their message more readily to the world at large.

$ III. Its Use in the New Testament.$

1. In the Gospels:

Apart from the passage just referred to, the word ekklesia occurs in the Gospels on one other occasion only (Matthew 18:17). Here, moreover, it may be questioned whether Our Lord is referring to the Christian church, or to Jewish congregations commonly known as synagogues (see the Revised Version, margin) The latter view is more in keeping with the situation, but the promise immediately given to the disciples of a power to bind and loose (Matthew 18:18) and the assurance «Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them» (Matthew 18:20) are evidently meant for the people of Christ. If, as is probable, the ekklesia of Matthew 18:17 is the Christian ekklesia of which Christ had already spoken to Peter, the words show that He conceived of the church as a society possessing powers of self-government, in which questions of discipline were to be decided by the collective judgment of the members.

2. In Acts:

In Ac the ekklesia has come to be the regular designation for the society of Christian believers, but is employed in two distinct senses. First in a local sense, to denote the body of Christians in a particular place or district, as in Jerusalem (Acts 5:11; 8:1), in Antioch (Acts 13:1; 15:22), in Caesarea (Acts 18:22)—a usage which reappears in the Apocalypse in the letters to the Seven Churches. Then in a wider and what may be called a universal sense, to denote the sum total of existing local churches (Acts 9:31 the Revised Version (British and American)), which are thus regarded as forming one body.

3. In the Pauline Epistles:

In the Pauline Epistles both of these usages are frequent. Thus the apostle writes of «the church of the Thessalonians» (1 Thessalonians 1:1), «the church of God which is at Corinth» (1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1). Indeed he localizes and particularizes the word yet further by applying it to a single Christian household or to little groups of believers who were accustomed to assemble in private houses for worship and fellowship (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1:2)—an employment of the word which recalls the saying of Jesus in Matthew 18:20. The universal use, again, may be illustrated by the contrast he draws between Jews and Greeks on the one hand and the church of God on the other (1 Corinthians 10:32), and by the declaration that God has set in the church apostles, prophets, and teachers (1 Corinthians 12:28).

But Paul in his later epistles has another use of ekklesia peculiar to himself, which may be described as the ideal use. The church, now, is the body of which Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18,24). It is the medium through which God’s manifold wisdom and eternal purpose are to be made known not only to all men, but to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:9-11). It is the bride of whom He is the heavenly Bridegroom, the bride for whom in His love He gave Himself up, that He might cleanse and sanctify her and might present her to Himself a glorious church, a church without blemish, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Ephesians 5:25). This church clearly is not the actual church as we know it on earth, with its divisions, its blemishes, its shortcomings in faith and love and obedience. It is the holy and catholic church that is to be when the Bridegroom has completed the process of lustration, having fully «cleansed it by the washing of water with the word.» It is the ideal which the actual church must keep before it and strive after, the ideal up to which it shall finally be guided by that Divine in-working power which is able to conform the body to the head, to make the bride worthy of the Bridegroom, so that God may receive in the church the glory that is His (Ephesians 3:21).

$ IV. The Notes of the Church.$

1. Faith:

Although a systematic doctrine of the church is neither to be found nor to be looked for in the New Testament, certain characteristic notes or features of the Christian society are brought before us from which we can form some conception as to its nature. The fundamental note is faith. It was to Peter confessing his faith in Christ that the promise came, «Upon this rock I will build my church» (Matthew 16:18). Until Jesus found a man full of faith He could not begin to build His church; and unless Peter had been the prototype of others whose faith was like his own, the walls of the church would never have risen into the air. Primarily the church is a society not of thinkers or workers or even of worshippers, but of believers. Hence, we find that «believers» or «they that believed» is constantly used as a synonym for the members of the Christian society (e.g. Acts 2:44; 4:32; 5:14; 1 Timothy 4:12). Hence, too, the rite of baptism, which from the first was the condition of entrance into the apostolic church and the seal of membership in it, was recognized as preeminently the sacrament of faith and of confession (Acts 2:41; 8:12,36; Romans 6:4; 1 Corinthians 12:13). This church-founding and church-building faith, of which baptism was the seal, was much more than an act of intellectual assent. It was a personal laying hold of the personal Saviour, the bond of a vital union between Christ and the believer which resulted in nothing less than a new creation (Romans 6:4; 8:1,2; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

2. Fellowship:

If faith in Christ is the fundamental note of the Christian society, the next is fellowship among the members. This follows from the very nature of faith as just described; for if each believer is vitally joined to Christ, all believers must stand in a living relation to one another. In Paul’s favorite figure, Christians are members one of another because they are members in particular of the body of Christ (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:27). That the Christian society was recognized from the first as a fellowship appears from the name «the brethren,» which is so commonly applied to those who belong to it. In Ac the name is of very frequent occurrence (Acts 9:30, etc.), and it is employed by Paul in the epistles of every period of his career (1 Thessalonians 4:10, etc.). Similar testimony lies in the fact that «the koinonia» (English Versions «fellowship») takes its place in the earliest meetings of the church side by side with the apostles’ teaching and the breaking of bread and prayers (Acts 2:42). See COMMUNION. The koinonia at first carried with it a community of goods (Acts 2:44; 4:32), but afterward found expression in the fellowship of ministration (2 Corinthians 8:4) and in such acts of Christian charity as are inspired by Christian faith (Hebrews 13:16). In the Lord’s Supper, the other sacrament of the primitive church, the fellowship of Christians received its most striking and most sacred expression. For if baptism was especially the sacrament of faith, the Supper was distinctively the sacrament of love and fellowship—a communion or common participation in Christ’s death and its fruits which carried with it a communion of hearts and spirits between the participants themselves.

3. Unity:

Although local congregations sprang up wherever the gospel was preached, and each of these enjoyed an independent life of its own, the unity of the church was clearly recognized from the first. The intercourse between Jerusalem and Antioch (Acts 11:22; 15:2), the conference held in the former city (Acts 15:6), the right hand of fellowship given by the elder apostles to Paul and Barnabas (Galatians 2:9), the untiring efforts made by Paul himself to forge strong links of love and mutual service between Gentileand Jewish Christians (2 Corinthians 8)—all these things serve to show how fully it was realized that though there were many churches, there was but one church. This truth comes to its complete expression in the epistles of Paul’s imprisonment, with their vision of the church as a body of which Christ is the head, a body animated by one spirit, and having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4; Colossians 1:18; 3:11). And this unity, it is to be noticed, is conceived of as a visible unity. Jesus Himself evidently conceived it so when He prayed for His disciples that they all might be one, so that the world might believe (John 17:21). And the unity of which Paul writes and for which he strove is a unity that finds visible expression. Not, it is true, in any uniformity of outward polity, but through the manifestation of a common faith in acts of mutual love (Ephesians 4:3,13; 2 Corinthians 9).

4. Consecration:

Another dominant note of the New Testament church lay in the consecration of its members. «Saints» is one of the most frequently recurring designations for them that we find. As thus employed, the word has in the first place an objective meaning; the sainthood of the Christian society consisted in its separation from the world by God’s electing grace; in this respect it has succeeded to the prerogatives of Israel under the old covenant. The members of the church, as Peter said, are «an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession» (1 Peter 2:9). But side by side with this sense of an outward and priestly consecration, the flame «saints» carried within it the thought of an ethical holiness—a holiness consisting, not merely in a status determined by relation to Christ, but in an actual and practical saintliness, a consecration to God that finds expression in character and conduct. No doubt the members of the church are called saints even when the living evidences of sainthood are sadly lacking. Writing to the Corinthian church in which he found so much to blame, Paul addresses its members by this title (1 Corinthians 1:2; compare 1 Corinthians 6:11). But he does so for other than formal reasons—not only because consecration to God is their outward calling and status as believers; but also because he is assured that a work of real sanctification is going on, and must continue to go on, in their bodies and their spirits which are His. For those who are in Christ are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and those to whom has come the separating and consecrating call (2 Corinthians 6:17) must cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1). Paul looks upon the members of the church, just as he looks upon the church itself, with a prophetic eye; he sees them not as they are, but as they are to be. And in his view it is «by the washing of water with the word,» in other words by the progressive sanctification of its members, that the church itself is to be sanctified and cleansed, until Christ can present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Ephesians 5:26,27).

5. Power:

Yet another note of the church was spiritual power. When the name ekklesia was given by Jesus to the society He came to found, His promise to Peter included the bestowal of the gift of power (Matthew 16:18,19). The apostle was to receive the «power of the keys,» i.e. he was to exercise the privilege of opening the doors of the kingdom of heaven to the Jew (Acts 2:41) and to the Gentile (Acts 10:34-38; 15:7). He was further to have the power of binding and loosing, i.e. of forbidding and permitting; in other words he was to possess the functions of a legislator within the spiritual sphere of the church. The legislative powers then bestowed upon Peter personally as the reward of his believing confession were afterward conferred upon the disciples generally (Matthew 18:18; compare Matthew 18:1 and also Matthew 18:19,20), and at the conference in Jerusalem were exercised by the church as a whole (Acts 15:4,22). The power to open the gates of the kingdom of heaven was expanded into the great missionary commission, «Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations» (Matthew 28:19)—a commission that was understood by the apostolic church to be addressed not to the eleven apostles only, but to all Christ’s followers without distinction (Acts 8:4, etc.). To the Christian society there thus belonged the double power of legislating for its own members and of opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers. But these double functions of teaching and government were clearly recognized as delegated gifts. The church taught the nations because Christ had bid her go and do it. She laid down laws for her own members because He had conferred upon her authority to bind and to loose. But in every exercise of her authority she relied upon Him from whom she derived it. She believed that Christ was with her alway, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:20), and that the power with which she was endued was power from on high (Luke 24:49).

$ V. Organization of the Church.$

It seems evident from the New Testament that Jesus gave His disciples no formal prescriptions for the organization of the church. In the first days after Pentecost they had no thought of separating themselves from the religious life of Israel, and would not realize the need of any distinct organization of their own. The temple-worship was still adhered to (Acts 2:46; 3:1), though it was supplemented by apostolic teaching, by prayer and fellowship, and by the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42,46). Organization was a thing of gradual growth suggested by emerging needs, and the differentiation of function among those who were drawn into the service of the church was due to the difference in the gifts bestowed by God upon the church members (1 Corinthians 12:28). At first the Twelve themselves, as the immediate companions of Jesus throughout His ministry and the prime witnesses of the Christian facts and especially of the resurrection (compare Acts 1:21,22), were the natural leaders and teachers of the community. Apart from this, the earliest evidence of anything like organization is found in the distinction drawn by the Twelve themselves between the ministry of the word and the ministry of tables (Acts 6:2,4)—a distinction which was fully recognized by Paul (Romans 12:6,8; 1 Corinthians 1:17; 9:14; 12:28), though he enlarged the latter type of ministry so as to include much more than the care of the poor. The two kinds of ministry, as they meet us at the first, may broadly be distinguished as the general and prophetic on the one hand, the local and practical on the other.

1. The General and Prophetic Ministry:

From Acts 6:1 we see that the Twelve recognized that they were Divinely called as apostles to proclaim the gospel; and Paul repeatedly makes the same claim for himself (1 Corinthians 1:17; 9:16; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 4:1; Colossians 1:23). But apostle ship was by no means confined to the Twelve (Acts 14:14; Romans 16:7; compare Didache 11 4); and an itinerant ministry of the word was exercised in differing ways by prophets, evangelists, and teachers, as well as by apostles (1 Corinthians 12:28,29; Ephesians 4:11). The fact that Paul himself is variously described as an apostle, a prophet, a teacher (Acts 13:1; 14:14; 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11) appears to show that the prophetic ministry was not a ministry of stated office, but one of special gifts and functions. The apostle carried the good tidings of salvation to the ignorant and unbelieving (Galatians 2:7,8), the prophet (in the more specific sense of the word) was a messenger to the church (1 Corinthians 14:4,22); and while the teacher explained and applied truth that was already possessed (Hebrews 5:12), the prophet was recognized by those who had spiritual discernment (1 Corinthians 2:15; 14:29; 1 John 4:1) as the Divinely employed medium of fresh revelations (1 Corinthians 14:25,30,31; Ephesians 3:5; compare Didache 4 1).

2. The Local and Practical Ministry:

The earliest examples of this are the Seven of Jerusalem who were entrusted with the care of the «daily ministration» (Acts 6:1). With the growth of the church, however, other needs arose, and the local ministry is seen developing in two distinct directions. First there is the presbyter or elder, otherwise known as the bishop or overseer, whose duties, while still local, are chiefly of a spiritual kind (Acts 20:17,28,35; 1 Timothy 3:2,5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:2). See BISHOP. Next there are the deacon and the deaconess (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:8-13), whose work appears to have lain largely in house to house visitation and a practical ministry to the poor and needy (1 Timothy 5:8-11). The necessities of government, of discipline, and of regular and stated instruction had thus brought it to pass that within New Testament times some of the functions of the general ministry of apostles and prophets were discharged by a local ministry. The general ministry, however, was still recognized to be the higher of the two. Paul addresses the presbyter- bishops of Ephesus in a tone of lofty spiritual authority (Acts 20:17ff). And according to the Didache, a true prophet when he visits a church is to take precedence over the resident bishops and deacons (Didache 10 7; 13 3).

See CHURCH GOVERNMENT.

LITERATURE.

Hort, The Christian Ecclesia; Lindsay, The Church and the Ministry in the Early Cents., lects I-V; Hatch, Bampton Lectures; Gwatkin, Early Church History to AD 313; Kostlin, article «Kirche» in See Hauck-Herzog, Realencyklopadie fur protestantische Theologie und Kirche; Armitage Robinson, article «Church» in Encyclopedia Biblica; Fairbairn Christ in Modern Theology, 513-34; Dargan, Ecclesiology; Denney, Studies in Theology, Ch viii.

J. C. Lambert

What is Church? This is one of those questions to which the answer seems obvious until one starts to think seriously about the answer. Think about it… what is your answer? That building on the corner with the steeple?  The body of Christ? All believers down through the ages? The people you fellowship with? All of the above? While each of these have some measure of truth depending on the context; the English word “church” bears scant resemblance to the Greek word it represents.

My last post was considerably longer than usual and generated several suggestions that I try to keep the length of my posts to a more manageable level. Unfortunately I am trying to cover topics or points of view, which are often misunderstood or poorly represented in today’s world. As a result they deserve in-depth coverage.

A case in point is today’s topic: “What is Church?” In order to do this subject justice, and keep my readers happy, (is that possible?;-)  I am going to cover this as a multi-part series. In today’s post I am going to cover the origin of our English word, and introduce the Greek word which the New Testament uses: the word ekklesia (ἐκκλησία)

Those of you who have read my book know that the meaning of certain New Testament words seem to be obscured by transliteration as opposed to translation. Transliteration is simply rewriting a  word from one language, using the spelling and pronunciation norms of another. Some common examples of transliterated words in the New Testament are baptism, apostle, and Christ. The Greek words baptizo, apostolos, and christos mean dip, immerse or wash; ambassador or emissary; and king, respectively. As you can see, transliteration does nothing to help a reader understand the author’s intent.

The English word church does not seem to bear any resemblance to ekklesia. As a result we might take comfort in the fact that at least it does not seem to be a transliteration, but we would be wrong. As we will see shortly

What is Church in English?

As a starting point we should consider what an English dictionary can tell us about the meaning of our word. Dictionary.com gives us the following for church:

1. a building for public Christian worship.
2. public worship of God or a religious service in such a building: to attend church regularly.
3. ( sometimes initial capital letter ) the whole body of Christian believers; Christendom.
4. ( sometimes initial capital letter ) any division of this body professing the same creed and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical authority; a Christian denomination: the Methodist Church.
5. that part of the whole Christian body, or of a particular denomination, belonging to the same city, country, nation, etc.

Most serious Christians will recognize instantly that while many people may think of a building when they hear the word church; this is not the way the Bible uses the term. When asked “what is church?” they rightly understand that the term is a reference to a group of people who have given their allegiance to Jesus Christ—whoops—I mean King Jesus. In spite of this, few who are part of the Church understand the full significance of this reference. Our goal is to fully explore the significance of this over our next several posts. For now you should simply keep in mind that none of the dictionary definitions convey this thought.

The fact that the Spanish word for church, “iglesia” is clearly a transliteration (as it is in many languages) is an indication that some attempt has been made historically to obscure its meaning. This indication is intensified when we realize that the English “church” derives from the German “Kirche” which is a shortened form of two Greek words; “kyriakon doma” (κυριακόν δῶμα).

kyriakon is found twice in the New Testament; once in 1 Corinthians 11:20 and once in Revelation 1:10, and in neither case is it translated as “church.” In both cases it is properly rendered as “Lord’s”; first referring to the “Lord’s supper,” and secondly to the “Lord’s day.” It is an adjective meaning “belonging to a lord.”

Doma, which was dropped by the time the term made its way into German and English, (and a host of Teutonic languages) means “house top” or “roof” and is the origin of our word “dome.” It is found seven times in the New Testament. (Matthew 10:27, Matthew 24:17, Mark 13:15, Luke 5:19, Luke 12:3, Luke 17:31, Acts 10:9) It seems that this word eventually came to represent not just the roof, but the entire building, hence kyriakon doma means “building of a lord,” or “the lord’s building.”

It should come as no surprise that the primary dictionary meaning, and the understanding of most people, is that the church is a building; it has meant that since its adoption into the English language. It is somewhat ironic that the English word “church” is indeed a transliteration from the Greek, but not of the word used by our king’s ambassadors (often transliterated as “Christ’s apostles”) to represent the thing we think of as the “Church.”

What is Church in Greek?

So what did the Greek word ekklesia mean? Its denotation is derived from two Greek words meaning “called out,” and many would have us to believe that this is the sense intended by its use in the New Testament. “We are the Church” equals “we are called out of the world.” While this is a true statement, it may not be the meaning of the word. As we learned earlier we must decide how it was used, before coming to our conclusion. To this end we are assisted by the Encyclopedia Britannica which gives:

Ecclesia, Greek Ekklēsia, (“gathering of those summoned”), in ancient Greece, assembly of citizens in a city-state…. the Ecclesia became coterminous with the body of male citizens 18 years of age or over and had final control over policy, including the right to hear appeals in the hēliaia (public court), take part in the election of archons (chief magistrates), and confer special privileges on individuals…. Assemblies of this sort existed in most Greek city-states, continuing to function throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods, though under the Roman Empire their powers gradually atrophied.

Put simply, an ekklesia was a gathering of citizens to exercise their authority. We are further told that the word eventually became coterminous (having the same boundaries or extent in time, space, or meaning)with the citizenry. In other words by the time of our king’s arrival, ekklesia had become a term that referred to a collective body of citizens excising their authority.

Is this what you think of when you hear the word church? Hmm…

In our next post we will look at how the the Greek and Hebrew Old Testaments shaped the understanding of the New Testament authors as they used the word ekklesia
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The following is not my work, but there is a powerful truth held within. (If it is your work let me know).

What does the word “Church” mean and from where did it come from? The scriptures?

No.

An interesting quote from the 1915 “Gospel Advocate” (Pg 589) says:

“The word ‘Church’ is really not a translation of any word that was used by either Christ or His Apostles, but is the Anglican form of a different word which Roman Catholicism substituted in place of the word used by Christ and His Apostles… It is in our english scriptures by order of King James, who instructed his translators of 1611 not to translate the word “Ecclesia” by either ‘Congregation’ or ‘Assembly’ but to use the word ‘Church’ instead of a translation.”

The word “Church” is neither Hebrew nor Greek. In point of fact, when these languages were translated into English Bibles, the word “Church” was already in existence. The greek word used in the renewed covenant for “Church” is “Ekklesia” which basically means “Called Out ones”.

Ekklesia does not refer to a building, but rather a group of people. Proper English translations should read: Congregation, Assembly or Group. Strangely in Acts 19:32, 39 and 41, Ekklesia is the word that is translated as “Assembly”, but in other passages, it is translated as “Church”.

“Church” is commonly defined as :

“A building for public worship, especially Christian worship: The company of all christians as a spiritual body.”

This doesn’t really tell us anything concerning its original definition, meaning and usage however. What’s even stranger?

Ekklesia is also spelt as “Ecclesia” and IS in our English dictionary. So why didn’t later prints of the Scriptures just use the actual word Ecclesia instead of the word “Church”?

The Bible “scholars” say:

The word “Church” is derived from the Greek “Kryiakon” meaning “The Lords House”.

This sounds plausible at first, but there is just one problem.  The greek word “Kryiakon” is not used the scriptures.  The greek word “Ekklesia” is.

Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says:

The Etymology of this word is generally assumed to be from the Greek, “Kurious Oikos” (House of God); but this is most improbable, as the word existed in all celtic dialects long before the introduction of the Greek.

No doubt the word means ‘A Cricle’. The places of worship among the Germans and Celtic Nations were always circular [Witness: Circular Stonehenge – one of the most Ancient stone megaliths on earth]. Compare Anglo-Saxn ‘Circe’ – A small church with ‘circol’. A Circle.

The circle represents something which is continuous. The calendar by which these organisations are lead are this.

The Oxford English Dictionary says:

(a) Cirice, Cyrice, Chiriche, Churchiche, Chereche
(b) Circe, Cyrce, Chyrce, Cirke, etc., etc… “The ulterior derivation has been keenly disputed.”

Ulterior derivation? – What has been intentionally hidden from its origin….

What would need to be disputed? According to the Oxford Dictionary…

Of English Etymology.
The word “Church” comes from old English “Cirice” or Middle English “Circe”, a word that clearly seems be cognate with Circe.

Cognate means to have the same linguistic source as another language.

Yawn right? … But then it starts to get interesting….

“We also know that the dialectal form of Circe (also found in Greek) was Kirke and Etymologists (those who study of the history of words) are agreed that the Dutch word for “Church”, “Kerk”, the German “Kirche” and the Scots “Kirk” all come from the old Saxons Kirika”, another cognate with “Kirke” or “Circe”.

So what or who is Kirke/Circe and why would King James order a derivative of this name to replace the true name Yahshua used to identify His followers?

Kirke (or Circe)…or as she would be called in English today … “Church” was a Greek goddess Pharmakeia (a witch or sorceress) who lived on the Island of Aiaia. (Aiaia is the most ancient form of the name “Gaia”, the pagan goddess of fertility). She was the daughter of the Sun god Helios, and had the power to change men into lions, wolves and especially swine. The animals would retain their human senses but be trapped in animal bodies.

The Greeks attribute the invention of the “circus” to her. They claim it was done to hour her father, the sun… hence the term “Cirque De Soleil” in French, or in English, “Church of the Sun”.

Excerpt from an adaptation of “The Adventures of Ulysses”

“Being entered, she placed them in chairs of the state, and set before them mean and honey, and smyrna wine, but mixed with baneful drugs of powerful enchantment. When they had eaten of these, and drunk of her cup, she touched them with her charming rod and straight away they were transformed into swine, having bodies of swine, the bristles and snout, and grunting noise of that animal; Only they still reained the minds of men, which made them more to lament their brutish transformation.” – Adventures of Ullyses by Charles Lamb.

And just how did the Greeks picture this goddess?

With a Golden cup in one hand filled with wine and mixed with drugs to seduce and control warriors and kings, transforming them into man-like “animals”.

Sound kind of familiar? It should. John, while on prison on the island of Patmos, saw a vision of a similar woman.

Revelation 17:1-3, 4a-5
 1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment and doom of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,
2 she with whom the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality, and the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”

4a …[and she was] holding in her hand a gold cup full of the abominations and the filth of her [sexual] immorality.
5 And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

Revelation 18:23a
23a ….because all the nations were deceived and misled by your sorcery [your magic spells and poisonous charm].

Sorcery? Earlier in this article “Circe” was described as the goddess Pharmakeia. Interestingly enough, John uses the same word Pharmakeia which we see translated as the word “Sorcery”.

Even stranger is that according to some Greek accounts, Church (Circe) died and was buried in the Pharmacussi Island group.. which is visible from the Isle of Patmos where John was imprisoned.

The words “Pharmacy” and “Pharmaceuticals” come from this word. Stong’s concordance’s first defintion of “Pharmakeia” is medicine. As we do not takes John’s vision to be literal…there is no liternal woman with a cup running around…it must be spiritual.

Circe / Church entices people with spiritual drugs… “Feel good doctrines” … Hallucinations of special visions and powers… All of the things which drugs do.

Kirke is also the word for “Hawk”… an unclean bird of pray by Torah standards.

Revelation 18:2
2 And he shouted with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen [certainly to be destroyed] is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a dungeon haunted by every unclean spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird.

Fornications.

She has joined herself to the world leaders, in order to conquer others of different beliefs that are otherwise unaffected by her “sorceries”.

Revelation 18:24
And in her was found the blood of the prophets, and of the saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Leaders like Constantine, who had “a vision” that he was to conquer in the sign of the cross…

Witch hunts killed many, many, many innocent women to appease the church’s god…. During the “crusades” many innocent people and naive followers of church died for church’s god.

At it’s outset Chattell slavery was defended by church and her followers… the murder, rape and lynching of innocent human beings… didn’t bother her and her daughters one bit.

Today, many right wing conservative Evangelicals beleive that the war in the middle east is the “will of god”, whole thousands of innocent people are killed every single day.

Be warned. Church’s bloody history will be repaid her and ALL WHO FOLLOW HER. I have heard it said..

The Roman Catholic Church is “Mustery Babylon” and the “Reformation” was fulfillment of the scriptures that said “Come out of her My people”.

For you who agree with that, you would do well to remember that Mystery Babylon is the MOTHER OF HARLOTS. ALL OF THE DAUGHTERS ARE HARLOTS.  (At least 38,000 denominations full of them). They may have different first names, but they still share their mothers maiden name….

They ALL follow her and have a common thread. The calendar they use is NOT the calendar of scripture. Want to know more? Click here.