What is the origin of the word church

• Abkhaz: ауахәа́ма (awaxʷáma)
• Afrikaans: kerk (af)
• Albanian: kishë (sq) f
• Amharic: ቤተ፡ክርስቲያን (betä krəstiyan) (Christian), ደብር (däbr)
• Apache:

  Western Apache: kįh biyiʼ daʼchʼokąąhí

• Arabic: كَنِيسَة‎ f (kanīsa), كَنَائِس‎ pl (kanāʔis)

  Cypriot Arabic: كنيسة‎ (knise)

  Egyptian Arabic: كنيسة‎ f (kinīsa), كنايس‎ pl (kanāyes)

  Hijazi Arabic: كنيسة‎ f (kanīsa)

• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ‎

• Armenian: եկեղեցի (hy) (ekełecʿi)
• Aromanian: bãsearicã f, bisearicã f
• Asturian: ilesia (ast) f
• Avar: килиса (kilisa)
• Azerbaijani: kilsə (az)
• Bashkir: сиркәү (sirkäw)
• Basque: eliza (eu)
• Belarusian: царква́ f (carkvá), касцёл m (kascjól) (Catholic)
• Bengali: গির্জা (girja)
• Breton: iliz (br) f
• Bulgarian: цъ́рква (bg) f (cǎ́rkva), че́рква (bg) f (čérkva)
• Burmese: အသင်းတော်ကို (a.sang:taukui)
• Catalan: església (ca) f
• Central Melanau: gerija
• Chechen: килс (kils)
• Cherokee: ᏗᎦᎳᏫᏍᏗᎢ (digalawisdii)
• Chichewa: tchalitchi
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 教會／教会 (gaau³ wui^6-2) (Christian church), 教堂 (gaau³ tong^4-2) (any religion)

  Dungan: мё (mi͡o), сы (sɨ) (mosque)

  Hakka: 教會／教会 (kau-fi)

  Mandarin: 教會／教会 (zh) (jiàohuì) (Christian church), 教堂 (zh) (jiàotáng) (any religion)

  Min Bei: 教會／教会 (ga̿u-hō)

  Min Dong: 教會／教会 (gáu-huôi)

  Min Nan: 教會／教会 (zh-min-nan) (kàu-hōe) (Christian church), 教堂 (zh-min-nan) (kàu-tn̂g) (any religion)

  Wu: 教會／教会 (jiau hhue)

• Chuvash: чиркӳ (čirk̬ü)
• Classical Nahuatl: teōpan, teōpancalli
• Cornish: eglos f
• Corsican: ghjesgia (co) f
• Crimean Tatar: kilse
• Czech: kostel (cs) m, chrám (cs) m, cerkev f (small; orthodox)
• Dalmatian: basalca f
• Danish: kirke (da) c
• Dargwa: киласа (kilasa)
• Dutch: kerk (nl) f
• Esperanto: kirko, preĝejo (generic term)
• Estonian: kirik (et)
• Farefare: wẽndeem, yɩndeem
• Faroese: kirkja (fo) f
• Finnish: kirkko (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: églésé f
• French: église (fr) f
• Friulian: glesie f
• Galician: igrexa (gl) f
• Gallurese: ghjesgia f
• Georgian: ეკლესია (eḳlesia)
• German: Kirche (de) f

  Alemannic German: Chilche f, Chile f, Kìrech

• Greek: εκκλησία (el) f (ekklisía), ναός (el) m (naós)

  Ancient: ἐκκλησία f (ekklēsía), κυριακόν n (kuriakón)

• Greenlandic: oqaluffik
• Gujarati: ચર્ચ (carc), દેવળ n (devaḷ)
• Haitian Creole: legliz
• Hausa: coci
• Hawaiian: hale pule
• Hebrew: כנסייה כְּנֵסִיָּה‎ f (knesiyá)
• Hindi: चर्च (hi) (carc), गिरजा (hi) m (girjā), गिर्जा (hi) m (girjā), गिरजाघर (hi) m (girjāghar), गिर्जाघर (hi) m (girjāghar), कलीसा (kalīsā), कलीसिया f (kalīsiyā)
• Hungarian: templom (hu)
• Hunsrik: Kerrich f
• Icelandic: kirkja (is) f
• Ido: kirko (io)
• Interlingua: ecclesia (ia)
• Irish: eaglais f, teampall m, teach pobail m

  Old Irish: eclais f, tempul m

• Istriot: cesa f
• Italian: chiesa (it) f
• Ivatan: timban
• Japanese: 教会 (ja) (きょうかい, kyōkai), 聖堂 (ja) (せいどう, seidō), 教会堂 (きょうかいどう, kyōkaidō)
• Jarai: sang jơnum
• Javanese: ꦒꦿꦺꦗ (jv) (gréja)
• Kalmyk: чонҗ (chonj)
• Kannada: ಚರ್ಚು (kn) (carcu)
• Kapampangan: pisamban
• Karachay-Balkar: килиса (kilisa), клиса (klisa)
• Kashaya: ʔaya·yo hca
• Kashubian: kòscół
• Kazakh: шіркеу (kk) (şırkeu)
• Khmer: វិហារ (km) (vihiə), វិហារគ្រិស្ត (vihiə krɨh)
• Komi-Permyak: вичку (vićku)
• Konkani: इगर्जे (igarje)
• Korean: 교회(敎會) (ko) (gyohoe), 성당(聖堂) (ko) (seongdang), 예배당(禮拜堂) (ko) (yebaedang), 례배당(禮拜堂) (ryebaedang) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کەنیسە‎ (ckb) (kenîse)

  Northern Kurdish: dêr (ku), kenîse (ku), xaçxane

• Kyrgyz: чиркөө (ky) (çirköö)
• Ladin: dlieja f
• Lao: ໂບດ (lo) (bōt)
• Latin: ecclesia (la) f
• Latvian: baznīca (lv) f
• Laz: ოხვამე (oxvame), ოხვამბე (oxvambe)
• Lezgi: клиса (klisa)
• Ligurian: geija f
• Lithuanian: bažnyčia (lt) f
• Lombard: giesa, gesa (lmo)
• Louisiana Creole French: légliz
• Low German: kark
• Luxembourgish: Kierch (lb) f
• Macedonian: црква (mk) f (crkva)
• Malagasy: fiangonana (mg)
• Malay: gereja (ms), kelisa, kanisah

  Indonesian: gereja (id)

• Malayalam: പള്ളി (ml) (paḷḷi)
• Maltese: knisja, tempju
• Manx: agglish f
• Maori: whare karakia
• Mari: черке (čerke)
• Megleno-Romanian: bisearică f
• Middle English: chirche
• Mingrelian: ოხვამე (oxvame)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: сүм (mn) (süm)

• Moore: wẽn-doogo
• Mòcheno: kirch f
• Navajo: ééʼneishoodii bikin
• Nepali: चर्च (ne) (carca), गिर्जाघर (ne) (girjāghar)
• Norman: égllise f (Guernsey), êglyise f (Jersey), êglyîthe f (Jersey), eglyiz f (Sark)
• North Frisian: (Mooring) schörk f, (Föhr-Amrum) sark f, (Sylt), Sērk f
• Northern Sami: girku, kirku
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kirke (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: kyrkje f

• Nupe: cócì
• Occitan: gleisa
• Ojibwe: anama’ewigamig
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: црькꙑ f (crĭky)

• Old East Slavic: божьница f (božĭnica)
• Old English: ċiriċe f
• Old Norse: kirkja f
• Old Portuguese: ygreja f
• Ossetian: аргъуан (arǧwan)
• Papiamentu: misa, iglesia
• Pashto: کنيسه‎ f (kanisá), کليسا‎ f (kalisã)
• Persian: کِلیسا‎ (fa) (kelisâ)
• Piemontese: cesa f, gesia f
• Pite Sami: girrko
• Plautdietsch: Kjoakj f
• Polabian: carťai
• Polish: kościół (pl) m inan (generic), cerkiew (pl) f (Orthodox or Greek Catholic), zbór (pl) m inan (Evangelical)
• Portuguese: igreja (pt) f, templo (pt) m
• Potawatomi: nume´wgumuk
• Punjabi: ਗਿਰਜਾ (girjā)
• Quechua: iñi wasi
• Romani: khangeri f
• Romanian: biserică (ro) f
• Romansch: baselgia f
• Russian: це́рковь (ru) f (cérkovʹ), це́рква (ru) f (cérkva) (dated or regional), костёл (ru) m (kostjól) (Roman Catholic), ки́рха (ru) m (kírxa) (Lutheran)
• Rusyn: це́рьков f (cérʹkov), косто́л m (kostól) (Catholic), косте́л m (kostél) (Catholic)
• Samoan: falesa
• Sardinian: cresia f
• Saterland Frisian: Säärke f
• Scots: kirk
• Scottish Gaelic: eaglais f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: цр̑ква f

  Roman: cȓkva (sh) f

• Sicilian: cresia (scn) f, chesia (scn) f, chiesia (scn) f
• Silesian: kośćůł m
• Sinhalese: පල්ලිය (si) (palliya)
• Skolt Sami: ceerkav
• Slovak: kostol (sk) m
• Slovene: cerkev (sl) f
• Somali: kiniisad
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: cerkwja f

  Upper Sorbian: cyrkej f

• Sotho: kereke
• Spanish: iglesia (es) f
• Svan: ლაჴუ̂ამ (laqûam)
• Swahili: kanisa (sw) class ma
• Swedish: kyrka (sv) c
• Tagalog: simbahan (tl)
• Tajik: калисо (tg) (kaliso)
• Tamil: தேவாலயம் (ta) (tēvālayam)
• Taos: mę̀sotu’úna
• Tatar: чиркәу (çirkäw)
• Telugu: చర్చి (te) (carci)
• Tetum: uma kreda
• Thai: โบสถ์ (th) (bòot), โบสถ์คริสต์
• Tigrinya: ቤተ ክርስትያን (betä kərsətyan) (Christian), ቅዳሴ (ḳədase)
• Tlingit: xh’agáax’ daakahídi
• Tok Pisin: sios
• Tongan: siasi
• Turkish: kilise (tr)
• Turkmen: buthaana, buthana (tk)
• Tuvan: дуган (dugan)
• Udi: ҝерҝецӏ (gʲergʲec̣)
• Udmurt: черк (ćerk)
• Ukrainian: це́рква (uk) f (cérkva), костьо́л (uk) m (kostʹól) (Catholic)
• Urdu: کلیسا‎ (kalīsā), کنیسہ‎ (kanīsā), گرجا‎ (ur) m (girjā)
• Uyghur: چېركاۋ‎ (ug) (chërkaw), ئىبادەتخانا‎ (ibadetxana)
• Uzbek: cherkov (uz), butxona (uz)
• Venetian: cexa (vec) f, céxa f
• Vietnamese: nhà thờ (vi)
• Volapük: glüg (vo)
• Walloon: eglijhe (wa) f, gléjhe (wa) f (old)
• Welsh: eglwys (cy) f, llan f, bangeibr
• West Frisian: tsjerke c
• Western Panjabi: گرجا‎ (pnb)
• Yakut: таҥара дьиэтэ (tañara jiete), сиэркэп (sierkep)
• Yiddish: קירך‎ f (kirkh), קלויסטער‎ m (kloyster), צערקווע‎ (tserkve), תּיפֿלה‎ (tifle) (pejorative), טומאה‎ (tume) (pejorative)
• Yoruba: ṣọ́ọ̀ṣì
• Yup’ik: agayuvik
• Zazaki: dêr
• Zhuang: gyauvei

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.

Ask people about the church, and most will tell you where the church is. It’s on the corner of Main and Fourth — as if the church is the building in which a group of people meets.

Some may tell you the denomination of the church. It is a Methodist church, a Presbyterian church, or maybe “a holy roller church.” Don’t bother asking what a holy roller church is. For that matter, asking the difference between the Methodists and the Presbyterians will probably not yield an adequate answer, either.

I once invited a man to visit our church and he immediately replied that he had his own church, which was obviously meant to put me off. It didn’t. I said, “Great! Which church is that?”

He seemed surprised by the question and I could see he was searching his memory for a name. The best he could do was: “Uh, it’s the one on Parkman Road … uh, just before you get to the overpass.”

I said, “You mean the Nazarene Church?”

His eyes lit up, he pointed is finger at me and said, “That’s the one!”

It was like I’d won the prize on “Let’s Make a Deal.”

The word “church” has a complicated history. It is probably derived from Old English “cirice,” which in turn came from the German “kirika,” which likely came from the Greek “kuriake,” which means “of the Lord.” Some scholars dispute this, saying that our English word derives from the Anglo-Saxon “kirke,” which in turn comes from the Latin “circus” (meaning “circle” or “ring”) because early congregants gathered in a circle.

Somehow, the idea that the words “church” and “circus” are related seems fitting. Sometimes, the church is like a circus. However, the oldest word for church is completely unrelated to any of these derivations.

The oldest word for church, the word that St. Paul himself used, is the Greek word “ecclesia,” from which we get the terms “ecclesial” and “ecclesiastical.” The word was in use centuries before the Christian church appeared on the scene. It referred to a socio-political gathering of citizens, who were called together to attend to the concerns of their city.

The term’s political associations probably had little to do with its use by the followers of Jesus. Those earliest followers probably borrowed the word from the popular Greek translation of the Old Testament, where it referred to Israel’s sacred assemblies, called together to worship or conduct business. It was natural for the first followers of Jesus, nearly all of whom were Jews, to borrow the familiar term for their assemblies.

Nevertheless, as news spread across the Mediterranean that a potential rival to Caesar had appeared, and that his followers were gathering in ecclesia, the ancient meaning of the word must surely have come to mind. That the Christians (Christ-ones or Christ-supporters) were meeting in socio-political gatherings across the empire caused the emperor and his prefects to see the church as a threat and attempt to abolish it.

Few people see the church as a threat today, though many politicians see it as a resource to be leveraged or an obstacle to be avoided in the acquisition of power. Some within the church have encouraged such thinking as a way to snatch at least the leftover crumbs of power. This betrays a misunderstanding of the church that is based on a category error.

Society at large — the “world” in biblical parlance — is not the dominant category into which the church must negotiate a place. On the contrary, St. Paul would say the church is the principal reality the world and society are called to join. In any biblical understanding, the church is the future.

It is a general election year, which means the church sometimes looks more like a circus than an ecclesia. The best thing the church can do for society is to be the church as Jesus intended and as his apostles instructed. Then the world will see what a just society looks like: a society where people are respected; burdens are shared; talents are used and not exploited; the poor are valued and the rich are helpful. Then the church will become the prototype of what the world can and, by God’s grace, will be.

Shayne Looper is the pastor of Lockwood Community Church in Coldwater, Michigan. His blog, “The Way Home,” is at shaynelooper.com.