Faith and Knowledge

Bible Word Study [Church, Ecclesia] : ἐκκλησία



GREEK BACKGROUND.

It is made up from the preposition ‘ek' meaning ‘out of’ and the verb ‘kalew’ meaning ‘to call’ or ‘summon’. In classical Greek as well as in Hellenistic literature, it became a technical expression for the assembly of the people, consisting of free men entitled to vote. This political usage is present also in Acts 19:39, which refers to “the regular assembly” of the inhabitants of Ephesus. In a wider sense the word can be used for any public assembly; thus in Acts 19:32 it is used of an “assembly” “in confusion,” which had come together in the theater at the urging of the silversmiths of Ephesus.[1] ἐκκλησία is the assembly of the δῆμος in Athens and in most Greek πόλεις. The etymology is both simple and significant. The citizens are the ἔκκλητοι, those who are summoned and called together by the herald. This teaches us something concerning the biblical and Christian usage, namely, that God in Christ calls men out of the world. And here is an question whether or how a cultic society or union ever called itself an ἐκκλησία.[2] Is there any evidence to use this word for cultic or religious usage? In the time of Paul, the Christian congregation regarded their meeting as an ἐκκλησία and thereby as a cultic union. By Kittel and Geoffrey William his Theological Dictionary, there is insufficient evidence to argue a cultic use of ἐκκλησία in the Greek world. ἐκκλησία was never used in the Greek world as the title of a religious group. Therefore in ordinary usage it always meant only an assembly, a meeting and not the body of people who assembled or met together.



OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUND

The Hebrew word used to translate ἐκκλησία is lh;q' in every case (77 times). The word ἐκκλησία occurs about 100 times in the LXX. In the LXX ἐκκλησία is a wholly secular term; it means “assembly,” whether in the sense of assembling or of those assembled (Dt. 9:10; 18:16) [3] Qahal is also translated by 7 other words. Who is addressed as qahal or designated by it? 1) Used of a summons to all able bodied men capable of bearing arms. (Numb. 22:4, 1 Kings 12:21) 2) Used in Deuteronomy of the congregation which YHWH had summoned and therefore was bound by His rules. (Dt. 9:10; 10:4; 18:16) 3) Used for the assembly of the leaders of Israel to receive decisions from the king. (1 Chr 13:2,4; 29:10) 4) Used of the crowd gathered for sacrifice and worship (2 Chr. 20:5,14; 30:2,4), also of a crowd gathered in the temple (Ps 22:22; 89:5; 149:1). 5) Used of an assembly of evil doers (Ps 26:5; Gen 49:6).[4]

Qahal means a summons to an assembly and the act of assembling and is quite accurately translated as mustering. The breadth of meaning extends from the call up for military service, meeting for political consultation or judical hearing, to assembly for worship. It is used to refer to particular meetings at particular places never independent of a specific location. Therefore the concept of qahal is of a non - technical noun that only gained particularity by its use in context. There is no justification then to make the use of qahal technical and make it refer to the redeemed of Israel and to read the "Church" back into the O.T. Qahal is non - technical since the content of the assembly was determined by its modifiers in the context.



NEW TESTAMENT USAGE

“‘ἐκκλησία’ is appear 114 in the New Testament. There are only 3 occurences in the Gospels (Matthew 16:18; 18:17), and the word appears most frequently in Paul's letters (46 times, 22 of which are in 1 Corinthians), in the deutero-Pauline letters (16 times), and in Acts (23 times). It appears twice in Hebrews. Also James and 3 John mentioned this word. In Revelation, there are 20 times appear. It does not occur in 2 Tim, Titus, 1&2 Peter, 1&2 John or Jude.” [5]

The most common term used to describe this institution was ἐκκλησία, which we translate, church. Church was a community of persons who sustained a certain relationship to Jesus Christ. Following the earthly ministry of Jesus, church was established on earth.

“In the New Testament the church comprehends the whole number of regenerated persons specifically from Pentecost to the first resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:13–17) united organically to one another and to Christ by the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:3–4; 1 Cor. 12:12–13; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:10–12). According to the New Testament definition the church is the mystical Body of Christ of which He is the head (Eph. 1:22–23), being a holy temple for the habitation of God through the Spirit (2:21–22), “one flesh” with Christ (5:30–31), and espoused to Him as a pure virgin to one husband (2 Cor. 11:2–4). The word ἐκκλησία, however, is employed of any assembly, and the word in the Greek language implies no more; for example, the town meeting or “assembly” (ἐκκλησία) at Ephesus (Acts 19:39), and Israel called out of Egypt and spoken of as a “congregation,” ἐκκλησία, in the wilderness (Acts 7:38), but in no sense was it a NT church except as a type of that which was to come. In addition to the church as the Body of Christ, we find other meanings attached to the word in the NT. It refers sometimes to the company of believers in a single province or city (Rev. 2–3), or those meeting in a particular place of worship. It is applied even to bodies of professed believers who have largely departed from the true faith and practice, though in such cases the title is no longer appropriate except as a reminder of what they once were or professed to be, or only as a convenient designation, the significance of which in such cases is wholly lost.” [6]



PAULINE LETTERS 

“Paul freely use the word ἐκκλησία by singular and plural from (Rom. 16:23; 16:4, 16; Gal. 1:13, 22). And he use it means a place (Rom. 16:1) or district (1 Cor. 16:19). Even a small house church may be called ἐκκλησία (Rom. 16:5). Each local church represents the whole church (2 Cor. 1:1: “the church which is at Corinth”), so that what applies in it (1 Cor. 6:4; 11:18; 14:34) will apply everywhere. For Paul, too, toú theoú is the main definition. The church is still the ekklēsía toú theoú as in the OT, but with the new thing that God has fulfilled the covenant in Christ, and that Christ has manifested himself to his disciples and commissioned them to assemble a people in his name. The church is constituted and authorized by the appearances of the risen Lord, not by the charismatic experiences that are also enjoyed by the disciples and Paul. Paul has no desire to impose a new view of the church, but rather to protect the original view against incipient innovations. For him the church stands or falls with its sole foundation in Christ, its acknowledgment of him alone as Lord, and the rejection of overemphasis on persons or places. No description of the church is given, but Paul gets to the heart of the matter with his understanding of it (parallel to that of Acts) as an assembly which is the assembly of God in Christ.” [7]



COLOSSIAN’S USAGE

Colossians show that a more specific doctrine of the church. ἐκκλησία is Christ’s body, with Christ himself as head (Col. 1:18, 24). “And gave him to be the head over all things to the church.” To the angels, Christ is a “head” by virtue of sovereignty and power (Col. 2:10), but He is the Church’s “head” by mystical union as well. The angels are but His servants; the Church is His Spouse. He is the Church’s “head” First by way of distinction, as her King and Lord, for in all things He must have the preeminence (Col. 1:18). Church receives her life, strength, and grace from Him “from which all the body…[has] nourishment ministered” (Col. 2:19). All her springs are in Him: from His fullness she receives. Christ is not only a commanding but a compassionate Head, therefore is touched with the feeling of her infirmities.[8]

“In the deutero-Pauline literature ἐκκλησία is again used as a term for the individual congregation, as in Col 4:15. (the whole church of Laodicea and the house church of Nympha there). Characteristic of these writings is a series of fundamental statements about the nature of the Church. Indeed, Colossians and Ephesians associate christology and ecclesiology most closely, so that every statement about the Church becomes a statement about Christ. The basis for this in tradition history is the Pauline concept of the Church as the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27; Rom 12:5), which is extended into ontology and salvation history. The relationship between Christ and the Church is determined in a twofold way. On the one hand Christ is directly united with the body, i.e., the Church. “Paul,” in his own body, fulfills the remaining afflictions of Christ “for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Col 1:24). Thus it should be said that the Church is founded on the salvific deed of Christ at the cross and that its form of life is shaped by Christ’s suffering. On the other hand Christ is the head of the Church: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, [that is,] the Church” (v.17-18). Today it is almost undisputed that the phrase “[that is,] the Church” is a gloss by which the author of Colossians interprets the hymn in 1:15–20, which originally concerned the lordship of Christ over the cosmos. The author wants to show that the lordship of Christ over the world is presently realized visibly only in the Church insofar as it is oriented in faith to the one who is the ‘head.’”[9]

“Christ is head and lord of the cosmos (Col 2:10) as of the Church, but only the Church is his body; it is permeated by his “fullness” in a special way. In an entirely characteristic way, the parenesis concerning the marital relationship of husband and wife, which is part of the traditional scheme of the household code (Col 3:18ff.) [10]



APPLICATION

I think church and ecclesiology are the most important theme of Christian. Depending on how the understanding of the church is also important. Wrong ecclesiology brought heresy. Church founded by Jesus. Church is founded on the salvation of Christ at the cross. It means that church has precious values. We have to keep the truth of the church doctrine and its meaning purely. Church is his body, we are united with him. We connected with him, through his body. So we must live holy, as He is. As the Paul said, we are espoused to Him as a pure virgin to one husband. Christ and church is one body, as like husband and wife is one body. So we must live with the appearance of Christ. When we represent Him rightly, unbelievers will know that their sin.

And church should be ‘encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.’




[1] Ibid.

[2] Kittel, Gerhard (Hrsg.) ; Bromiley, Geoffrey William (Hrsg.) ; Friedrich, Gerhard (Hrsg.): Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. electronic ed. Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans, 1964-c1976, S. 3:513

[3] Ibid.

[4] Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Hrsg.): The Pulpit Commentary: Index. Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004, S. 63

[5] Balz, Horst Robert ; Schneider, Gerhard: Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Eerdmans, 1990-c1993, S. 1:411

[6] Unger, Merrill Frederick ;  Harrison, R. K. ;  Vos, Howard Frederic ;  Barber, Cyril J. ;   Unger, Merrill Frederick: The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Rev. and updated ed. Chicago : Moody Press, 1988

[7] Kittel, Gerhard ;  Friedrich, Gerhard ;   Bromiley, Geoffrey William: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich. : W.B. Eerdmans, 1995, c1985, S. 398


[8] Pink, Arthur Walkington: Gleanings from Paul Studies in the Prayers of the Apostle. Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2005, S. 153

[9] Balz, Horst Robert ;   Schneider, Gerhard: Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Eerdmans, 1990-c1993, S. 1:414

[10] Ibid.