"(2) Some point to 1 Corinthians 6:4 as referring to a universal church. The only "ekklesia" the New Testament knows is a local assembly of believers. However, the biblical word ekklesia the Greek word "ekklesia" has a limited meaning of referring only to a congregation of persons assembled in one geographical location for a specific purpose. We don’t need it”. The word kuriakos (i.e., "church") means "pertaining to the lord." Our English Bible in the Making. Another example is found in Acts 7:38 which refers to the nation of Israel that was congregated at Mt. This is referring to water baptism and is not referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 1-12), the disciples started discussing the street-talk on Jesus. Here the "ekklesia" was a meeting of idol makers, and the word is properly translated "assembly.". In all three dimensions, ekklesia implies a function of governance not a format of gathering. 1577 ekklēsía (from 1537 /ek, " out from and to " and 2564 /kaléō, "to call") – properly, people called out from the world and to God, the outcome being the Church (the mystical body of Christ) – i.e. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Louw, Johannes P., Eugene A. Nida. Here’s an example: “He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church (ekklesia), which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all … To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church (ekklesia) to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord…” (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 3:10, 11). Although we need to understand the modern use of the word, it is of little significance in understanding the use of the word the New Testament. Brown states that the word is limited in use to a particular geographical location: The ekklesia has its location, existence, and being within definable geographical limits. 3. A Christian congregation. Organized religion, as distinguished from the state. Most importantly, Jesus cast the vision of a victorious ekklesia that would overcome these oppressive authority structures. It is important to note the Protestant source of this translation. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Assemblies of this sort existed in most Greek city-states, continuing to function throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods.” For example, Luke refers to the city council in Ephesus pressed into mediating the marketplace uproar, as the ekklesia (Acts 19:32, 39, 41). The apostles used ekklesia because they had a more specific meaning in mind. The New Testament believers met in rented halls and in the homes of people. 2. Indeed, from the beginning the church has manifested itself in many local churches (in Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus, etc. Philadelphia: Lippincott, In the first century, the word was not a religious word. There is nothing in this article that demeans the King James Bible or casts any dispersions against it. Ekklesia was, then, a term applied in both Jewish and non-Jewish contexts to designate various types of institutional settings. When Jesus cut through the pious clichés by asking the all-important question—“Who do you say that I am?”—Peter stepped up to be counted: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (vv. Guden, Wayne. The context tells us in Acts 2:41 it specifically identifies these people who were meeting as those who were saved on the day of Pentecost. Paul, who used the word more frequently than any other New Testament writer clearly understood the word to mean an assembly or congregation who met locally together.
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