Key Words: “Church”

Part of our kaistudies includes the careful examination of Key Words. Here we will examine an everyday word Christians use in many different contexts: “Church.” Sometimes it’s in reference to a Sunday Morning destination, sometimes a physical structure, or an embodiment of beliefs and practices, perhaps a particular denomination or tradition. “Church” is sometimes used as a universal category for all things distinct from parallel universals such as “State” (meaning, broadly, government structures and rule of all kinds) and “Business / Economics” and other such categories; in this way reference is made to “the church in Africa” of “in China” meaning a broadly encompassing category of “Christians” (Evangelicals, or some other category even of non-christian claimants to being a Church). Another distinctive use of “Church” concerns the end times (eschatology) of this “Church Age” associated with the Rapture, Tribulation, and Millennium (all of which is outside our present focus).

For taxing authorities such as income or property tax determination, the category “church” has a peculiar economic significance. We use phrases like “church goers” or “church regulars” to designate both favorably someone who has a serious dimension to their faith and others who view such people unfavorably as being self-righteous, perhaps even imperious.

The default context of “church” is its associations with “Christians” and “Christian Beliefs.” However, there are many groups, both organized and individualistic, who claim such as their being so represented but which fall outside of the Biblical / historic frame. Such matter is important but outside our present focus.

As the Bible is our foundation here, what does it say about this word we use in so many contexts, namely “Church?” As it is our focus, hereafter it will be capitalized as Church.

“Church” in New Testament Translations (NT)

Let us begin with a basic definition of Church:

Church. A group or assembly of persons called together for a particular purpose. The term appears only twice in the Gospels (Mt 16:18; 18:17) but frequently in the Book of Acts, most of the letters of Paul, as well as most of the remaining NT writings, especially the Revelation of John.

…In the Greek world the word “church” designated an assembly of people, a meeting, such as a regularly summoned political body, or simply a gathering of people. The word is used in such a secular way in Acts 19:32, 39, 41.

The specifically Christian usages of this concept vary considerably in the NT. (1) In analogy to the OT, it sometimes refers to a church meeting, as when Paul says to the Christians in Corinth: “… when you assemble as a [in] church” (1 Cor 11:18). This means that Christians are the people of God especially when they are gathered for worship. (2) In texts such as Matthew 18:17; Acts 5:11; 1 Corinthians 4:17; and Philippians 4:15, “church” refers to the entire group of Christians living in one place. Often the local character of a Christian congregation is emphasized, as in the phrases, “the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1), “in Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2), “in Thessalonica” (1 Thes 1:1). (3) In other texts, house assemblies of Christians are called churches, such as those who met in the house of Priscilla and Aquila (Rom 16:3; 1 Cor 16:19). (4) Throughout the NT, “the church” designates the universal church, to which all believers belong (see Acts 9:31; 1 Cor 6:4; Eph 1:22; Col 1:18). Jesus’ first word about the founding of the Christian movement in Matthew 16:18 has this larger meaning: “I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”

… more specifically designated in Paul’s writings as “the church of God” (e.g., 1 Cor 1:2; 10:32) or “the church of Christ” (Rom 16:16). In this way a common, secular Greek term receives its distinctive Christian meaning….

 Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Church. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 458–459). Baker Book House.

In English translations Church occurs more than 100x in the NT (ESV 113x; NASB95 112x; KJV / AKJV 114x). What is notable is that it occurs in only one Gospel and in only two passages: Matt 16:18 and 18:17. Church occurs 21x in Acts, 25x in 1 Cor, and 19x in Rev, and in 16 of the 27 Books of the NT.

Church is distinctly a NT word, as it never occurs as an English translated word in the Koine OT, the Septuagint (LXX), nor is there a direct parallel Hebrew word which would correspond to such translation. Even the word “synagogue” does not occur in the OT, which itself is remarkable. In any case, the Koine word “synagogue” means, literally, “coming together,” where the Koine word Church, as we will see below, means exactly the opposite. It is the contrast of a state of being who locus is called to be external to that which is fallen (the Church being called out) distinct from that which draws people together into part of the the prevailing fallenness (Religion in all its forms).

Koine Source Word Translated “Church”

The Koine lemma (lemma is a dictionary form of a word) translated Church is ekklēsía. This is a compound word consisting of a ‘hinge’ word prefix, ek which corresponds to the English prefix “ex” as in “ex-it,” plus the primary part –klēsía which derives from the word for “to call.”

A lexical definition of the Koine lemma ekklēsía is:

Strong’s G1577. ἐκκλησία ekklēsía; ..feminine noun from ékklētos (n.f.), called out, which is from ekkaléō (n.f.), to call out. It was a common term for a congregation of the ekklētoí (n.f.), the called people, or those called out or assembled in the public affairs of a free state, the body of free citizens called together by a herald (kḗrux [2783]) which constituted the ekklēsía. In the NT, the word is applied to the congregation of the people of Israel (Acts 7:38). … The Christian community was designated for the first time as the ekklēsía to differentiate it from the Jewish community, sunagōgḗ (Acts 2:47 [TR]). The term ekklēsía denotes the NT community of the redeemed in its twofold aspect. First, all who were called by and to Christ in the fellowship of His salvation, the church worldwide of all times, and only secondarily to an individual church (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:44, 47; 9:31; 1 Cor. 6:4; 12:28; 14:4, 5, 12; Phil. 3:6; Col. 1:18, 24). Designated as the church of God (1 Cor. 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; Gal. 1:13; 2 Tim. 3:5, 15); the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18); the church in Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:21;); exclusively the entire church (Eph. 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23–25, 27, 29, 32; Heb. 12:23). Secondly, the NT churches, however, are also confined to particular places (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 1:2; 16:19; 2 Cor. 1:1; Col. 4:15; 1 Thess. 2:14; Phile. 1:2); to individual local churches (Acts 8:1; 11:22; Rom. 16:1; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1).

 Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.

Digging deeper on the “call” component of ekklēsía, we find it widely used as “to call,,” “calling,” and “called,” plus additionally embedded in many important NT words:

kaléō [to call], klḗsis [calling], klētós [called], antikaléō [to invite back], enkaléō [to accuse], énklēma [accusation], eiskaléō [to invite], metakaléō [to bring], prokaléō [to provoke], synkaléō [to call together], epikaléō [to call out, appeal], proskaléō [to invite, summon], ekklēsía [assembly, church]

 Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 394). W.B. Eerdmans.

The obvious, direct implication of ekklēsía is a proclamation to a designated group of people invited (“directed” or “expected”) to attend a gathering out from some broad “other.” In governmental contexts we have a similar idea of the calling of a jury to its duty in a court proceeding, or that of elected representatives to a formal deliberation and voting as with the U.S. Congress and Senate. Parallels to such use occurred in the Greco-Roman period surrounding the NT.

There exist sources who argue against such direct interpretation of ekklēsía:

[regarding the understanding of being called out]…is not warranted either by the meaning of ἐκκλησία in NT times or even by its earlier usage. The term ἐκκλησία was in common usage for several hundred years before the Christian era and was used to refer to an assembly of persons constituted by well- defined membership

 Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 125). United Bible Societies.

The above protestation makes a weak, unpersuasive claim: yes of course the word did refer to an assembly of persons but it was specific to those individual so called. It was not some universal calling but of a “well-defined membership” exactly as the above quote gives it.

Etymology of Our English Word Church

From the etymology of the word Church we find that its use began centuries after the NT period (beginning ca 300 A.D.), whose common use emerged more than a millennia later (1500).

…from Proto-Germanic *kirika (source also of Old Saxon kirika, Old Norse kirkja, … German Kirche). This is probably [see extensive note in OED] borrowed via an unrecorded Gothic word from Greek kyriake (oikia), kyriakon doma “the Lord’s (house),” from kyrios “ruler, lord,”….Greek kyriakon (adj.) “of the Lord” was used of houses of Christian worship since c. 300, …Romance and Celtic languages use variants of Latin ecclesia (such as French église, 11c.)…. After the Reformation, church was used for any particular Christian denomination agreeing on doctrine and forms of worship.

Etymologyonline dot com for “church” (Emphasis mine)

What is not to be missed is that term, Church, we most-closely identify with followers of Christ, is a modern emergence. Consider the first use of Church after the two occurrence in Matthew’s Gospel at Acts 5:11. Given below are two of the oldest English translations, first by Wycliffe (ca. 1350s, a handwritten translation from the Latin Vulgate), the second by Tyndale and his immediate successors (ca. 1540, a printed translation from the then available Koine mss) and two other landmark Bibles, the so-called Bishops Bible (1562) and the King James Bible (1611).

And greet drede [dread] was maad [made] in al the chirche, and in to alle [all] that herden [heard[ these thingis.

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Wycliffe/44/5 [Wycliffe’s Bible 1392?, highlights mine]

And great feare came on all the congregacion and on as many as hearde it.

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Tyndale/44/5 [Tyndale Bible 1536, highlights mine]

And great feare came vpon all the Churche, and vpon as many as hearde these thynges.

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Bishops/44/5 [Bishops Bible 1562, highlights mine]

And great feare came vpon all the Church, and vpon as many as heard these things.

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/KJV1611/44/5 [KJV 1611, highlights mine]

Wycliffe chose to translate ekklēsía by “congregacion” (church) following the Germanic root word signifying the Lord’s, or Master’s, house. (Recall that England at the time of Wycliffe was highly tribal, without a universal “English” or spelling, whose language derived from Anglo / Saxon, that is Nordic and Germanic roots, along with French / Latin roots).

Tyndale instead chose to use the word congregacion which comes from the Latin root, meaning together (“con” or “com”) plus coming toward each other (“gregare” Latin for gather, or flock). So, Tyndale mapped the Believer’s assembly into a parallel idea to “synagogue.”

After Tyndale, the English translations almost uniformly follow Wycliffe, using “church” as the translation.

Further, such development of “Church” in language diverted from the idea of “called out” to that of being under the ruler of, as the root for “Lord” clearly designates. We have become imbred, thus, with Church (The Lord’s House) and to an extent Congregation (coming together), neither of which follows the root idea of ekklēsía as being outward, not inward, and outward not to a great place, such as would have been the idea of a great building, even a castle, as the dwelling of a Lord of the Manor.

There is nothing amiss in thinking of the Authority of the Lord Jesus Christ over any gathering of His Believers. Yet, losing the connection to ekklēsía as such gathering together loses the concept of the gathering exists as it does because some are being / have been “called out.” The NT does not make use of Koine words such as described above are etymologically the source of “Church.” Specifically, consider the Koine word that could have been used in the NT for connoting “House of the Lord:”

Strong’s G2960. κυριακός kuriakós; …, adj. from kúrios (2962), lord, master. Belonging to a lord or ruler. Only in 1 Cor. 11:20; Rev. 1:10 as belonging to Christ, to the Lord, having special reference to Him. Hence, Kuriakḗ, which came to mean Kuriakḗ Hēméra, the “Day of the Lord,” what we call Sunday. It was the day kept in commemoration of Christ’s resurrection (John 20:19–23; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2 [see Rev. 1:10]).

 Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.

Arguments from silence are not fully conclusive. However, here I believe it noteworthy and reliable that The Holy Spirit who controlled the creation of the NT did not use kuriakós (Lord’s House) not synagogue (congregation) but instead did use ekklēsía. Words matter, so do the distinctions associated with these three.

How does it happen that the word Church has universal arisen? Answering why-questions is not a place of firm ground. But the text of “Who benefits?” is a useful tool of discernment.

“Church” (ekklēsía) and the Doctrine of Election

Perhaps the drift away from the ekklēsía to kyriake oikia (“the Lord’s House”) and kyriakon (“of the Lord”)–both of such latter terms form the root of the word “Church”–has happened because some aversion or concern to the concept of “Election.” The Koine word translated “elect” or “chosen” or “called” in the NT is eklektós. A lexical definition of is as follows eklektós:

Strong’s G1588. ἐκλεκτός eklektós; adj. from eklégō (1586), to choose, select. Chosen, select. In the group of three important biblical words, eklektós, eklégō, and eklogḗ (1589), choice or election, selection involves thoughtful and deliberate consideration.

Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers. (Highlights mine)

Here are the 10 NT occurrences of eklektós:

1	Matthew 22:14	For many are called, but few are chosen.”
2	Matthew 24:22	And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
3	Matthew 24:24	For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
4	Matthew 24:31	And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
5	Mark 13:20	And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
6	Mark 13:22	For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
7	Mark 13:27	And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
8	Luke 18:7	And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
9	Luke 23:35	And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
10	John 1:34	And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the [eklektós… but translated by “Son” by the ESV] Son of God.” [Note: several English translations, such as NET, NIV, and MOUNCE, do give us “Chosen”]

It is worth noting that the concept of “elect” occurs many more times in the Gospels than does the translated word Church. Even a phonetic or spelling comparison of these two words, one “church” and one “elect”–ekklēsía and eklektós–have a clear kinship.

And evident reason supports such close relationship. One cannot show up at a jury trial and slip into the jury box because, say, one has an interest in being on such jury and contributing to its judgment. The judge having empaneled the jury would demand of you, “Who are you? and Why are you sitting here?” Such a person would be thrown out, even by force if needed. Only the empaneled individuals are called to sit in any distinct jury. Likewise an attempt to walk onto the floor of the United States Senate, would be blocked but for being “elected.”

Regardless of one’s view of Election, the direct meaning of the NT root word for Church is “called out ones.” (The Epistles of course show us that such called out one do gather together in various locations–Rome, Galatia, Ephesus, etc.–or more generally as suggested by other Epistles (Hebrews, Peter, Jude).

Our Modern Church’s Use of Words Derived from ekklēsía

Today we have such words as Ecclesiology, the doctrine of the Church, ecclesiastical, an adjective describing aspects of the church. Ecclesiastical even has become the head word of the category of properly addressing, paying homage toward, various human authorities in “the church” such as given in the pdf below:

Ecclesiastical-Forms-of-Address-Jagoe-Nov-2022

What happened to the humility of being a slave, or bond-servant (Koine: doúlos) as used in the NT? (Pride is the obvious answer). Consider the following lexicon definition of doúlos:

Strong’s G1401. δοῦλος doúlos; masc. noun. A slave, one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will being altogether consumed in the will of the other (Matt. 8:9; 20:27; 24:45, 46). Generally one serving, bound to serve, in bondage (Rom. 6:16, 17).

 Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.

The Koine doúlos occurs in 121 passages in the ESV. Consider the first verse of the first Epistle, Rom 1:1: “Paul, a servant [doúlos] of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” (ESV, highlight mine).

Consider the first verse of the first Epistle of Peter: “Simeon Peter, a servant [doúlos] and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” (ESV, highlight mine).

The same self-reference occurs in the Epistles of James and Jude. And it occurs again in 2 Peter, and repeatedly in the Pauline Epistles.

And, So…?

We can summarize as follows.

The appearance of the word Church is hundreds of years after the NT period, predominately 1500 years after, and derives from a Koine word that is not part of the NT.

The NT makes reference to a gathering of followers of Jesus Christ by the Koine word ekklēsía which conveys called out ones.

The Koine word ekklēsía is closely related to the Koine word from which we get “elect,” “chosen,” or “called”–namely eklektós but is distinct from it.

There is no Biblical reference to ekklēsía as in Church as to a building, or a denomination, or even a specific “Confession,” “Catechism,” or “Statement of Faith.” (Of course, with respect to the latter category of the substance and boundaries of orthodox belief we have the entirety of NT which in turn brings full life to the OT).

The Koine word ekklēsía has been ‘repurposed’ (and corrupted) over time to designate ‘churchy’ things such as the categories of honorific titles, festival practices, and general matters of “religion.”

Returning to the earlier “why-question,” and the investigative tool of “who benefits?” I can suggest two domains of gain by virtue of our having left behind ekklēsía: (1) making more obscure the doctrine we know as Election, and (2) making more natural the creation of a centralized ruling locus such as the religion industry naturally does.

Does such view, particularly the later, comport with Scripture? Consider Paul himself embodied as Saul in the early chapters of Acts ravaging the ekklēsía, even traveling to the famous ancient cross-roads city of Damascus to drag back members of it to Jerusalem for punishment even death. Likewise in the Galatian Epistle we see the same dragging-back, now in doctrinal rather than locational terms, away from Grace (NT) to Law (OT, and the religion industry that devolved from it). Likewise parallel examples continue in the Epistles of Hebrews and Jude. And finally religion will appear again, more clearly and horrifically, embodied in the Great Whore of Babylon, who emerges as the great embodiment of evil in the closing chapters of Revelation and of space-time itself. And so the great bookend to Cain’s killing Able, is the great building of Babel’s Tower, making a name for itself (IT-SELF!), even into the heavens, figuratively giving God the great fist of rebellion, lest they be scattered in accordance with His command to populate the earth.

11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built

Genesis 11:1-5, ESV [Highlights mine]

Closing Thought on Humility

In many respects “religion”–especially in its form a The Religion Industry (TRI) a subject broader than this post can cover–is the antithesis of “humility.”

The Bible has much to say about the virtue of humility. The word “humility” occurs 80 times in 72 passages in the ESV. Noteworthy examples include:

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.  (Exodus 10:3; first occurrence in the Bible, before the earth’s then leading exemplar of the ruler of The Political Industry)

And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  (Deut 2:2, God’s purpose in testing)

You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.  (2 Sam 22:28, contrasting the humble with the haughty, the self-elevated)

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chron 7:14)

for you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.  (Psalm 18:27)

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.  (Psalm 149:4)

Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor (Prov 3:34)

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. (Prov 11:2)

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  (Micah 6:8, a text that could be called a great commission)

Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 18:4) 

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  (Matt 23:12, in the famous chapter of the Lord’s great judgment on the representatives of The Religion Industry of the NT as they sat in its judgment of condemnation of Messiah standing directly before them)

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  …Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:6. 10)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  (1 Peter 5:6)

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (2016). Crossway Bibles. [highlights mine]

Finally, below is an excerpt from an essay on humility in an issue of Tabletalk focused on the cardinal virtues of Christianity. a publication of Ligonier Ministries:

The Bible calls us to be humble. This means not simply an outward show of humility but true humility that goes to the heart. Yet there is perhaps no virtue more important and no virtue more elusive than humility. Pride always seems to get in the way. The battle for humility begins with the battle against pride….

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes: “The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. . . . It was through Pride that the devil became the devil. . . . It is the complete anti-God state of mind.” Pride was not only the root of Satan’s sin; it was also the root of Adam and Eve’s sin: “You will be like God.” Pride is deeply rooted in the human heart. It keeps people away from God. And it makes the ongoing battle for humility a titanic struggle.

…Humility begins with the recognition that we are not God, that we are sinners who fall short of the glory of God. It recognizes that in our sinful state, not only do we not deserve His blessing, but we deserve His curse, His wrath. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23)—both physically and spiritually, eternally. It causes us to cry out with the Apostle Paul: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Yet he immediately responds to this cry of despair with the answer: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” in whom there is “no condemnation” (Rom. 7:24–8:1). James puts it this way: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10). Humility is vital for salvation….

Paul exhorts the Philippians: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3–4). This is the essence of humility in the Christian life. The way to attain it is to have the “mind” of Christ (Phil. 2:5).

Christ “humbled himself” by “taking the form of a servant” and obeying God “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:7–8). Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce writes, “To die by crucifixion was to plumb the lowest depths of disgrace; it was a punishment reserved for those who were deemed most unfit to live, a punishment for those who were subhuman.” Christ stooped low to raise us on high. He sought our good even though it meant rejection, pain, and suffering.

Dr. William Barcley is senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Presbyterian Church and adjunct professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. He is author of The Secret of Contentment and Gospel Clarity. October 2022 of TableTalk, a publication of Ligonier Ministries