We tackled a pretty heavy topic this week: the difference between the word church and the Greek word Ekklesia. We learned that the word Jesus spoke in Matthew 16:18 and 18:16 to identify what he would build is Ekklesia – which literally means a called-out assembly. Six hundred years before Jesus walked this earth the Greeks developed a system for self-government. The Ekklesia was their called out democratic legislative assembly where members of their city-states came together to voice their concerns and make decisions.
When Jesus told his disciples, “I will build MY Ekklesia”, no one asked him what he meant because it was a common word that everyone knew the meaning of.
When Constantine made Christianity the state religion around the 4th Century AD, the word church began to be used to replace what the Lord meant by the word Ekklesia (Democratic Legislative Assembly). The etymology of the word church refers to a place of worship (including the worship of idols). So the focus moved from the congregation or assembly of people to a place or building.
In 1525 William Tyndale translated the first printed bible into English. In it he translated Ekklesia as “Congregation or Assembly”. This was a major reason he was burned at the stake by the Roman church in 1536. Ironically 84% of his translation was used in the King James Bible, but King James insisted Ekklesia be translated to church.
There was a bit of lively discussion and some disagreement with the author’s statement that ecumenical gatherings are different from individual believers desiring to come together regularly from diverse ministries and backgrounds to fellowship with one another in Ekklesia.
I am grateful for Tyndale’s resolve and the record of history, so that we can uncover the shrouded meaning of this important word spoken by Jesus.