EKKLĒSIA IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

For Discussion • WHAT?! • Background: Meaning and context • Ekklēsia before the New Testament

•  Etymology of ekklēsia •  In Greco-Roman society •  In the Old Testament (LXX)

• Ekklēsia in the New Testament •  Summary of uses •  Non-universal uses •  Potentially universal uses

• Conclusion

WHAT?!

ἐκκλησία Ekklēsia = “Church” = Universal (catholic) church? • Where does this sense come from? •  Is it consistent in the NT? •  (Is it present even once in the NT???) • How would 1st century readers/hearers have perceived

this word?

Background: Meaning and Context • Ekklēsia = church (…right?) • “Holy Spirit Greek” • Prior, secular origins • Sense, not (singular) meaning

• Words are important, but context is king!

Ekklēsia before the New Testament • Etymology/Origins •  In Greco-Roman Society •  In the Septuagint (LXX)

Etymology/Origins Ek + kaleō ⟹ Ekklēsia (to call out)

True or False?

<1300s

timid

1300s

fussy

1400s

dainty

1500s

precise

1700s

agreeable

1800s+

kind

Orig. Latin nescire = not know (= stupid)

Etymological Fallacy: Potentially occurs when you reach back to the origins of a word to find its “true”

meaning. E. g. “nice”

Etymology/Origins • Ekklēsia ultimately from ancient root *qal meaning “a summons to an assembly and the act of assembling” (NIDNTT)

• The root for Hebrew qāhāl meaning “an assembly of people” (TDOT)

Etymology/Origins • Louis Berkhof (Systematic Theology)noted that the term “church” can trace its origins back to the Greek adjective kuriakos, meaning “belonging to the Lord.” • Used only twice in the NT (1 Cor 11:20; Rev 1:10) •  In neither NT instance does it have anything to do with

the body of believers • What gives?!

• Meaning is never to be derived from a term alone, but from its particular usage, which can change over time.

In Greco-Roman Society Familiar civic function of the ekklēsia in the Greek city-state:

•  The assembly would gather to discuss suggested changes in law, appointment of officials, internal and external policies, and (in special judicial cases such as treason) sitting in judgment

The ekklēsia is never found to be explicitly associated with a religious function in Greco-Roman society.

In the LXX – Lexical Ekklēsia employed in LXX ~100 times Two terms in Hebrew Scripture for the assembly or congregation: qāhāl and ‘edah • Qāhāl: More frequently used to refer to the congregation

in assembly or the act of assembling. •  ‘Edah: Used to refer to Israel in the aggregate, despite

any geographic separation. If ekklēsia were to carry any universal overtones in the minds of Jewish readers, which Hebrew term would you expect to see translated into ekklēsia in the LXX? •  In reality, ‘edah is never translated as ekklēsia in the LXX.

In the LXX – Theological Do the ekklēsia in the LXX constitute some theological significance, such as covenant renewal with Yahweh? •  Those who answer in the affirmative would equate the NT

ekklēsia tou theou (assembly of God) with OT Israel •  Requires a “spiritual” reading of the OT

•  Those who answer in the negative recognize that the Gk. terms ekklēsia and sunagōgē are used almost interchangeably in the LXX to refer to any sort of gathering with no inherent theological implication

Summary of Pre-NT Uses Neither Greco-Roman uses nor LXX uses of ekklēsia carry any inherent religious or theological meaning

Working early 1st century definition: An ekklēsia is a geographically defined gathering of people having a common goal or purpose.

Ekklēsia in the New Testament

Category Passages Local Assembly Mt 18:17 (2x); Acts 5:11; 8:1, 3; 11:22, 26; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23, 27;

15:3, 4, 22; 18:22; 20:17; Rom 16:1, 5, 23; 1Cor 1:2; 4:17; 6:4; 7:17; 10:32; 11:18, 22; 12:28; 14:4, 5, 12, 19, 23, 28, 33, 34, 35; 16:19; 2Cor 1:1; Phil 4:15; Col 4:15, 16; 1Thess 1:1; 2Thess 1:1, 4; 1Tim 3:5, 15; 5:16; Philm 1:2; Heb 2:12; Jas 5:14; 3John 1:6, 9, 10; Rev 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14

Regional Assembly Acts 9:31

Group of Local/Regional Assemblies

Acts 15:41; 16:5; Rom 16:4, 16; 1Cor 11:16; 16:1, 19; 2Cor 8:1, 18, 19, 23, 24; 11:8, 28; 12:13; Gal 1:2, 22; 1Thess 2:14; Rev 1:4, 11, 20 (2x); 2:7, 11, 17, 23, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 22:16

Secular Civil Assembly Acts 19:32, 39, 41

Unclear Uses Matt 16:18; Acts 7:38; 20:28; 1Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13; Eph 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32; Phil 3:6; Col 1:18, 24; 1Tim 3:15; Heb 12:23

117 instances in 114 verses

Unclear Uses in the NT Matthew 16:18

oikodomēsō mou tēn ekklēsian •  The first chronological use of the term, in terms of historical

events •  The personal possessive (“My”) is unique

•  May have struck any Gentile readers as such •  May have struck Jews as significant in its parallelism to the LXX

ekklēsia tou theou

Conclusion: Likely significant.

Unclear Uses in the NT Acts 7:38

tē ekklēsia en tē erēmō •  NT Church = OT Israel adherents like this verse •  Refers to the gathering of Israel (“day of the assembly”) at Mt.

Sinai in Deuteronomy 9 •  Two elements opposing a theologically significance

1.  That “day of assembly” referred to by Moses in Dt 9 was gathered in idolatry (golden calf)

2.  In Hebrew Torah, Moses could have used “day of assembly” earlier in Dt 4:10, but does not (though LXX translators add it)

Conclusion: Not significant.

Unclear Uses in the NT Acts 20:28

tēn ekklēsian tou theou •  In support of a universal sense:

1.  Potential parallel in this “farewell address” to the Ephesians and Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians, where Paul’s use of ekklēsia is pregnant with universalism

2.  The relative clause (“which…”) seems to be suggest a universal church

•  In opposition: 1.  Potential parallels are by no means certain (esp. considering the

debated addressees of the letter to the saints “in Ephesus”) 2.  Tou theou could have been added to remind Ephesian elders just

whose church it was they were shepherding 3.  References to “the flock” in vv. 28-29 constrain the scope

Conclusion: Not significant.

Unclear Uses in the NT 1 Cor 15:9 (cf. Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6)

tēn ekklēsian tou theou •  In support of a universal sense:

•  Acts 8:1-3, the record of his persecutions, speaks ambiguously of the scope

•  In Acts 9, Jesus says He is being persecuted—does that necessarily indicate a universal sense?

•  Paul’s use of tou theou in 1 Cor 15:9 & Gal 1:13 indicates divine possession (cf. Mt 16:18, discussed above)

Unclear Uses in the NT 1 Cor 15:9 (cf. Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6)

tēn ekklēsian tou theou •  In opposition of a universal sense:

•  Due to ambiguity, we cannot rely on Acts 8:1-3 to help •  When He asked, “Why are you persecuting me?” Jesus may have

been responding corporately to a “partitive” offense •  Despite grammatical efforts to squeeze a universal sense out of Acts

8:1-3, we have no way of knowing for certain which sense Paul intended

Conclusion: Indeterminable.

Unclear Uses in the NT • Ephesians 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23-32

eis Christon kai eis tēn ekklēsian • Key theme for all these passages = “mystery”

•  This mystery is the fact that Gentiles and Jews, previously animus to one another, have been brought together in the church, in the assembly of Christ.

•  Eph 3:2-6, “…by revelation there was made know to me the mystery...that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body”

•  This mystery of the church is that it is the body of Christ, where all believers are one in Him and indivisible from one another

Conclusion: Significant.

Unclear Uses in the NT Colossians 1:18

hē kephalē tou sōmatos tēs ekklēsias •  In support of a universal sense:

•  Col 1:18 occurs in the middle of a highly Christological passage in which Christ is described as being the all of everything

•  There is a grammatical equivalency between “body” and “church” so that Christ is head of the body, which is the church •  It does not say “He is also head of the body and the church”

Conclusion: Significant.

Unclear Uses in the NT Colossians 1:24

ho estin hē ekklēsia •  In support of a universal sense

•  Proximity to previous Christological passage (see discussion of 1:18 above)

•  Opposing a universal sense •  “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake” constrains the scope to local

believers •  v25 (ESV) reads “…for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of

which I became a minister…” This indicates a focus on a local ministry. Conclusion: Insignificant.

Unclear Uses in the NT Hebrews 12:23

kai ekklēsia prōtotokōn •  Heb 12:22-24 demonstrates a contrast between the “assembly

in the wilderness” and this new assembly •  “assembly of the firstborn” is the possessive equivalent to “My

church” in Mt. 16:18 •  This letter being written to a specific body of believers actually

supports a universal sense: •  “But you [local] have come…to the assembly [universal] of the

firstborn” •  First encounter of the descriptor “enrolled in heaven,” indicating

a special class Conclusion: Significant.

Reevaluating the Approach WAIT! Have we been going about this all wrong?! Here’s what we’ve been doing: •  Look at each verse and decide if ekklēsia is used

universally. But remember! To the early 1st century person living in the Roman empire, there was no universal sense to the word ekklēsia! Perhaps we should have been doing this: •  Look at each verse and decide if ekklēsia cannot be used

in its known sense, leaving open the possibility for this new sense.

Conclusion • Words are important, but context is king • Think and discuss: Any instances where ekklēsia cannot be local, regional, secular assembly, where there are no other options than “universal church”?

• Read: Enrich your understanding by learning about the cultures in which the text was written •  Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations

by Martin Goodman •  An Introduction to the New Testament, Vols. 1-3

by D. Edmond Hiebert BONUS! A sure cure for insomnia: https://shepherdstheologicalseminary.academia.edu/SteveYoung