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To: Heart-Rest


Church is an English word. It has a number of possible meanings. —

Correct. That is why I said “Check out a Greek Lexicon.”


304 posted on 03/12/2012 11:05:55 AM PDT by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: cuban leaf
"That is why I said “Check out a Greek Lexicon.”

No Greek Lexicon is infallible or inerrant. This is one example because they tend to suggest that ancient languages had no etymology. Ekklesia is just such a word.

The usage and symbolism of the word is deeply embedded within Greek culture and would have been known to the Apostles, Disciples and Early Church Fathers. In its original usage it was the term used to assemble or call out the army. It later was extended to the assembly of the voters or electorate. This was not a general call, but a specific call to a very limited number of persons (those males over 18 who had served at least 2 years in defense of the city) and for a very specific purpose. A proper translation is convocation.

In the usage within the New Testament it is not a general call to a a body of believers, but a reference to a convocation with a hierarchy and a specific purpose. Jesus first formed His ekklesia from among the disciples, these were his Apostles with Him at the head. He later build His Church upon St. Peter with Himself as the chief architect.

314 posted on 03/12/2012 12:27:28 PM PDT by Natural Law (If you love the Catholic Church raise your hands, if not raise your standards.)
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