“The Church”—Whose Church?—What Church?—Which Church?—Is it right to designate it by any sectarian name?
It is a remarkable fact that in the New Testament Scriptures no proper name is ever given to the Assembly/Congregation (ekklesia, ἐκκλησία) which Christ Jesus said He would build (Matt. 16:18). It is spoken of in a great variety of ways, but never once is it called “The Baptist Church,” “The Methodist Church,” “The Presbyterian Church,” “The Episcopal Church,” “The Lutheran Church,” “The Roman Catholic Church,” “The Greek Orthodox Catholic Church,” or by any other of the multitude of sectarian names now in use.
It is called:
- “The ekklesia of God” (1 Cor. 1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:13; 1 Tim. 3:5, 15)
- “The ekklesia of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15)
- “The ekklesia of the First-born” (Heb. 12:23)
- “The ekklesia in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1)
- “Ekklesias of Christ” (Rom. 16:16)
- “The body of Christ” (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:24)
- “The ekklesia” (Eph. 5:23-25, 27, 29, 32; Acts 20:28, etc., very frequently)
- “My ekklesia” (Matt. 16:18 — spoken by Christ)
- And by many other descriptive terms—such as “ekklesia of the Laodiceans” (Col. 4:16), “ekklesia of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess. 1:1), etc., always indicating locality or ownership by Yahweh God or Christ Jesus, never a party name.
Now why is this? Why did the inspired apostles never call it by any of the names which men have since assumed for it?
The answer is plain: Because Christ Jesus’ Assembly/Congregation was never intended to be split up into sects and parties, each wearing a distinctive human name. The very fact that no such name was given by inspiration is proof positive that none ought ever to have been assumed. Every sectarian name is a libel upon the prayer of Jesus (John 17:20-23), a stumbling-block to the world, and a positive hindrance to the unity and fellowship of believers.
When men began to call themselves “Lutherans,” “Calvinists,” “Wesleyans,” “Campbellites,” etc., they thereby virtually said, “We are of Luther,” “We are of Calvin,” “We are of Wesley,” “We are of Campbell,” which is expressly condemned by the apostle Paul (1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:3-4). The thoughts and studies of these men are most of all directed to the works of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Campbell, etc., neglecting the teaching of Jesus, and so they are judged not to be Christians but rather Lutherans, Calvinists, Wesleyans, Campbellites, etc.
Is it right, then, to designate Christ Jesus' Assembly/Congregation by any sectarian name whatever? Most certainly not. It is a dishonor to Christ Jesus, a division of His body, and a positive disobedience to the plain teaching of the Scriptures.
What, then, should we call it?
Call it by the names which the Holy Spirit has given:
- “The ekklesia of God”
- “Ekklesias of Christ”
- “The body of Christ”
- “The ekklesia”
or simply describe it as “the saints,” “the brethren,” etc., as the Scriptures do.
Let us lay aside every party name and take only the names which Yahweh God has given. Let us be Christians only—members of Christ Jesus’ Assembly/Congregation—wearing no badge but His name, acknowledging no head but Christ, and no rule of faith and practice but the Word of God.
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!" (Psalm 133:1
"There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:4–6
"I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment." (1 Corinthians 1:10
May the Lord hasten the day when all His people shall drop every sectarian name and glory only in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Greek word ‘ekklesia’ (ἐκκλησία) literally means “to call out” (a compound of ek-kaleo; ek—a preposition meaning “out of”—and kaleo—a verb signifying “to call, to summon”), and is correctly translated as “gathering,” “assembly,” or “congregation.” It had both a spiritual and a civil usage in the first century. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint, it was used to translate the Hebrew word ‘Qahal,’ which referred to the Israelites “as assembled together.” In the civil realm, it was originally a government word that referred to “a duly assembled group of Greek city-state citizens who regularly came together and convened for the purpose of discussion and decision making to take care of common concerns in the community.” It was for full citizens only! You can see secular uses of the word in Acts 19:32, 39, and 41. The New Testament use of the word has the same weight; there is a decision-making mandate involved. It is for members only, for citizens of Heaven only! Jesus chose this word deliberately. The Latin ‘ecclesia’ is a transliteration of the Greek. ‘Ekklesia’ became ‘iglesia’ (Spanish), ‘église’ (French), ‘chiesa’ (Italian) in Romance languages, referring to the people.
The word “church” is a terrible and incorrect translation of the word ‘ekklesia.’ Point of fact, it is not a translation of the word 'ekklesia.' The word “church” actually comes from the Greek word ‘kuriakon’ (κυριακόν), via Germanic languages, which means “belonging to the Lord.” Over time, it came to mean “God’s house,” meaning a place, a building. ‘Kuriakon’ was borrowed into Gothic (early Germanic) as ‘kiriko,’ then into Old High German as ‘kirihha’ or ‘kiricha,’ then into Old English as ‘cirice,’ Middle English as ‘chirche’ (modern German is ‘kirche’), and finally as ‘church.’ So “church” became the place where the Lord’s people met while ‘ekklesia’ was the people themselves.
Ekklesia (Greek: 1577) → Ecclesia (Latin) → Iglesia (Spanish) → Église (French) → Chiesa (Italian) = people/assembly/congregation
Kuriakon (Greek: 2960) → Kiriko (Gothic) → Kirihha/Kiricha (Old High German) → Cirice (Old English) → Chirche (Middle English) → Church (Modern English) = a building
In Spanish, French, and Italian, the terms for the building were templo/casa de Dios, temple/maison Dieu, tempio/domus Dei, respectively. In these languages, their word for Sunday (domingo/dimanche/domenica) is a direct descendant of kuriakon—"the Lord's day" (κυριακὴ ἡμέρα). But "church" (kuriakon) ≠ ekklesia.
In William Tyndale’s 1526 New Testament, he correctly translated ‘ekklesia’ as “assembly” or “congregation,” using “church” only when referring to pagan places of worship (Acts 14:13; 19:37). Is that not fascinating? Under strict instructions from King James, the translators of the government-sanctioned King James Bible rendered the word ‘ekklesia’ as “church” in 112 out of the 115 occurrences and used the word “congregation” when non-Christian gatherings were in view (Acts 19:32, 39, 41). Is that not interesting? Why the complete switch?