I've been thinking, you know, we talk about a lot of stuff and there is a lot of presuppositions that happen before any of our discussions. A lot of those presuppositions are inherited from the cultural milieu in which we live, and unfortunately they really can color our judgment of things we read. I'm generally talking about scripture, but its just as true for anything we read in antiquity - we really can't come to it clean slate.
When we see the word "church" in the bible, then, what is it that comes to mind? What should come to mind? I mean, it is a big question, right? Especially in the Reformation where the very concept of church itself was pulled under scrutiny. We have Christ making a promise about the Church, telling us about discipline in the Church. St Paul calls it the pillar and foundation of the truth. But what the heck is it?
For starters, the word means "assembly." The word church in the NT scripture is ekklesia which literally means "those called out". In secular antiquity it could apply to people assembled for a meeting (we see this use in Acts, where there is a riot in Ephesus over the silver idols of Artemis and the assembly, ekklesia, is referred to as all the people of the city gathered in the theater as well as those assembled as in court). In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT, it is sometimes used for the qahal Israel, the assembled people of God (for example in Judges 20:2 or Ezra 10:1 among many others). St Stephen uses the word to refer to the assembly of Israel in the wilderness in Acts 7:38.
But, without fail in the scripture the idea of church is not a vague concept, but a specific group of people who are together. The word is used in the NT a little over 100 times, and a few are not referring to the church, but most are. And, when we examine how the word is used we can see a few basic types, and a few interesting things.
The church in the NT refers almost always to a single group of people. And, even more interesting, we can see that there is a rule of one church per city that is never violated. In the mind of the New Testament authors, then, there is a church in each city - only one. And collectively, they are referred to as the churches.
The first couple of uses are specifically about the church in Jerusalem. At this time there are no gentiles, and the whole church is formed around the city of Jerusalem. Later, St Paul enters the picture as a missionary and the church at Antioch is founded. Shortly we see the very specific phrase that St Paul chose elders in "every church", and if we read back a bit, we can see that he has visited the cities of Salamis, Paphos, Perga, Antioch of Pisida, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.
Never, for example, do we see the Church of Syria, or the Church of Cilicia, or the Church of Judaea, or the Church of Asia. But instead, we see the churchES in Syria and Cilicia, the Church of Ephesus, the Church of God in Corinth, the church throughout Judaea or the Church which is IN Jerusalem, and so on. In 2 Corinthians, we see clearly "the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia".
The other phrase that comes up is "church in the house of..." This phrase is sometimes understood that there were multiple house churches in a city, but this is not correct. Every instance we see only one "church in the house of..." per city, and the others in the city are referred to as saints or by name only. For example at the end of Romans we learn that the church where St Paul was writing from (Corinth) was in the house of Gaius. We know that the church in Romans met at the house of Prisca and Aquila. Even in the largest city of Rome, there is no other house church mentioned. In Colossians 4 we see the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and the Church at Nympha's house, and so on. So again, though there is a church in each city, it is only in one house. When St Paul persecuted the church in Jerusalem, he persecuted the Church singular, but he goes from house to house - not church to church. Similarly in Jerusalem, we see that they met in the temple courts, but broke bread from house to house - not broke bread in their houses. It is always singular. (As an interesting note, St Justin Martyr is asked where the Christians meet in Rome during his interrogation. The first time he avoids the question, saying instead that God is worshipped everywhere. The second time he is asked, he says "I live above one Martinus, at the Timiotinian Bath; and during the whole time - and I am now living in Rome for the second time - I am unaware of any other meeting than his." So we see this rule confirmed in 165 AD)
The final interesting thing we can see is that the church can be formed. This makes sense, given that the word means assembly, so the saints in Colossae, for example, are only the saints - until they come together as a church. And when does this happen? In 1 Corinthians 11 we get an insight. St Paul says you come together for the worse, continuing that when you come together as a church there are divisions. In the next paragraph we see something even more important - "Therefore, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper." So coming together as a Church is eucharistic in nature. They were gathering but because they were doing it wrong they were not coming together in unity to Christ. And coming together wrong can result in judgment (11:34). In Acts 20 we see the same thing, that they came together to break bread.
This casts light on the first image we see of the Church in Acts 2:42 - they steadfastly continued in the teaching of the Apostles, and in the communion, and in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers - and in 2:46 every day they came together in a house (singular) to break bread.
Finally, the individual churches are not deficient churches or only "fully" churches when they come together as "all the churches". Meaning there is only one church, but it is not comprised of all of the churches summed together. St Paul freely calls only the Church in Corinth "the Church of God" as well as only the Church in Jerusalem. In Thessalonians he refers to the "Churches of God" in Judaea. And there we get the clue - 1 Thess 2:14 says those Churches in Judaea are in Christ Jesus. So the Church is one as far as it is in Christ Jesus. Since there is "one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism" there is "One Church" which is "the body of Christ."
So - the NT Church is one Church in a city, and there are no regional churches. The churches meet in a specific house in that city or in one house at a time (as in Jerusalem) but only singular, one place at a time. The church is formed when the people come together, and when they form the Church they do so to partake of the Eucharist. And, when they do this, they participate in Christ Jesus and therefore become the One Church.
In other words, the Church is the formed Assembly of God's People in a particular place, come together to worship and sacrifice to Him - the Eucharistic Assembly. It is in this assembly, that each Church is the One Church of God through being in Christ Jesus.
I think these are the things we should think of when we see the word Church.
When we see the word "church" in the bible, then, what is it that comes to mind? What should come to mind? I mean, it is a big question, right? Especially in the Reformation where the very concept of church itself was pulled under scrutiny. We have Christ making a promise about the Church, telling us about discipline in the Church. St Paul calls it the pillar and foundation of the truth. But what the heck is it?
For starters, the word means "assembly." The word church in the NT scripture is ekklesia which literally means "those called out". In secular antiquity it could apply to people assembled for a meeting (we see this use in Acts, where there is a riot in Ephesus over the silver idols of Artemis and the assembly, ekklesia, is referred to as all the people of the city gathered in the theater as well as those assembled as in court). In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT, it is sometimes used for the qahal Israel, the assembled people of God (for example in Judges 20:2 or Ezra 10:1 among many others). St Stephen uses the word to refer to the assembly of Israel in the wilderness in Acts 7:38.
But, without fail in the scripture the idea of church is not a vague concept, but a specific group of people who are together. The word is used in the NT a little over 100 times, and a few are not referring to the church, but most are. And, when we examine how the word is used we can see a few basic types, and a few interesting things.
The church in the NT refers almost always to a single group of people. And, even more interesting, we can see that there is a rule of one church per city that is never violated. In the mind of the New Testament authors, then, there is a church in each city - only one. And collectively, they are referred to as the churches.
The first couple of uses are specifically about the church in Jerusalem. At this time there are no gentiles, and the whole church is formed around the city of Jerusalem. Later, St Paul enters the picture as a missionary and the church at Antioch is founded. Shortly we see the very specific phrase that St Paul chose elders in "every church", and if we read back a bit, we can see that he has visited the cities of Salamis, Paphos, Perga, Antioch of Pisida, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.
Never, for example, do we see the Church of Syria, or the Church of Cilicia, or the Church of Judaea, or the Church of Asia. But instead, we see the churchES in Syria and Cilicia, the Church of Ephesus, the Church of God in Corinth, the church throughout Judaea or the Church which is IN Jerusalem, and so on. In 2 Corinthians, we see clearly "the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia".
The other phrase that comes up is "church in the house of..." This phrase is sometimes understood that there were multiple house churches in a city, but this is not correct. Every instance we see only one "church in the house of..." per city, and the others in the city are referred to as saints or by name only. For example at the end of Romans we learn that the church where St Paul was writing from (Corinth) was in the house of Gaius. We know that the church in Romans met at the house of Prisca and Aquila. Even in the largest city of Rome, there is no other house church mentioned. In Colossians 4 we see the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and the Church at Nympha's house, and so on. So again, though there is a church in each city, it is only in one house. When St Paul persecuted the church in Jerusalem, he persecuted the Church singular, but he goes from house to house - not church to church. Similarly in Jerusalem, we see that they met in the temple courts, but broke bread from house to house - not broke bread in their houses. It is always singular. (As an interesting note, St Justin Martyr is asked where the Christians meet in Rome during his interrogation. The first time he avoids the question, saying instead that God is worshipped everywhere. The second time he is asked, he says "I live above one Martinus, at the Timiotinian Bath; and during the whole time - and I am now living in Rome for the second time - I am unaware of any other meeting than his." So we see this rule confirmed in 165 AD)
The final interesting thing we can see is that the church can be formed. This makes sense, given that the word means assembly, so the saints in Colossae, for example, are only the saints - until they come together as a church. And when does this happen? In 1 Corinthians 11 we get an insight. St Paul says you come together for the worse, continuing that when you come together as a church there are divisions. In the next paragraph we see something even more important - "Therefore, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper." So coming together as a Church is eucharistic in nature. They were gathering but because they were doing it wrong they were not coming together in unity to Christ. And coming together wrong can result in judgment (11:34). In Acts 20 we see the same thing, that they came together to break bread.
This casts light on the first image we see of the Church in Acts 2:42 - they steadfastly continued in the teaching of the Apostles, and in the communion, and in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers - and in 2:46 every day they came together in a house (singular) to break bread.
Finally, the individual churches are not deficient churches or only "fully" churches when they come together as "all the churches". Meaning there is only one church, but it is not comprised of all of the churches summed together. St Paul freely calls only the Church in Corinth "the Church of God" as well as only the Church in Jerusalem. In Thessalonians he refers to the "Churches of God" in Judaea. And there we get the clue - 1 Thess 2:14 says those Churches in Judaea are in Christ Jesus. So the Church is one as far as it is in Christ Jesus. Since there is "one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism" there is "One Church" which is "the body of Christ."
So - the NT Church is one Church in a city, and there are no regional churches. The churches meet in a specific house in that city or in one house at a time (as in Jerusalem) but only singular, one place at a time. The church is formed when the people come together, and when they form the Church they do so to partake of the Eucharist. And, when they do this, they participate in Christ Jesus and therefore become the One Church.
In other words, the Church is the formed Assembly of God's People in a particular place, come together to worship and sacrifice to Him - the Eucharistic Assembly. It is in this assembly, that each Church is the One Church of God through being in Christ Jesus.
I think these are the things we should think of when we see the word Church.
