Ekklesia

[bombastinator]

Yeah, it did seem like a private conversation. I kinda felt like I was eavesdropping...but I enjoyed it and read every word!

Oh, and hey - how could anyone criticize? No one was off topic!

Wasn’t private, just boring as all get out for 99.9% of people.

I did a look up of the video he posted and it is in fact propaganda from “The Way International”. That group has a truly scary reputation. I hope the OP gets out of it OK. People rarely do with their finances intact I understand.

My information is quite old. 80’s vintage. Back then they were considered one of the biggest major cults though along with the moonies and the Scientologists

 

[mightymen]

I suggest we all read this!

Group Reminder= Please Read!

 

[mightymen]

Mmm.. no. They are ignoring the history of the Bible. The thing was written in like 100 ad. Back then there really was just one church, and even it barely existed.

Sounds like your talking about the Universal church from around 300 AD. That was one of the established churches of the day. The original assembly - EKKLESIA existed way before the Universal church and was called out in the desert 1500 BC - as I previously said there is a different meaning in today's church as being a denomination, building or group more so some sort of personal identity bestowed on one's self whereas ekklesia assembly or congregation has a totally different meaning in the original Greek language.

I agree with you in that there really is one Church, what I disagree with you on is that it wasn't established around 300 AD by man but by G-D during the time of Moses when the ten commandments were first given to the children of Isreal in the desert.

What is the definition of ekklesia?

Understanding the definition of ekklesia (and its alternate spelling ecclesia) is an important component of understanding the church. Ekklesia is a Greek word defined as “a called-out assembly or congregation.” Ekklesia is commonly translated as “church” in the New Testament. For example, Acts 11:26 says that “Barnabas and Saul met with the church [ekklesia]” in Antioch. And in 1 Corinthians 15:9 Paul says that he had persecuted the church [ekklesia] of God.” The “called-out assembly,” then, is a congregation of believers whom God has called out of the world and “into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). The Greek ekklesia is the basis for our English words ecclesiastical (“pertaining to the church”) and ecclesiology (“the study of doctrine concerning the church”).

I don't understand how you can call the Bible a thing when you professed to be a Christian and your own denomination says

The Holy Scriptures (the Bible) are the revealed word of God, written by human beings under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is the Third Person of the Trinity. The Bible contains all things necessary for salvation.

What Do Episcopalians Believe? - Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth

 

[bombastinator]

Sounds like your talking about the Universal church from around 300 AD. That was one of the established churches of the day. The original assembly - EKKLESIA existed way before the Universal church and was called out in the desert 1500 BC

Yeah, you’re referring to Judaism. Using a different word doesn’t change that fact.

- as I previously said there is a different meaning in today's church as being a denomination, building or group more so some sort of personal identity bestowed on one's self whereas ekklesia assembly or congregation has a totally different meaning in the original Greek language.

I believe the definition and etymology of the term have already been gone through in the thread. “Those called” could be one reasonable English translation, though the term is and has been translated in many different ways by many different groups. Your group, much like all the others who have done so in the past, apparently translates it in a particular way in line with their theosophy.

I agree with you in that there really is one Church, what I disagree with you on is that it wasn't established around 300 AD by man but by G-D during the time of Moses when the ten commandments were first given to the children of Isreal in the desert.

This goes to the definition of the term “church” which refers simultaneously to believers as a whole and various subdivisions of that general group down to the users of individual buildings. You seem to be conflating them at convenience.
To clarify:
I never said it was. The official CATHOLIC church was, that is beyond dispute. It was the entire purpose of the council of Nicea, the event to which you are referring. The point I was making was merely that the organization and contents of the New Testament to which you referred were determined at that time.
First Council of Nicaea - Wikipedia

What is the definition of ekklesia?

I don't understand how you can call the Bible a thing when you professed to be a Christian and your own denomination says

this goes to the fundamental difference between literalists and non literalists I think.

the difference I think is the definition of the term “guided by the Holy Spirit” your definition seems to assume this confers absolute and unerring perfection on the part of both the origional writers and their translators and hand copyists over the course of several thousand years. Mine assumes that humanity is a functionally imperfect species and allows that various meanderings and single bit errors crop up here and there. This is not to say that the Bible does not contain fundamental truth and wisdom. It merely states that while the shape remains intact the individual bits are not always perfectly reliable, and as such a massively myopic examination of the work can magnify those minor bits to the point that it can obscure the whole.The Bible is our best recording of the word of god, and as such it has incredible value. It is both the word AND a thing, and must be viewed in that context to get the best possible (but still likely imperfect) information from it.

What Do Episcopalians Believe? - Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth [/QUOTE]
To be more specific Episcopalianism is an off shoot of 18th century Anglicanism that occurred during the revolutionary war. As a result of its early divergence it is a lot closer theosophically to regular Catholicism than current Anglicanism. It’s sometimes referred to derisively as “diet catholic” a term I rather like personally. The church (by which I mean the rebel Anglican clerics in America at the time) took the schism as an opportunity to take a good hard look at current practices and do some minor streamlining and simplification while removing practices they deemed irrelevant to actual worship of god. The result was a denomination fundamentally similar to modern day Catholicism but without much of its historical baggage and was able to pursue a finer granularity as its practices need only apply to faithful in America and did not need to act as a world wide body.

Your linked definition of ekklecia is interesting in that it first defines the term, but then goes on to make exhortations about the concept of the definition of the church that have nothing to do with the actual origional definition and then wrap it all together again along with its own additions and changes.

 

[classwife]

Closed per OP's request