Ecclesia (Church)
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Ecclesia (or Ekklesia) in Christian theology denotes both a particular body of faithful people, and the whole body of the faithful. Latin ecclesia, from Greek ekklesia had an original meaning of "assembly, congregation, council", literally "convocation", see Ecclesia (ancient Athens).
The term may sometimes include the Old Covenant (pre-Christian Judaism). According to Saint Gregory (P. L., LXXVII, 740), the Church is composed of "Sancti ante legem, sancti sub lege, sancti sub gratia ("The saints before the Law, the saints under the Law, and the saints under grace"). This is the basic definition of the Church which underpins much of John Calvin's writings.
More narrowly, it may signify the whole body of Christian faithful, including not merely the members of the Church who are alive on earth but those, too, who have fallen asleep in Christ, and as such form part of the communion of saints, considered the "Body of Christ". Some older churches therefore describe the Church as being composed of the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant (Being those Christians on Earth and in Heaven respectively.) Additionally, in Catholic theology, there is a Church Suffering comprising those in purgatory.
Still more narrowly, it may signify the worldwide Church Militant. This is in slight contrast to the Evangelical picture of the Church which emphasizes the progression of the people of God towards becoming the perfect bride of Christ (Revelation 19:6-8).
Both meanings of the word (the global and the local) appear in the Bible. For example,
- The disciples of a single locality are often referred to in the New Testament as a church (Revelation 2:18, Romans 16:4, Acts 9:31), and arguably Saint Paul even applies the term to disciples belonging to a single household (Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Colossians 4:15, Philemon 1:2). Some theologians (e.g. Baptists, Congregationalists) accept this local sense as the only valid application of the term 'Church', in so doing rejecting wholesale the notion of a universal Church. These people argue that all uses of the Greek word 'ekklesia' in the New Testament are speaking of either a particular local group, or of the notion of 'church' in the abstract, and never of a single, worldwide Church.
- The global use of the word can be seen from its very first appearance (Mark 14:49) and through out the New Testament (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Finally, 'The Church' may sometimes be used, especially in Catholic theology, to designate those who exercise the office of teaching and ruling the faithful, the Ecclesia Docens, or again (more rarely) the governed as distinguished from their pastors, the Ecclesia Discens.
