Only once did the author of Acts add a descriptive genitive
to Ekklesia, and that (in reference to the church at Ephesus) was a quotation
from the Psalms: "the church of the Lord" (Acts 20:28). But Paul
often adds a descriptive genitive, usually tou
theou (of God). Twice he adds tou
Christou (of Christ), once ton ethnon
(of the Gentiles), and once ton hagion
(of the saints). The salutations of the Thessalonian correspondence are
particularly descriptive: "to the church of the Thessalonians in God our
Father and in our Lord Jesus Christ." Even when Paul does not use a
descriptive genitive, it is usually to be understood, in accordance with Paul's
doctrine of the Ekklesia. It should be noted that tou theou is used with the singular, Ekklesia, in reference to a
local church. Paul addresses "the church of God which is at Corinth"
(1 Cor. 1:2). Paul does not mean that the church of God is limited to Corinth,
nor does he say, "the church of God, that part of which is at
Corinth." As Schmidt rightly points out, "the Church is not primarily an accumulation of individual
congregations of the whole community, but every congregation of the whole
community, however small, represents the Church."
It is in Paul's
letters to the Ephesians and Colossians that Ekklesia receives its fullest
doctrinal expression, and at the same time is removed the furthest from the
classical usage. Already Ekklesia has been used to designate the people,
whether assembled or not. But in most cases the use was still local; these
people could and were actually assembling. But in Eph. and Col. Ekklesia is
used of the people without respect to the possibility of actually assembling.
Ekklesia was already a technical term for the institution of
Jesus Christ. But the term itself was rather neutral--not particularly
expressive of the doctrine concerning that institution - especially here in
Ephesians and Colossians. Ekklesia is
grounded into the doctrine of the institution and made to carry in itself the
doctrinal implications. Paul's device for accomplishing this is the use of
two important parallel terms, “body”
and “wife”. By these terms Paul clearly shows the intrinsic connection of Jesus
Christ and his institution (Ekklesia) - it is like head and body (Eph. 1:22;
Col. 1:24), like husband and wife (Eph. 5:21-33). In these terms Christ and the Ekklesia become almost identified. Christ
is the head of the body, but the body is not just a rump - it is "the
fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:22). Christ and Ekklesia
are like husband and wife, but he adds, "The two shall become one flesh"
(Eph. 5:31).
Here one does not
need to add tou Christou to Ekklesia,
for in the term itself must now be included Christ as an essential
connotation. Again the comments of Schmidt are well stated:
“... the Ekklesia as the soma Christou is
not a mere association of men. . . Definitive is the communion with Christ. To
sharpen the point one could say: A
single man can and must be the Ekklesia, if he has communion with
Christ.”
This being so, the classical meaning of
"assembly," "gathering" has been superseded by the more
dynamic, Pauline definition: Ekklesia = the
body of Christ, or even, Christ himself!
This usage of Ekklesia
in Ephesians and Colossians, although non-local and related emphatically to
Jesus Christ, does not remove it from reality. There is no
"invisible" Ekklesia here, as distinguished from the
"visible" one. That Paul calls this institution "holy,"
etc. (Eph. 5:27), does not remove it from reality; those who compose the Ekklesia
are exhorted to be "holy" (Rom. 12:1; etc.) and are, indeed, called
"holy" (hagioi: saints--Rom. 1:7; etc.). In Eph. 3:10 mention is made of the mission of the Ekklesia, but this
is a real and earthly mission.
In the other N.T. books, excluding the gospels, Ekklesia is
used 26 times. It is found 20 times in the Revelation, always in the local
sense, referring to the seven churches of Asia. James and III John also use it
in a local sense (Jas. 5:14; III John 6, 9, 10.). Once in Hebrews (2:12) it is
used in a quotation from Psa. 22:22 where Ekklesia simply stands for qahal. The only passage where Ekklesia
stands for a heavenly institution is in Heb. 12:23. But here it is probably not
used according to its N.T. technical usage, but simply in its common meaning:
an actual assembly. It is here coupled with paneguris,
which the RSV translates, "festal
gathering."
Ekklesia by name is found in only one of the four gospels,
Matthew, and in only two passages in that gospel (16:18; 18: 17). This argument
from statistics is often the first argument put forward in attempts to
disassociate Jesus from the Ekklesia. However, this question involves not only
the word Ekklesia but also the thing itself. Recent scholarship has shown the
Ekklesia (without name) to be an integral part of the teaching of Jesus. The
question remains as to why Ekklesia by name is scarcely used in the gospels. This term seems to be generally reserved
for the time after the resurrection-ascension of Jesus as the Christ. Note, for instance, that in Luke-Acts
Ekklesia never occurs until after the events of Pentecost. There is an
understanding that Ekklesia is, strictly speaking, a post-resurrection
institution.
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