Defining Ekklesia

The Greek term ekklesia, translated church over one hundred times in your English New Testament, is translated differently in this passage. Let’s see if you can find it:

So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.

Spot it? Here’s how the passage would read if ekklesia had been translated church.

As you probably guessed, ekklesia is translated assembly in the passage above. Why? That’s what the term means. Ekklesia was not, is not, a religious term. It does not mean church or house of the Lord. It certainly shouldn’t be associated with a temple. The term was used widely to describe a gathering or assembly, civic gatherings, or an assembly of soldiers. An ekklesia was a gathering of people for a specific purpose. Any specific purpose..

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