Why ‘Church’ Should Be Replaced by ‘Assembly’

When a friend of mine first introduced the idea of Jesus building his Church in heaven and not on the earth, and then highlighted that the church here should be called the Church of God according to the Christian Scriptures, it motivated me to look for that scripture that we all know so well, ”the Lord added to the Church daily….” 

Here we have it in the beloved KJV that most of us grew up on:  

Acts 2:47 

Praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. KJV 

If Jesus’s Church is in Heaven, how could he be adding to it daily here on earth? (This deserves a pause for answers). Could the answer be just a matter of Translation? Let’s see what two other translations say: 

Acts 2:47 

praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. NASU 

Acts 2:47 

 praising God, and having favour with all the people; and the Lord added [to the assembly] daily those that were to be saved. 

Darby 

Now that we have found a conflict between the 3 translations, what do we do? If we have a Greek Interlinear, we go look to see what it says. It says <church> 846 auto, the same, as in all the people. So, ekklesia, which we all have been taught means church, does not exist in Acts 2:47. (The sideways carrot marks < > generally indicated that what is between them is not in the texts, as is the case here). This comes as quite a surprise to me. 

To me this posed quite a quandary! Where do I go from here? Another formerly held belief shattered to smitherenes! So what’s left to do, look up ekklesia. Here is what it means according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon: 

“a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly.” (See side column for further definition). What we don’t see, is the word ”church,” as any part of the definition. What we do see, predominantly, is ”Assembly.” 

Etymology of the word Church 

“The etymology of the word “church” is a complex and multifaceted topic. Based on the provided search results, here is a summary of the key findings: Greek origins: 

The English word “church” is ultimately derived from the Greek adjective “kuriakos” (κυριακός), meaning “of (or belonging to) the Lord”. 

This adjective is found only twice in the Christian Scriptures, in 1 Corinthians 11:20 and Revelation 1:10, referring to the Lord’s supper and the Lord’s day, respectively.” 

1 Cor 11:20 

Therefore, when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 

The Lord’s is the word kuriakos (koo-ree-ak-os’) NT:2960; from NT:2962, kurios; belonging to the Lord (Jehovah or Jesus): 

Rev 1:10-11 

I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, NASU 

Now we will look at Young’s Literal Translation of a few verses containing ekklesia: 

Matt 16:18 

‘And I also say to thee, that thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my assembly, and gates of Hades shall not prevail against it; 

Acts 5:11 

11 and great fear came upon all the assembly, and upon all who heard these things. 

Eph 1:22-23 

22 and all things He did put under his feet, and did give him — head over all things to the assembly, 

23 which is his body, the fulness of Him who is filling the all in all, 

Not in one verse, of 114 scriptures, where ekklesia is used, does the YLT translate it Church! 

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Much like we have eliminated Old Testament and New Testament from our vocabulary, I think it is time to eliminate “Church” as well! If as close as we can come to it, is a transliteration of kuriakos, we have a pretty weak case for using it at all. 

I am of the opinion that what exists in the Hebrew Scriptures should set the precedence for the Christian Scriptures. For example, Church doesn’t exist in the Hebrew Scriptures any more than resurrection does. But what does exist is qahal — OT:6951 an assembly, a company, a congregation, a convocation  

a) an assembly for evil counsel, for war or invasion, for religious purposes Ex. 12:6 

b) a company (used of returning exiles) Ez. 38:15 

c) a congregation as an organized body Joel 2:16 

(from The Online Bible Thayer’s Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.) 

Deut 31:30 Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete: NASU 

Judg 20:2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. KJV 

Qahal is used 123 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, coming close to the 114 of ekklesia! 

Other usages of Assembly in the Hebrew Scriptures: 

5712, edah, 149 times 

6116, atsarah, 11 times 

5475, cowd, 21 times Job 15:8, 29:4 the secret of God; Ps. 89:7 the assembly of the saints! 

4186, mowshab, 44 times 

4150, mowed/moed, 223 times Is. 41:13 Mount of Assembly 

When it comes to the phrase, “Church of God,” it is used 8 times in the Christian Scriptures. All 8 of these verses use the word ekklesia, which we now know does not mean “church!” 6 words in the Hebrew Scriptures are translated “assembly” many times in their 571 usages; never church. Therefore, in my humble opinion, Assembly should replace the word church everywhere it is used in the Christian Scriptures, just like the Young’s Literal Translation has! Since we no longer say the word mystery for musterion, neither should we say the word church, for ekklesia.