Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
, “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia, which is synonymous with the Hebrew kahal of the Old Testament, both words meaning simply an assembly, the character of which can only be known from the connection in which the word is found. There is no clear instance of its being used for a place of meeting or of worship, although in post-apostolic times it early received this meaning. ) It is translated “assembly” in the ordinary classical sense (Acts 19:32, 39, 41).
) It denotes the whole body of the redeemed, all those whom the Father has given to Christ, the invisible catholic church (Eph. 5:23, 25, 27, 29; Heb. 12:23). ) A few Christians associated together in observing the ordinances of the gospel are an ecclesia (Rom. 16:5; Col. 4:15). ) All the Christians in a particular city, whether they assembled together in one place or in several places for religious worship, were an ecclesia. ) The whole body of professing Christians throughout the world (1 Cor. 15:9; Gal. 1:13; Matt. 16:18) are the church of Christ.
” It is called “visible” because its members are known and its assemblies are public. Here there is a mixture of “wheat and chaff,” of saints and sinners. “God has commanded his people to organize themselves into distinct visible ecclesiastical communities, with constitutions, laws, and officers, badges, ordinances, and discipline, for the great purpose of giving visibility to his kingdom, of making known the gospel of that kingdom, and of gathering in all its elect subjects. ” A credible profession of the true religion constitutes a person a member of this church.
This is “the kingdom of heaven,” whose character and progress are set forth in the parables recorded in Matt. 13. The children of all who thus profess the true religion are members of the visible church along with their parents. Children are included in every covenant God ever made with man. They go along with their parents (Gen. 9:9-17; 12:1-3; 17:7; Ex. 20:5; Deut. 29:10-13). Peter, on the day of Pentecost, at the beginning of the New Testament dispensation, announces the same great principle.
“The promise [just as to Abraham and his seed the promises were made] is unto you, and to your children” (Acts 2:38, 39). , are “saints”, a title which designates the members of the Christian church (1 Cor. 7:14). ” This is a pure society, the church in which Christ dwells. It is the body of Christ. it is called “invisible” because the greater part of those who constitute it are already in heaven or are yet unborn, and also because its members still on earth cannot certainly be distinguished. The qualifications of membership in it are internal and are hidden.
” “The Lord knoweth them that are his” (2 Tim. 2:19). , the church invisible. ) Its unity. God has ever had only one church on earth. We sometimes speak of the Old Testament Church and of the New Testament church, but they are one and the same. The Old Testament church was not to be changed but enlarged (Isa. 49:13-23; 60:1-14). When the Jews are at length restored, they will not enter a new church, but will be grafted again into “their own olive tree” (Rom. 11:18-24; comp. Eph. 2:11-22). The apostles did not set up a new organization.
Under their ministry disciples were “added” to the “church” already existing (Acts 2:47). ) Its universality. It is the “catholic” church; not confined to any particular country or outward organization, but comprehending all believers throughout the whole world. ) Its perpetuity. It will continue through all ages to the end of the world. It can never be destroyed.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
CHURCH . " Some derive it from a Celtic root meaning "round," because the temples in which the first Christian congregations gathered were circular. T. the original word is ecclesia, which means an assembly, either secular, Acts 19:32, or religious. Acts 2:47, etc. It is applied either to the whole body of believers in Christ, the Church universal. Matt 16:18 Eph 1:22, or to a particular congregation in a local sense, as "the church at Jerusalem," Acts 15:4; "at Antioch," Acts 13:1, "of the Thessalonians," 2 Thess 1:1, "at Corinth," 1 Cor 1:2.
The original word is used only twice in the Gospels, each time by Matthew 1 Cor 16:18, where it means the Church universal, and Josh 18:17, where it means a local congregation. The evangelists usually employ the term "the kingdom of God" or "the kingdom of heaven" for the spiritual substance of the Church universal. The day of Pentecost is the birthday of the Christian Church. From small beginnings it has spread over all the earth and been the one permanent fact amid all temporal changes. To-day it is the foundation of true civilization, virtue, and religion.
What the Christian Church condemns the world must eventually give up, for darkness cannot abide the entrance of light. A distinction must be made between the real Church of Christ, the genuine believers, and the outward organization, which comprises both true and false friends of Christ. To the former only do the promises belong. In the outward sense the Church is divided into various denominations, as the Baptist, the Congregational, the English, the Episcopal, the Greek, the Lutheran, the Methodist, the Moravian, the Presbyterian, the Reformed, the Roman, and other churches.
But in the Bible the word is never used in a denominational or confessional sense, or in the sense of a church-building.