Part 1: The Word that Changed the World - The Origin of the Word "church" - Articles

Language is the fundamental method we use for conveying information and understanding. The changing of one word can literally change the world. Therefore, translators are given an extreme responsibility in making sure they get it right, especially key words. When Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my ekklesia.” (Mat 16:18) The Greek word is pronounced ek-klay-see-ah. The translators purposely used a word identifying a building to support a clergy rather than the building together of the body of Christ in unity establishing the kingdom of God in every city. Jesus did not and would not have said, "upon the rock I will build my church." The church represent the complete opposite of building His kingdom on this earth as it is in heaven. Jesus would rather have said, "upon this rock I will build my assembly of believers"....a called out of the world assembly gathered in one name and for one purpose all being one.

Our word “Church” is one of those words that has impacted the world and has subverted the whole purpose for which it was intended. Because the translators used the word “church,” meaning a building, instead of a more accurate word reflecting a functioning body, it has affected our whole approach to the meaning of the body of Christ. We have been given a word from the translators that has nothing to do with the original Greek word ekklesia. There is not a single Greek word to back up the word church. So why is it there?

The early assembly of believers did not have a clergy distinct from the rest of the body. Clergy with titles and authority was foreign to the early disciples. It was the rise of this authoritarian clergy that needed a building to control the people both religiously and politically and to gather the people around the clergy. The Catholic Church and the Church of England both used the word “church” and its meaning as a building to hold the people in subjection to their control. Without a building the clergy would have lost their power over the people. Even today, without a building the clergy system would fall. This system of clergy/laity and the use of a building is what we have come to know as the “institutional” church system. This system was totally foreign to the vocabulary and the life of the disciples of Jesus, who built and depended on the move of the Holy Spirit through all the people being built together. Therefore the retaining of the word "church" in our translations of the bible became crucial for the survival of the institutional church system even to this day.
To change the true meaning and function of the Greek word “ekklesia” to our English word “church” strengthened the clergy system and their power over the people. The statement, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” has been the downfall and corruption of body ministry. The original intent was relational and not institutional. For in all the writings of the first and second century we do not find an “institutional” treatment of "ekklesia."

The new Webster’s international dictionary, 1909 edition, gives this definition of the word:
“Church (church), n. [ME. chirche, fr. AS. circe, fr. Gr. kyriakon the Lord's house, fr. kyriakos concerning a master or lord, fr. kyrios master, lord, fr. kyros power, authority; akin to Skr. gram mighty , bold Olr. caur, cur, hero. Cf. KIRK.] 1. A building set apart for public worship, esp… 2. A place of worship of any religion, as, formerly, a Jewish or pagan temple or a mosque. Acts six. 37.”

There were pagans using the word “church” long before Christians ever began using it. The word “church,” originated from the Greek word “kuriakon,” which later evolved to chirche and to “church” in English. To the pagans the word kuriakon meant "belong to the lord", it was a house or building representing their pagan lords in which they met.

“CHURCH: From the Greek kuriakee, "house of the Lord," a word which passed to the Gothic tongue; the Goths being the first of the northern hordes converted to Christianity, adopted the word from the Greek Christians of Constantinople, and so it came to us Anglo-Saxons (Trench, Study of Words). But Lipsius, from circus, from whence kirk, a circle, because the oldest temples, as the Druid ones, were circular in form.” (Fausset's Bible Dictionary)

A building would more serve the purpose of a religious group with a built-in hierarchy. Christians originally didn’t use buildings, which distinguished them from the pagans whose focus was on buildings, statues, ritual and physical objects. From its earliest usage, the word “church” has been understood in pagan traditions, then later in Roman Catholicism and now in this present day as a building, but never has the word “church” been demonstrated or justified from a biblical stand point to represent the Greek word ekklesia. Church was a pagan concept and not a Christian one.

When I gave my life to Jesus some 47 years ago, I was falsely led to believe that the activities of the “church” were biblical and an essential part of my being a Christian. I just couldn’t understand how sitting in a pew or chair and listening to some person preach from the bible could change my life… especially when the bible spoke overwhelmingly of my relationship with the members and not a pastor. I wanted to experience life, not just hear about it.

Many say, “We know the church is the building.” Do we? Do we act like it? No, of course not. We go to church rather than each individual functioning as members of an assembly. We ask people what church they go to. When we take up a collection for the church the money goes to the building...something of no eternal value. We ask who the pastor of their church is. Where is your church located? How many people in your church? Each building has its own pastor, its own name and its own congregation. Then we are often given the scripture taken from Hebrews 10:25 if we miss the church service. But let’s see if this verse matches our typical church service, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” First, they were an assembly that had purpose; much like the assembly line of an automobile factory. Each part had a function within the whole.

Ephesians 4:15-16, clearly identifies the purpose of our assembling, "speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." Nothing like our church today.

We all were a part of an assembly of people who had in common their commitment to Jesus and to each other. Their coming together involved exhortation and fellowship with one another They were not an audience for a single speaker, but a living body much like are human bodies. 1 Corinthians 12:18-1924,26, "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased...But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no divisions in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." The word church is responsible for destroying all the above and the kingdom of God as it is in heaven. How do we feel when we repeat what we call the Lord's prayer? "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." All that is representative of church is against all that is representative of the kingdom of heaven.

William Tyndale, who in the 16th century translated our first English Bible, translated "ekklesia" as “congregation,” moving the focus from a building to the people. He wanted to rid the Bible of the ecclesiastical words set in by a powerful clergy system linked to the state. Tyndale used the word “church” one time and that was to describe a pagan temple (Acts 19:37 "For ye have brought hyther these [Paul and company] me whiche are nether robbers of churches [pagan house of worship] nor yet despisers of youre goddes). His translation brought the down the wrath of the Clergy and it cost him his life. For his translation he was burned at the stake.

This is true even to this day; the most hated people are those who challenge our religious system...and the challenge is just beginning.

Many in the clergy derive their prestige and livelihood from a clergy system with its corporate headquarters in a building. A change back to the faith that was once given to the saints rings fear to the order of our institutional church system. Such words as: “bishop,” “office of.” “pastor,” “deacon,” etc., have been improperly translated to build an empire around men and denominational divisions.

When the King James Bible was published in 1611, it was flawed before it got started. Archbishop Bancroft, the head of the Anglican Church, set fourteen rules of translation to maintain the doctrine and practices of the Anglican church of England. King James made himself "head" of the Church of England, and he required a translation which would facilitate his control over the church and the people. James knew “no building, no bishop, no king.”

Arch Bishop Bancroft and Erasmus were the architects of the King James Version translation; they were far from being saints. The translators were obligated to fit the translation with the Anglican agenda and beliefs without any conflict between church and state. There interest was not in the kingdom of God, but an institutional system with it paid clergy.

Bancroft’s third rule required "the old ecclesiastical words to be kept, such as “church” instead of “congregation." He also wanted the old offices of bishop, deacon, pastor to relate to their “most commonly used by the most eminent fathers” (rule four). The King James translation maintained the offices of the Church of England, so we find words added into the text like “office of” a bishop or a deacon. They also purposely translated many words differently to agree with the Anglican Church.

If you look in your bible, you will find “office of” in italics, in the KJV... italics meaning it is not a part of the original Greek.

When we study the history of the Bible translations, it is easy to see why those in authority sought to hide the original languages from the common people's understanding, but that is not the case today. We have bible programs that show every Greek word, its meaning, and what part of speech it is. We have bible dictionaries, lexicons, the internet and resources without end. Truth is mounting each day for those seeking truth.

When we realize that the word "church" was Satan's highest achievement in tearing apart the kingdom of God into thousands of fragments and leaving the body of Christ as a useless lethargic audience exalting its pastors; then we can see how important the word church was to Satan's harlot. Every time we use the word "church", we are using something that God hates, something added by Satan into the mix of God's word. "Church", if we are willing to be honest is Satan's word not God's word. The church has destroyed body ministry for the sake of the clergy; it has given it a name to mix in with the name of Jesus, it has built walls, created disputes, competitions and heresies of the highest order. By all definitions the church is the Harlot and one day there will be a mass exit... it is already starting.

Putting a name on our buildings, dividing our cities into hundreds and thousands of churches and where we have a pastor doing all the ministering (clergy/laity) eliminating body ministry and fellowship in the gatherings…that of itself has been the greatest insult to the Holy name of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom. This system cannot be restored because it never was founded on the words of Jesus. God is not going to restore the harlot.

the word church describes the Harlot religious system found in the book of Revelations, it stands against the kingdom of God and God's called out assembly.

Paul predicted the denominational structure of division led by men within the assembly in Acts 20:29-31, "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears." NKJV

Notice how clear Paul maps out these conditions: first it is something he knows. Second, it happens after he leaves, Third, men will come in without considering God's possession and purpose of the flock and will try to draw the sheep after them dividing the sheep, not around Jesus, but around men. They are called salvage wolves because this is the nature of the wolf to divide the flock and pick out the weak. The true shepherd gathers the flock...something rarely seen. The institutional church system has the heart of a man at its center and that is what makes her a harlot. She has created for herself a name...many names of blasphemy...names in defiance to the only Holy name we are to meet and the only name that identifies us as His sons. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name." I keep hearing those words from my friend in China, "Our biggest prayer is that the doors will not open to you (Americans), you will destroy us, communism can't destroy us, but you can with your religion." Men without God's power have turned to their own resources and the church has found no problem going on without God. Listen sometime to the ambitions of pastors, they sound like advertisement for their church straight out of Madison avenue. Deceived pastors through the church system are subtly bowing to the Babylonian gold of the Harlot.

The word church is from hell, it approves of every word out of the minds of men and destroys every word out of the mouth of God. It is a mixture of flour and leaven.


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