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Hope of Israel Ministries

Church Vs. Ecclesia

LESSON 21

Modern Definitions

Notice the distinctive differences be-
tween the two Greek source words kuriakos (a
lord’s) and ekklesia (the called-out). Yet today,
the corresponding English words church and
ecclesia are erroneously used as synonyms. As
we shall see, Bible translators INCORRECTLY
translated the Greek word ekklesia into the
English word church. This MISTRANS-
LATION has caused Christians to stumble at
KEY verses of scripture.

The above definitions are taken from
The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language. Note that the word ecclesia
is defined as a “church” and both church and
ecclesia are defined as a “congregation.” This is
a perfect example of how the terms church and
ecclesia are used interchangeably and con-
sidered by many to refer to the same thing.
However, as we shall see, the terms are NOT
synonymous. Rather, they are quite distinctive in
meaning and are derived from DIFFERENT
origins.

Word Origins

The above quote points out some of the
difference between the Greek words kuriakon
(church) and ekklesia (ecclesia). A church