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Church of the New Testament, though in a few places it denotes common civil assemblies. Acts
19:32,39,41. The preposition ek in ekklesia (ekkaleo) is often interpreted to mean “out from
among the common mass of the people,” and to indicate in connection with the Scriptural use
of ekklesia, that the Church consists of the elect, called out of the world of humanity. This
interpretation is rather doubtful, however, for the preposition originally simply denoted that
the Greek citizens were called out of their houses. Now it would not have been unnatural if that
entirely Scriptural idea had been put into the word in God’s revelation. But, as a matter of fact,
we have no proof that this was actually done. The compound verb ekkaleo is never so used, and
the word ekklesia never occurs in a context which suggests the presence of that particular
thought in the mind of the writer. Deissmann would simply render ekklesia as “the (convened)
assembly,” regarding God as the convener. Because the idea of the Church is a many-sided
concept, it is quite natural that the word ekklesia, as applied to it, does not always have exactly
the same connotation. Jesus was the first one to use the word in the New Testament, and He
applied it to the company that gathered about Him, Matt. 16:18, recognized Him publicly as
their Lord, and accepted the principles of the Kingdom of God. It was the ekklesia of the
Messiah, the true Israel. Later on, as a result of the extension of the Church, the word acquired
various significations. Local churches were established everywhere, and were also called
ekklesiai, since they were manifestations of the one universal Church of Christ. The following
are the most important uses of the word:
a. Most frequently the word ekklesia designates a circle of believers in some definite locality, a
local church, irrespective of the question whether these believers are or are not assembled for
worship. Some passages contain the added idea that they are assembled, Acts 5:11; 11:26; I
Cor. 11:18; 14:19,28,35, while others do not, Rom. 16:4; I Cor. 16:1; Gal. 1:2; I Thess. 2:14, etc.
b. In some cases the word denotes what may be called a domestic ekklesia, the church in the
house of some individual. It seems that in apostolic times wealthy or otherwise important
persons often set aside a large room in their homes for divine worship. Instances of this use of
the word are found in Rom. 16:23; I Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 2.
c. If the reading of Tisschendorf is correct (as is now generally taken for granted), then the word
is found at least once in the singular to denote a group of churches, namely, the churches of
Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. The passage in which it is so used is Acts 9:31. Naturally, this does
not yet mean that they together constituted an organization such as we now call a
denomination. It is not impossible that the church of Jerusalem and the church of Antioch in
Syria also comprised several groups that were accustomed to meet in different places.
d. In a more general sense the word serves to denote the whole body, throughout the world, of
those who outwardly profess Christ and organize for purposes of worship, under the guidance