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Apr 02, 2008 A Source Book for Ancient Church History From the Apostolic Age to the Close of the Conciliar Period by Joseph Cullen Ayer, Jr., Ph.D. Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Divinity. This Church Donation Receipt PDF template can be used for providing receipts to the donor for the donations they made. Also, the person who is in charge of collecting the donations can track the donations easily with this template. This Receipt PDF template includes the information about the Church, Donor, and Donation.

Let us make it clear from the very beginning that the established religioussystem, which manifests itself in the abomination called 'church',is NOT of God. We intend to make it very clear, by studying theGreek words found in the New Testament, that the pattern which God intendsHis people to follow and live by is the ECCLESIA system, and isRADICALLY different than that which calls itself 'church'in our day. As you read this short study the truth will dawn on you thatChristians today have been fed a LIE, and that they have been enslavedby the religious systems of men. If you truly love Jesus and desire tofollow Him in total obedience then you must seriously consider the factsthat follow. We encourage each and every person who names the name of Christto PRAY, FAST AND SEEK GOD concerning the important differencesbetween how the first Christians lived and how Christians live today.

THE CORRECT MEANING OF 'CHURCH'

Let's start by defining the word. 'Church' comes from theOld English and German word pronounced 'kirche.' In Scotland,it was 'kirk.'

The following entries are from the Oxford Universal English Dictionary:

Church [Old English cirice, circe; Middle English chereche,chiriche, chirche; whence churche, cherche, etc.: -Greek Kuriakon...]

Kirk The Northern English and Scottish form of CHURCH, in allits senses.

In the earlier Greek It was pronounced 'ku-ri-a-kos'or 'ku-ri-a-kon.' As you can see, this word doesn't evenresemble the Greek word 'ecclesia' whose place it hasusurped. The meaning of 'Ku-ri-a-kos' is understood byits root: 'Ku- ri-os,' which means 'lord.'Thus, 'kuriakos' (i.e., 'church') means'pertaining to the lord.' It refers to something that pertainsto, or belongs to, a lord. The Greek 'kuriakos' eventuallycame to be used in Old English form as 'cirice' (Kee-ree-ke),then 'churche' (kerke), and eventually 'church'in its traditional pronunciation. A church, then, is correctly somethingthat 'pertains to, or belongs to, a lord.'

Now, as you can see, there is a major problem here. The translatorsbroke the rules in a big way. When they inserted the word 'church'in the English versions, they were not translating the Greek word 'kuriakos',as one might expect. Rather, they were substituting an entirely differentGreek word. This was not honest! The word 'church' wouldhave been an acceptable translation for the Greek word 'kuriakos.'However, not by the wildest imagination of the most liberal translatorcan it ever be an acceptable translation for the Greek word 'ecclesia.'Are you following this? Consider it carefully. This truth will answermany questions you've had about churches, and the kingdom.

'Ecclesia' is an entirely different word with an entirelydifferent meaning than 'kuriakos.' In fact, the Greekword 'kuriakos' appears in the New Testament only twice.It is found once in I Corinthians 11:20 where it refers to 'theLord's supper,' and once again in Revelation 1:10 where it refersto 'the Lord's day.' In both of those cases, it is translated'the Lord's...' - not 'church.' Thisword does not appear again in the New Testament. Nonetheless, this is theunlikely and strange history of the word 'church' as itcame to the English language. Eventually, through the manipulation of organizedreligion 'church' came to replace 'ecclesia'by popular acceptance. Again, we must emphasize the importance of knowingword meanings in order to know the intent of those who wrote the Scriptures.

THE CORRECT MEANING OF 'ECCLESIA'

Now, let's look at the word, 'ecclesia'. This Greekword appears in the New Testament approximately 115 times. That's justin this one grammatical form. It appears also in other forms. And in everyinstance, except three, it is wrongly translated as 'church'in the King James Version. Those three exceptions are found in Acts 19:32,39, 41. In these instances the translators rendered it 'assembly'instead of 'church.' But, the Greek word is exactly thesame as the other 112 entries where it was changed to 'church'wrongly.

In Acts 19, 'ecclesia' is a town council: a civil bodyin Ephesus. Thus, the translators were forced to abandon their fake translationin these three instances. Nonetheless, 112 times they changed it to 'church.'This fact has been covered-up under centuries of misuse and ignorance.The Greek word 'ecclesia' is correctly defined as: 'Thecalled-out (ones)' [ECC = out; KALEO = call]. Thus, you can see howthis word was used to indicate a civil body of select (called, elected)people.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

In the New Testament, 'ecclesia' (signifying convocation)is the only single word used for church. It (ecclesia) was the namegiven to the governmental assembly of the city of Athens, duly convoked(called out) by proper officers and possessing all political power includingeven juridical functions.

Obviously, in Greece an ecclesia had no resemblance to a church. An'ecclesia' was a civil assembly in Athens even beforethe writing of the New Testament. In the Oxford Universal English Dictionary(considered the standard for the English language) the word 'ecclesia'is listed in its English form as used by our English forefathers. (Nowadays,only forms of the word appear - like, 'ecclesiastical').

Quoting from the Oxford Universal English Dictionary on the word 'ecclesia':

Ecclesia [mediaeval Latin, and Greek- from : SUMMONED]-A regularly convoked assembly, especially the general assembly of Athenians.Later, the regular word for church.

Thus, two of the most prestigious word resources in the English languageconfirm the fact that an 'ecclesia' was originally a selectcivil body, summoned or convoked for a particular purpose. What, then,did the writers of the New Testament mean when they used the word 'ecclesia'to describe a Christian body of people? We can assume that they intendedto convey the original Greek meaning of the word: a body of Christianscalled out of the Roman and Judean system to come together into a separatecivil community. It meant a politically autonomous body of Christiansunder no king but Jesus; under no other jurisdiction but that of Jesus.No man ruled them! Only Christ. And that was the reason these same Christiansran into trouble with kings and rulers; were arrested, crucified and martyred.They dropped Caesar as their King and took up Christ.

In Acts 17, verses 1-6 we see that Paul and Silas had a reputation thatpreceded them. They were 'turning the world (system) upside down.'What was their inflaming message? Were they telling the people to finda minister and support him; go to church every weekend; be nice to theirneighbors? Could this have been the message that set the city fathers againstthem? Or maybe they were asking people to send their tithes to them sothey could build a nice church or develop a Christian recreation center?No? What then? What were these guys doing that was 'turning the worldsystem upside down'? The answer is found in verse 7:

'Whom Jason hath received (into his house): and theseall do contrary to the decrees of Caesar,saying that thereis another king, one Jesus.'

Now is that clear? Do you see what they were doing? They were announcingANOTHER KING! Not Caesar! This was a king who was bigger than Caesar.They were forming civil bodies that no longer looked to Caesar as theirking. They were forming civil outposts for Christ's conquering army! Theywere at war!

Paul and Silas weren't 'church builders' like preachers todayclaim. They weren't proselytizing people from one church or synagogue toanother. They were kingdom builders! They were dethroning rulers in theminds of the people and alienating them from the mental hold Caesar hadupon them through heathenistic (central) government. They were teachingthe principles of Christian government. They were putting forth the callof God to whomever would hear and obey, and those whose hearts respondedto the call became citizens of Christ's kingdom and joined themselves tothe ecclesia, or community of believers.

CHURCH AND STATE DESTROY LIBERTY

The Oxford Dictionary also has an interesting entry under 'congregation':

...used by Tyndale* as a translation of 'ecclesia' in the New Testament,and by the sixteenth century reformers instead of 'church.' (*WilliamTyndale was the fifteenth century reformer and Bible translator murderedby the church)

Tyndale was willing to die for God's word and truth. He didn't likethe word 'church.' Instead, he used the word 'congregation.'Now that tells us something! Godly Tyndale, and other sixteenth-centuryreformers who were more reputable, did not like the word 'church.'They used other words like 'congregation,' 'governmentalassembly,' etc.

When you consider the fact that an 'ecclesia' was 'acivil body politic', this is strong proof that the Christian ecclesiaswe read about in the New Testament were independent civil bodies of Christians-independent from worldly kings and governors, ruled by the Theocraticgovernment of God's Spirit. They wanted freedom to serve King Jesus. Theyweren't building and attending churches! Please understand! The patternlaid down in the New Testament bears no resemblence to what we know todayas 'church'. God's people are meant to live by the ecclesia pattern-together in communities, holding all things common, under the governmentof God through His anointed leaders. Quit saying 'church'when it is supposed to be 'ecclesia'! It's an importantstep in retrieving your brain from the trap of religious confusion.

CHRISTIAN CIVIL BODY

Independent self-government under Christ! That is what the ecclesiarepresents - not a religious organization for meeting on weekends. TheBible does not indicate that churches would eventually take the place ofecclesias. The change of words was not sanctioned by Scripture. There isNO Scriptural authority for Christians to build churches, attend churches,or support churches! Churches are ungodly organizations designed for andby the heathen.

We should be forming and defending ecclesias instead of the disgustingchurches with their con games, entertainment, cultic mystery, childishness,and heathenistic worldly nonsense. We once used the word 'church'to describe ourselves, but no more thank God. We're doing our best to breakthat image. It's a slow process, but we're putting the old church waysbehind us.

THE IDOLATRY MUST STOP

If you profess to follow Christ, then it's time you quit voluntarilyfeeding the anti-Christ beast. Men who want to sincerely follow Christmust wean themselves from worldly governments and churches. It is the heightof absurdity for a Christian to attend and support the very institutionswhich are destroying his relationship with God. Those who voluntarily supportman-made religious church systems, by believing and teaching that theyare good in any way, or that they help us, or that we need them, are stillliving in a dream world of deception. The ecclesia system, with it's Theocraticgovernment and individual responsibility, is capable of freeing us fromthe bodage of religion. True peace and liberty cannot be found outsideof Christ. Christ's system is the ecclesia system. Freedom awaits all thosewho will break away from the religious slavery of church and become a humblebondslave of Jesus Christ. We must stop idolizing men in their religioushypocrisy and let Christ once and for all be our King!

So, there is really no other choice for those who would truly followthe pattern laid down for us in God's Word. We must do the same thing theapostles did. We must form ourselves into actual communities under theguidance of God's anointed and appointed leaders, called out and separatedfrom the world, with none other than Jesus Christ as our ruler and King.In other words, ECCLESIAS!

As a whole, Christians have departed from the pattern laid down in thebook of Acts and have built, according to their own wisdom, an artificial,phony, putrifying religious mess called 'church'. It's time toREVOLT against the wisdom of our religious flesh and get back tothe wisdom of God. It's time to re-evaluate and re-examine everything abouthow you think the true followers of Jesus should live. It's time for REVOLUTIONagainst DEAD RELIGION! We are determined to change the way the worldthinks about how true followers of Jesus should live. We have been followingthe ecclesia pattern for over 10 years and have seen the blessings andpower of God every step of the way. God does miracles for those who arewilling to sacrifce ALL. Write for more information about how youcan join us in the struggle to bring back the truth of the ecclesia.

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about us or our community please E-mail us:
livingword@aggressivechristianity.net

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AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY
HC 60, BOX 11
FENCE LAKE, NM 87315

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