Michael37 Posted September 20, 2018 Group: Servant Followers: 21 Topic Count: 241 Topics Per Day: 0.11 Content Count: 6,903 Content Per Day: 3.26 Reputation: 4,831 Days Won: 2 Joined: 07/05/2018 Status: Online Birthday: 09/23/1954 Share Posted September 20, 2018 2 hours ago, Melinda12 said: This is proving incredibly helpful to me. The perspectives. What i am trying to gauge is how to deal with people at church, to find patience and understanding. I get so disappointed because people are not as enthusiastic as i am. They annoy me ! Yet my first task is to be aware of myself, my numerous faults! Humility is vital. I want like minded people in my life but often feel they are so few. Back to the Bible is always my answer to myself. Put myself right first, pray for guidance. I like this forum, people here are honest and direct. It's what i need. Quote How The Ekklesia Became Institutionalised As The Church 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 saints 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." Food for thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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