Chapter III
What's Wrong With This Theory?
The answer to the heading of this chapter is, EVERY THING
IS WRONG WITH IT. Some teachings while predominately false contain elements of
truth, but this Universal Church theory is wholly false. It is completely man
invented; is wholly unscriptural and anti scriptural, and well nigh constitutes
blasphemy against the church that Jesus started. I shall seek to enlarge upon
these statements in this chapter.
First, I wish to
make the statement that the Universal theory PERVERTS THE MEANING OF THE WORD
ECCLESIA, which is translated church. The word ecclesia was not a word coined
by our Lord for the institution that He established. It was a word in common
use. Overby, in his thesis on "The Meaning of Ecclesia In the New
Testament," aptly expresses the meaning of the word when he says:
"The Greek word ecclesia signified primarily the
assembly of citizens in a self governed state, being derived from Ekkaleo, to
call out; i.e., out from their homes or places of business, to summon as we
speak of calling out the militia. The popular notion that it meant to call out
in the sense of separation from others, is a mistake."
This last statement is in accord with Dr. John A. Broadus,
in his "Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew."
Those who want to
bolster up the Universal theory try to make the word mean "called
out," and that only, but there was always attached to the word the
significance of "assembly." In other words, organization and locality
inheres in the word.
The idea of a
Universal, Invisible something that has neither organization nor locality -
that doesn't assemble and never has, is completely foreign to the meaning of
the word.
Simmons, in his
"Systematic Study of Bible Doctrine," (Page 349 4th Edition)
expresses himself in full accord with what has just been said in these words:
"Ekklesia comes from 'ekkletos' and this latter word comes
from 'ekkaleo', to call out or forth. But ecclesia does not mean the called
out. Let this statement be pondered well. Usage, not etymology, determines the
meaning of words. For instance, 'prevent' by etymology, means to anticipate or
precede. But usage has made that meaning archaic. By usage, 'prevent' means
forestall, frustrate, circumvent, hinder.
Ekklesia had its
original application to a gathering of citizens called out from their homes
into a public place. (Thayer). Then it came to mean any assembly of people or
gathering or throng of men, even when gathered by chance or tumultuously. (See
Acts 19:32, 39, 41). The resulting meaning is 'assembly.' The word never did
mean simply 'the called out.' It always implied that the called out ones would
gather or assemble. Thus according to culmination, the word always did mean
assembly, and later came to mean this alone."
Dr. B. H. Carroll in his book, "Ecclesia - The
Church" has the following to say:
"The primary meaning is: An organized assembly, whose
members have been called out from among private homes or business to attend to
public affairs. This definition necessarily implies prescribed conditions of
membership.
(1) This meaning
applies substantially alike to the ecclesia of a self-governing Greek state
(Acts 19:39),
(2) the Old
Testament ecclesia or convocation of National Israel (Acts 7:38), and
(3) to the New
Testament ecclesia. When our Lord says: 'On this rock I will build MY ecclesia',
while the 'my' distinguished His ecclesia from the Greek state ecclesia, and the
Old Testament ecclesia, the word naturally retains its ordinary meaning."
The word church should not be in our English versions today
to represent ecclesia, for the word has come to have meanings that are not
expressed in ecclesia. That it does occur is due - not to scholarship - but to
King James of England. The word church did not occur in the earliest versions
of the Bible into English. Tyndale's, Coverdale's, and the Crammer (The Great
Bible) version used the word "congregation" to translate ecclesia.
According to the scholar Hort, "congregation" 'was the only rendering
of ecclesia in the English New Testament as it stood during the reign of Henry
VlII.' "Congregation" would have no doubt been the translation of
ecclesia used in the King James Version, had it not been for King James who
furnished the translators with some rules to guide them. One of these was this:
"The word church is not to be translated congregation."'
The meaning of the
word ecclesia is all important in considering the question that we are dealing
with, for the advocates of the Universal Church cannot justify their theory if
the word means a called out assembly. The limited meaning of ecclesia simply
ruins their theory.
The Bible in use
during New Testament times was called the Septuagint. Was the word ecclesia
used in any looser way in that version, than I have indicated? The answer is a
positive NO! H. E. Dana of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (A
Manual of Ecclesiology) says, speaking of the Septuagint, "In it ekklesia
was used to translate the Hebrew word qahal, which means an assembly,
convocation or congregation." I could go on almost indefinitely quoting
things to prove the truth that I have just stated, but it is unnecessary.
WHAT ABOUT CLASSICAL GREEK?
Is the word ecclesia used in classical Greek to indicate a
vague unassembling universal something? The answer is again NO! Dr. B. H.
Carroll published a splendid and unanswerable booklet entitled "Ecclesia -
The Church" In this he examines the word ecclesia as used in the
Septuagint, the Apocrypha, classical Greek, and the New Testament, and he shows
that never is the word used to represent a universal unassembling something
such as indicated by the Universal Church theory. The investigation in the
field of classical Greek was made by Dr. George Ragland who was at that time
professor of Greek in Baylor University, and who later became the same at
Georgetown College. Dr. Ragland was a close friend of mine, and we discussed
the Universal Church theory many times. He assured me that the term ecclesia as
used in classical Greek, never means what the advocates of the Universal theory
try to make it mean.
Edward H. Overby, a
college professor and author of several books, made a painstaking search into
the meaning of ecclesia. From that search, he prepared a thesis and it is my
privilege to have a copy in my possession. He sums up the results of his
research in the following statement:
"What does the word ecclesia mean in the New
Testament? This is the question we have sought to answer in this thesis. The
word church is the usual translation of ecclesia in the New Testament. It is
not a good translation since church has a host of meanings today that no one
claims for ecclesia. We must bear this in mind as we study the word lest we be
misled. Ecclesia means assembly in the classical Greek and in the Septuagint.
In approaching the New Testament we see that the word is admitted by all to
have this meaning in about ninety places. The other times it is used there is a
difference of opinion. Some contend for assembly, others for a new meaning best
described as the universal invisible church. How can we tell which is correct?
The principle is used that says the common meaning must be accepted in every
place it makes sense. Only when the common meaning will not make sense are we
permitted to assume it has a new meaning. Following this principle we find that
the word assembly makes sense in every contested passage, so that any new sense
must be rejected. To say it has a new meaning in the face of this evidence is
to follow a false way of interpreting that could make the Bible meaningless and
could undermine a person's duty to the local church."
NEW TESTAMENT INSTANCES OF CHURCH
In the King James Version of the Bible, ecclesia occurs 115
times in the Greek text. 112 times it is translated by the term church, and
three times by the word assembly (in Acts 19). Let us note some of the typical
passages in which the word church and churches are used.
1 - Matthew 16:18 -
"I will build my church."
All kinds of efforts
are being made today to make this passage refer to the Universal Church. It
does nothing of the kind. The word is used here in an institutional or abstract
sense. That He did not refer to a Universal Church Jesus made plain in His very
next mention of the word church (Matthew 18:17) where He counseled "tell
it to the church." How could they tell something to a Universal,
Invisible spiritual Church? Absurd!
2 - Acts 8:1 -
"the church which was at Jerusalem."
3 - Acts 9:31 -
"Then had the churches rest."
4 - Acts 20:17 -
"called the elders of the church."
5 - Romans 16:4 -
"All the churches of the Gentiles."
6 - I Corinthians
1:2 - "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth."
7 - I Corinthians
6:4 - "Least esteemed in the church."
8 - I Corinthians
7:17 - "So ordain I in all the churches."
9 - Galatians 1:22 -
"I persecuted the church of God."
10 - Galatians 1:2 -
"Unto the churches of Galatia."
I could go ahead and
list scores of Scriptures like the ten just given in which the term church and
churches occur but it would be a waste of time and paper. You don't doubt I am
sure that around 90 of the instances in which church or churches occur,
reference is to the local, visible assembly. If you do, just get your Bible and
investigate for yourself. Is it not utter presumption to ignore the plain
meaning of church as demonstrated by around 90 instances of use, and after the
plain meaning is established, to seize upon a handful of Scriptures and seek to
make them teach something entirely different? Yet many - yes all who hold the
Universal theory are doing that very thing. That Universal Church theory is so
precious, and so necessary to their religious sentimentality that they will go
to almost any length in order to hold on to it.
CHURCH UNIONISM BASED ON THIS
THEORY
Church unionism largely exists because of the Universal
theory. I have known big union meetings to be held, when some of the leaders
were not even in agreement on how to be saved. Suppose that during such a
revival, a seeker comes forward and asks, "What must I do to be
saved?" Several preachers are down front, and a Baptist replies in the
words of Paul (Acts 16) "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved." A Church of Christ preacher speaks up immediately to
say "There's more to it than that. You must be immersed in order to be
saved." A Methodist pastor speaks up and says, "Pardon me, but
sprinkling or pouring will do just as well." "And don't forget,"
says a minister of yet another faith, "You will be saved only until you
sin again. You have to hold out faithful to the end to be saved." The poor
penitent becomes utterly confused as the contradictory arguments grow vehement.
Finally, one of the preachers dowses water on the fire by saying, "Well,
we don't agree on some things, but our differences relate only to our little
local churches. Let us remember that we are all members of the big, Universal
Church."
The service ends
with all singing:
"We are not divided,
All one body we."
Yes, the Universal
theory is directly involved in church unionism, in which conviction is thrown
aside and the truths of God's word are sacrificed.
ECUMENICALISM HAS RESULTED FROM
THE THEORY
The ecumenical movement, which is the most Satanic movement
in all Christian history is likewise a product of the Universal Church theory.
Many of those involved in this movement have repudiated almost every item of
the Christian faith. An ecumenical convention was held in Florida and some one
made a poll of the beliefs of many of the delegates. This poll revealed that a
large number of those questioned did not even believe in a personal, living
God. The leaders of this movement seem to be willing for the different
denominations to be absorbed back into the Catholic Church. The writer of these
lines believes that we are witnessing the beginning of events foretold in the
Book of Revelation, where the ecumenical movement shall form the Anti-Christ's
Church.
And remember! The
ecumenical movement is largely the product of the Universal Church theory.