Church

Church (Greek, huriahon, the Lord’s house); some derive it from the Celtic root, circus, whence kirk, a circle, because many of the oldest temples in which Christians gathered were circular in form. “In the New Testament the original word is ecclesia, which means an assembly, either secular (Acts xix. 32), or religious(Acts ii. 47), etc. It is applied either to the whole body of believers in Christ, the Church universal (Matt. xvi. 18; Eph. i. 22), or to a particular congregation in a local sense, as “the Church at Jerusalem” (Acts xv. 4), “at Antioch” (Acts xvii. 1), etc. The original word is used only twice in the Gospels, each time by Matthew, xvi. 18, where it means the Church universal, and xviii. 17, where it means a local congregation. The evangelists usually employ the term “the kingdom of God,” or “the kingdom of heaven,” for the spiritual substance of the Church universal.”—Schaff: Bible .Diet. The definition of a church which is most generally accepted by Protestants, is that given in the Nineteenth Article of the Church of England—“a congregation of faithful men in the which the pure Word of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.” The Church is made up of all true Christians, but, in its organization, is now divided either by names that have a local significance, or by differences on points of doctrine or polity. These differences are noted in the historical sketches of religious bodies given under their several names.