Biblical Foundations of Ecclesiology and Discipleship

Introduction Any theology of Church or discipleship in the Christian community must begin with the Sacred Scriptures. In turn, such a theology begins with the Jewish roots of both church and discipleship. Origin of the word church The English word church comes from a group of Anglo-Saxon words: English church, Scottish kirk, German kirche, Dutch kerk all of which are derived from the Greek word kyriakon, meaning "the Lord's house." The Greek word ekklesia in classical Greek meant the assembly of the citizens of a city for legislative and deliberative purposes. This assembly included only the citizens who enjoyed full rights, and thus the word implies two things: (1) the dignity of the members and (2) the legality of the assembly. Hence, in classical Greek the word ekklesia had no religious usage. It was, however, adopted by the Septuagint translators to render the Hebrew word kahal which signifies the religious assembly of the Israelites. For the assembly of Israelites (later Jews) living in the Dispersion (outside of Palestine) the intertestamental writers chose the Greek word synagoge for the religious assembly.

In the New Testament In the 27 books of the New Testament, the noun for "church" in Greek is ekklesia. It means "an assembly of people," "a congregation," "a community of believers." It never refers to a building, or to an organization in the modern, western sense of the word. The noun ekklesia is derived from the Greek verb ekaleo meaning "to call out." When the verb is used in the Septuagint it often has God as the subject (the one doing the calling) with the object of the verb usually being God's people (the ones being called). As mentioned above, the Septuagint translators of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) chose the noun ekklesia to translate the Hebrew noun kahal, meaning "an assembly of people." Usually in the Hebrew text the noun goes along with God. So you have for example, the kahal YAHWEH, or the kahal adonai meaning "the assembly of God." In addition, the noun kahal appears in conjunction with the benai Israel. When put together, the kahal benai Israel means "the assembly of the children of Israel." (What later theology refers to as the people of God.)

In the Gospels In the Gospels, the noun ekklesia appears only in Matthew (see Matthew 16:18 & 18:18). In Matthew the foundations of the idea of ekklesia are based on Jesus forming a group of disciples. Of these disciples, Jesus demanded personal attachment to himself even at the cost of separation from friends and family. Indeed this choice of becoming a disciple might cause a separation between them and the world at large which could result in the disciples death. Against this background, the use of the word ekklesia in Matthew 16:18 is clearly identified with the group which Jesus himself formed and which he commanded to be continued by his disciples after his departure. In Matthew 16:18 the foundation of the ekklesia (church) is the rock (petros) solid faith of Peter, who for the Matthean community represents the whole church (ekklesia). But the faith of Peter is not so much in Jesus himself as in the teachings of the Master, the secrets of the Reign of God which Jesus revealed. It is faith in a Way of Life, a way of treating others, of prayer, of the search for the inner light.

In Acts of the Apostles & Paul The noun ekklesia appears 23 times in Acts of the Apostles and refers to a local community, like for example, the church of Jerusalem or the church of Antioch. In Acts these local churches are small house assemblies of disciples not giant buildings or congregations. Similarly in the 65 uses of ekklesia in the Pauline letters (which, of course, antedate the composition of the Gospels) the noun always means a local assembly of disciples of Jesus. The ecclesiology of Acts of the Apostles and Paul understands the ekklesia as those having been called out by Jesus to be made disciples. The functions of the ekklesia (assembly of disciples) are: diakonia (service), koinonia (fellowship), marturia (witness), and liturgia (worship). The baptized who take their baptismal promises seriously, are disciples, called out by Jesus to serve one another and the world, to establish fellowship with one another, to witness to the faith even to the point of death, and to engage in worship, namely the celebration of the Eucharist. No one of these four functions is superior to the other.

Discipleship The ecclesiology we have been discussing, from a New Testament point of view, presumes that one becomes a disciple of Jesus. It is important to note that Jesus was not the only one to have disciples in New Testament times John the Baptist had disciples as well as the Pharisees and other religious leaders of various stripes. However, what was different was that Jesus took the initiative to call persons to follow him. Not so for his contemporary rabbis. In their cases, a future disciple sought out the Rabbi to see if he would accept him into his discipleship. A rabbinical disciple followed Torah, a Jesus disciple followed the life and teachings of Jesus. Further Jesus had female disciples (see Luke 8:1-3) which his Jewish contemporaries did not. Call stories in the Gospels In all four Gospels there are call stories in which Jesus calls people into relationship with him. In each case it is Jesus who takes the initiative, the recipient of the call has done nothing to merit it. It happens in an ordinary life situation (not in a vision or a trance) and it requires the person to abandon his or her former lifestyle for a new one--of following Jesus. It is basically a call to conversion, to metanoia. In most of the call stories Jesus issues the call in the form of an imperative "follow me!" The use of the imperative in Greek

demands an immediate response form the hearer. The Greek noun for "disciple" is mathetes. It means "one who follows" either literally, like ducks in a row, or one who follows a teacher, or a particular set of teachings. In English it might be rendered apprentice. The Greek noun mathetes (disciple) is a translation of the Hebrew talmid hakam meaning a "follower of wisdom." The idea was that you learned from a sage like Jesus how to develop the wisdom (not knowledge) to live life. A mathetes ( disciple) followed a didaskolos (the Greek noun for "teacher). The Hebrew equivalent is rab meaning "teacher" or rabbi meaning "my teacher." The greatness of a teacher did not come from the knowledge or content he or she imparted but from the way he or she helped you to learn to live. The later term Master or the Latin Magister acquired a meaning of imparter of knowledge not found in the biblical understanding. Magister comes from the noun magus. It is also important to note that the English words "disciple" and "student," do not capture either the Hebrew or Greek meanings of "discipleship." The English word "disciple" comes from the Latin verb discipere meaning "to grasp at something or to figure something out."

Whereas the English word "student" comes from the Latin studens meaning someone who "grasps intellectually. The Greek noun mathetes (disciple) does not have these meanings. It suggests a person who embraces a life-style with all of one's heart, mind, and soul. Thus from a New Testament point of view, "disciples" in the church are those who are trying to live a faith lifestyle. The community of faith -- the ekklesia (church) forms the baptized person in this lifestyle. In Catholic understanding, this means being called into the priestly, prophetic, and kingly ministry of Jesus Christ. And we enter into that lifestyle of faith at baptism by entering into the death of the Lord. In the end, its all about the Paschal Mystery and about living each day as a journey of dying and rising with Christ.

by Richard P. McBrien in Catholicism, pages 579ff edited for use by Bill Huebsch