I am an Orthodox Christian and Historian; Almost Everything Most Know About The Church is False

In Greek, the word Ekklesia, is translated to mean "assembly or congregation", and it also specifically refers to POLITICAL congregation.

My sources :

1) R. Scott, and H. G. Liddell, A Greek-English Lexicon (Grand Rapids: Baker), p.206.
2) Colin Brown, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. 3 vols. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), p. 291.
Etymonline

I. (a) ekklesia, derived via ek-kaleo, which was used for the summons to the army to assemble, from kaleo, to call (--. Call). It is attested from Eur. and Hdt. onwards (5th cent. B.C.), and denotes in the usage of antiquity the popular assembly of the competent full citizens of the polis, city. It reached its greatest importance in the 5th cent, and met at regular intervals (in Athens about 30--40 times a year, elsewhere less frequently) and also in cases of urgency as an extra-ordinary ekklesia. Its sphere of competence included decisions on suggested changes in the law (which could only be effected by the council of the 400), on appointments to official positions and -- at least in its heyday -- on every important question of internal and external policy (contracts, treaties, war and peace, finance). To these was added in special cases (e.g. treason) the task of sitting in judgment, which as a rule fell to regular courts. The ekklesia opened with prayers and sacrifices to the gods of the city.

What is noteworthy, however, is that the word ekklesia, throughout the Gk. and Hel. areas, always retained its reference to the assembly of the polis. In only three exceptional cases was it used for the business meeting of a cultic guild (cf. H. Lietzmann, An die Korintlier, 9, 4). Otherwise it was never used for guilds or religious fellowships. These were referred to by such expressions as thiasos, cultic assembly to worship a god; lit, contract of partnership, but in this context a fellowship which held particular feasts (heorte), to which each participant contributed; koinon, lit, that which is in common (--. Fellowship, art. koinos); or synodos, which meant a group following the same --. way, i.e. the same teaching. Significantly, however, none of words found its way into the NT.

Congregation Etymology (Ekklesia)

Used by Tyndale to translate Gk. ekklesia in New Testament and by some Old Testament translators in place of synagoge. (Vulgate uses a variety of words in these cases, including congregatio but also ecclesia, vulgus, synagoga, populus.

Ekklesia in Oxford English Dictionary :

" . . .that the Greek word, meaning etymologically 'the body of the ekklesia or select counsellors' was the name given by Solon to the public formal assembly of the Athenian people, and hence to the similar public assemblies of other free Greek cities"

And instead the translators chose to use the word Kyriakon, which means Circle. (Circus, cyrch, kirkos, circol, circe, cirece, kirk, kirche, tzerke, etc).
It's primary reference is to religious circles, such as pagan cults found everywhere during the time era in question.

Prior to Christianity, polytheistic gatherings were called (and still to this day) circles. (Kyriakon/kyriakos).

Also it appears that the first documented use of 'circle' in relation to Christian church is actually Constantine 321ad, the "first Christian emperor".

After some research and study, you will come to realize that Constantine did not convert to Christianity, but instead came up with a plot to save the empire from Christianity by usurping it and turning it into the "official religion", but to compensate for the mass polytheism people believed in at the time, everything was converted into polytheistic equivalents with a "Christian disguise" or veneer. Saints, virgin mother, trinity, pagan festival holidays, etc.

I apologize for not having more time to go into greater detail or depth about this important topic.
Perhaps later on I can share more and I am willing to help answer anyone's questions if anyone has any. (If I don't know the answers I can help dig them up if answers even exist).

reply to post by muzzleflash


Almost forgot since I didn't say it straight out in the post above:

Kyriakon/kyriakos = Church = Polytheistic Circle

Within the Kyriakon/kyriakos , there is a leadership based structural hierarchy.
There are levels or ranks of membership typically in most cases.

However the Ekklesia was more of a democratic gathering where everyone has a chance to speak their minds, ala Solon's Ekklesia (which is credited with giving rise to Democratic Assemblies).

Remember, historically ekklesia was meant to represent a somewhat democratic body discussing politics primarily.

Whereas Kyriakon/kyriakos was more of an authoritarian style hierarchy where people were controlled by the "leader of the circle".

reply to post by muzzleflash


Try looking into the history of "conclave"...

Originally posted by Starchild23
reply to post by muzzleflash

 

Try looking into the history of "conclave"...

Thank you, this is really interesting!

I love it when I get my mind blown. Thanks.

Wow! Now this is what ATS is supposed to be about. TruthSeeker believes(is convicted in his heart) that he has found the light. Is he truelly illuminated? Perhaps the "Morning Star" has risen in his heart as teh Apostle Peter wrote toa congregation of believers. No one has insulted trolled or injected ad hominem attacks. Could it be the "Spirit of Truth" is in this discussion? Remmeber Deny Ignorance and now it is being done in a respectful way.
To me Jesus was the first Deny-er of ignorance to come out of a chosen people in a long time. But to this chosen people came the Truth, the Light, and the Way. However, as promised, God the Father, Jehovah, kept his offer for a New Covenant to the Jew first and when they rejected the Gentile. He made that Promise to Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and on down the line. Elijah, Jeremiah, even Noah and ENoch, they all knew the plan. God would come to save man from this corruptible world. Your soul is created when you are conceived. It is cultivated while in the body here on this earth. You believe God and take him at his word, and my friends you have to hear His word to believe it. The very people who say they don't believe in the bible but GOd only know about GOd because of the scripture. The bible is a collection of scripture, do not reduce it to an emblem. How important is the word? It became FLESH! Meaning it came here in the form of Love, so that no man may perish, but learn of God's plan, that he wish no man perish but have everlasting life. Man will have to perish though. He will have to bear punishment based on the spiritual assault on the body of believers known as the spiritual house of Israel. All Christians who have heard the word, confessed of their willful seperation of GOd, believe Jesus is the SOn of GOd, repent, turn away from corru[tible sin and live a life of carnal sacrifice for the betterment of the spirit, and BAPTIZED, the outward sign of an inward heart, have been sealed with the Holy SPirit, You become a spiritual soldier for CHrist and His church.
ANyone who has felt lost, abondoned, cconfused, helpless, and the Love of the New Testament, and hears the voice of the shepherd because we know His voice becomes empowered. Remember all the way back to Isaiah, it say BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED> If you feel over powered and overwhelmed by every conspiracy on here remember GOd is in control. He is POWER TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT, those who seek Him out.
THe world is full of cliches, the scripture is an oasis, a refuge. An insight to the heart of GOd. You see when you condemn the scipture or you write a Chatecism, or the Book of Mormon, or have a MAry Eddy Baker Creed, or follow Martin Luther you see, you say their is no power in the Gospel. His stripes were not enough and you can't be healed. You need a CHristian Rock band? THer is no authority for that and there is no ppwer of the Gospel. THere is power in the BLOOD. YOu have to waashed in the blood of the Lamb. IT is first prophesied in the Passover when the angel of Derath Pass Over those households washed in the vblood.
Remember God's Kingdom is not of this world. His is a spiritual; Kingdom. Earth is corrupt, Exodus 32 is an insightof the Day of Judgement. Fellows.....choose your side

Orthodox Christian here .I just had to say it.

reply to post by zaonez

And lets not forget that the Earth, our solar system, our universe.. is all the same living, breathing, and aware organism.

Yep... let's not forget that.

Originally posted by TruthSeekerMike
reply to post by reitze

 

If you had found Orthodoxy, you'd feel much better about it all. "The book that was the subject of the sermon". Does that sound like worship or school? I used to think organized religion was terrible because it's just a (usually bad) lecture by some guy who everybody sits quietly and listens to. How could anyone in their right mind feel they are getting closer to God by listening to some guy babble about what he thinks rather than opening our hearts to God and experiencing the beauty of His presence in the Heavenly worship.
I need to work on my communication skills because so far no one has quite gotten the fact that in large part they have NEVER been to or seen an actual Church or worship service. They think it's all whatever somebody comes up with because that's all we've ever known as Christianity--I'm here to tell you, THAT'S THE BIG CONSPIRACY!! The Roman Catholic Church and the Secret Societies have been successful in not only keeping people from the true faith, but also in confusing them about what a true faith would even look like. What they don't mention and most don't realize is that the Orthodox faith has not changed one bit in 2000 years, same songs, same prayers, same communion, everything. It is the one and only Christian Church, all others are "playing church".

And communion is a lie too - based upon yet another seemingly intentional missinterpretation of the words in order to ritualize and collect money.

IMHO churches are not conducive to worhip at all. In fact I go as far as saying that without first reading the bible they are very dangerous to searching souls... they ask for allegience to organization/individuals rather than God (Idolitry, false, etc).

But nice try there on your bait/switch... I found it simplistic an pathetic. God is my king and Jesus is in my heart and that's not thanks to any "worship" service I've ever seen. And I've been to many including orthodox. For me the Orthodox were the worst - and the "father" had that "gay look" about him - not to mention people called him "father" - a sinful act in itself.

Sorry you find orthodoxy comforting - I hope you can appreciate how repulsive it truly is to an intillectual like me. And yea I readily admit my intillect was a barrier to faith. For me as I explained - it took 500 books, the bible, and then another couple hundred books with the bible a few more times in audio format to get the sense of it. And no that doesn't make me 'better' than an 'idiot' in a pew either. But it also doesen't compel me to sit in such a satanic place. I do believe my retarded friend henry is in heaven - he said there is a heavan and Jesus is the way... in spite of all his other 'issues'. Hope that helps!
+

"The book that was the subject of the sermon". Does that sound like worship or school? I used to think organized religion was terrible because it's just a (usually bad) lecture by some guy who everybody sits quietly and listens to.

I mean if the guy referenced something in the book of John, I could read the whole book of John before he got to Acts, and then the whole book of Acts before he mentioned Daniel, and if he mentioned Daniel - I could at least read that section of it for "context" while ignoring the rest of his false-teaching of 'follow-me' "if then" and "have to" "or else" crap.

++
And BTW, that's the most annoying thing about surmons for me, that's "BINARY MINDEDNESS". This is a colorful world created by God - not some black/white idiotic form satanic abuse in tortured logic.

Wow, great opening post. I was homeschooled by a rigid Christian family only to enter a Christian high-school. I am now at a normal college. What I can say for myself is that I did not find God through the Church or through school, or my parents. In fact, all of the previously mentioned factors were all deterrents in my walk with Christ. It's funny, church wasn't meant to be this grandiose occasion with cathedrals, etc. it was meant to be a bare bones group of people. Everyone likes to bash Christianity because of tithes or the money-making parts of it - some even view it as a way to control people - in a way they may be right.

The problem is, that is not what Christianity was originally created for - it is being misinterpreted by its followers AND those who oppose the followers. Basically idiots pointing fingers at idiots. If people would only look deeper to see that it isn't about the money or ownership - it is about peace, love, and all of us living more like Jesus.

Ah, getting a little to religious here so I better stop, Again, great post - needed to be said on a board such as this. People bash religion here without even knowing why half of the time. I don't have a problem with atheists, so why do they have to have a problem with me?

Originally posted by Starchild23
reply to post by SeekerofTruth101

 

I'm pretty sure you don't think for yourself.

Your entire post is a product of mass-regurgitation. Try NOT repeating after your teachers, little sheep.

Baa-aa-aaa.

wow, you didn't last very long. Your arg completely broke down to the lowest form of communication in a very short episode. You brought a rubber knife to a gunfight and must think you can insult your way out of something that is obviously over your head and you are simply out of your league. You are dismissed from the adult table.

reply to post by TruthSeekerMike


OP, Thanks for this neat thread. An interesting point that I think people should know about too is that the Council of Laodicea outlawed the Jewish Sabbath and supplanted it with the Lord's Day. The Jewish people practice the correct Sabbath, Friday Sunset to Saturday Sunset, yet the Catholic Church changed it to Sunday, hence, The Roman Catholic church has pushed a false and man-made Sabbath day.

en.wikipedia.org...

The major concerns of the Council involved regulating the conduct of church members. The Council expressed its decrees in the form of written rules or canons. Among the sixty canons decreed, several aimed at:
Maintaining order among bishops, clerics and laypeople (canons 3–5, 11–13, 21–27, 40–44, 56–57)
Enforcing modest behaviour of clerics and laypeople (4, 27, 30, 36, 53–55)
Regulating approach to heretics (canons 6–10, 31–34, 37), Jews (canons 16, 37–38) and pagans (canon 39)
Outlawing the keeping of the Jewish sabbath (Saturday) and encouraging rest on the Lord's Day (Sunday) (canon 29)
Outlining liturgical practices (canons 14–20, 21–23, 25, 28, 58–59)
Restrictions during Lent (canons 45, 49–52)
Admission and instruction of catechumens and neophytes (canons 45–48)
Specifying a Biblical canon (canons 59–60)

christianity is a hoax used to control mass populations by the church first instegated by the roman catholic church, religion is a method of control!!!!!! dont be fooled into beleiving this garbage!!!

reply to post by griffithdiver


Dont let the garbage fool you out of faith

Originally posted by DISRAELI

Originally posted by TruthSeekerMike
The Roman Catholic Church is the original official "name" of the Christian Church (though it was at first simply called "The Way"). It was founded in the Roman Empire and the Creed speaks of the Catholic (universal) Church. But. . . it wasn't called anything but "The Way" until the city of Rome was sacked and nearly empty and the concept of a central office never existed, but there was only one "way" and its life was in a community called the "Roman Catholic Church". It wasn't until the organization now known as the Roman Catholic Church left the Roman Catholic Church that the Roman Catholic Church became known in general by the term Orthodox while the western organization headquartered in the fully barbarian-controlled Rome started calling itself the Roman Catholic Church.

You make the name issue uncessarily confusing, because the word "Roman" was never part of the "official name" of the early church.
In the beginning, it didn't need an official name, because a unique institution doesn't need a name to distinguish it from others.
When theologians began criticising the early local heretics, they referred to the main church as "Catholic", ie "universal", by way of contrast.
I think the western church in the middle ages would still have been calling itself "Catholic" rather than "Roman Catholic", and the word "Roman" would have been an additonal label originally imposed by the Protestants to distinguish it from their own.. I suspect the "Roman Catholic Church" accepts the label reluctantly even now, for the sake of discussion, regarding itself still simply as "the Catholic Church".

edit on 1-5-2012 by DISRAELI because: (no reason given)

I was inserting the modern understanding to make the point that history confuses the matter and people come out believing that the church with the pope was the originator of Christian religion.

reply to post by sirjunlegun


Christ is Risen!
That was an absolutely beautiful post.

Originally posted by griffithdiver
christianity is a hoax used to control mass populations by the church first instegated by the roman catholic church, religion is a method of control!!!!!! dont be fooled into beleiving this garbage!!!

And you read how much of the original post again? First three words? C'mon man, I kept it short for you.

Have you ever been head over heels in love? It's the best feeling in the world. My wish is that everyone would fall in love with God. You will never find anyone in the universe that loves you more than He. That is a most awesome thought! He will never let you down.

You are never alone. No need to be lonely - He is with you always. You never need to worry because despite how crazy this world may seem, God is in control. Everything changes when you are in love with God. Life and death have a purpose.

Wishing all the joy that comes when you fall in love with God.

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.”
― St. Augustine of Hippo

Originally posted by TruthSeekerMike

Originally posted by griffithdiver
christianity is a hoax used to control mass populations by the church first instegated by the roman catholic church, religion is a method of control!!!!!! dont be fooled into beleiving this garbage!!!

And you read how much of the original post again? First three words? C'mon man, I kept it short for you.

Doesn't it seem like someone just came running by with a message that bears about as much weight in this thread as a "Eat at Joe's Diner" sign?

Originally posted by mytheroy
I've always wondered

why keep us in the dark about the real truth?
why cant we find anything but the shroud and is that even real?
If the secret societies are keeping it secret, why the big secret, why do they want to keep us from knowing the truth?
Will these people be send straight to hell for not teaching the word and being selfish?
And are in the end times? and gods coming

edit on 1-5-2012 by mytheroy because: (no reason given)

I think the reason is that there is a spiritual realm that can be accessed through physical human activities. Everything I know about secret societies tells me that at the very top levels most are practicing occultists and I know they have been rumored to conjure spirits and communicate with dead. When the devil tries to tempt Jesus he offered him all the kingdoms of the world, I personally think he found somebody else. That somebody probably is the very top of the pyramid of secret societies and governments. I would wager none of us have ever heard the names.

Originally posted by griffithdiver
christianity is a hoax used to control mass populations by the church first instegated by the roman catholic church, religion is a method of control!!!!!! dont be fooled into beleiving this garbage!!!

Well, at least you've got this right: "religion is a method of control...." Until you see the real purpose that this "method of control" was created for, you will never find the truth. People can see that the Illuminati is real but they can't figure out that the "Jesus is a myth" agenda is the Illuminati's masterpiece. WHY is that?

The goal of the Illuminati is to destroy Christianity and Western civilization. Illuminati worship lucifer and teach that Jesus is a myth. UnlimitedSky's quote explains why people can be so blind as to the irony and absolute deception of this:

Originally posted by UnlimitedSky
"Humans are spiritually blind and deaf. Using only the material physical eyes and ears will not enable you to percieve anything spiritual.

We all have the ability to enter that deeper, more real reality, but without the flame of desire for it, you will never find it. You are kept blind by your deep attachment to the material world and lack of longing for what is beyond this illusion of stuff that will disintegrate, and actually has no meaning at all in the bigger picture.

"Do not ridicule that which you are to blind to see. In a bigger reality, you may be the fool in this."

Originally posted by MrsBlonde
"the 'Zionists' are what the Bible calls the Synagogue of Satan,they corrupted the legitimate worship of the living God eons past .Their job and their mission is to stand between humanity and all truth about ourselves and The True God, it is difficult to find TTG but worth the search. they don't want you to know that you and TTG belong to each other and are part of each other."

"The Cabalists secretly dedicated themselves to destroying Christianity and Western civilization. But this is exactly the agenda: To destroy Christianity, just as they have destroyed empires, nations, heterosexual identities and nuclear families. The conflict is NOT between countries or religions or "civilizations." This is the Cosmic Struggle between Spirit and Matter: This is the conflict between God and Lucifer. Ultimately, the New World Order is about replacing the rule of God with the rule of Lucifer. That's why "God" has become a dirty word." LINK