Tyndale on 'Ecclesia' and the Church

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On the Translation of ‘Ecclesia’ by ‘Congregation’By R. Magnusson Davis

Contents:The Meaning of ‘Ecclesia’The Meanings of ‘Church’Tyndale’s Desire for the Church‘Congregation’ and ‘Church’ in the New Matthew BibleEndnotes 

One of the things William Tyndale is well known for is his translation of the Greek word‘ecclesia’  with ‘congregation’ rather than ‘church’ in his New Testament. He came undersometimes furious reproach by some of his contemporaries on account of this.

Tyndale discussed his reasons for this translation in his book, An Answer to Sir ThomasMore’s Dialogue. Essentially he sought to render the Greek faithfully, and also to avoidfomenting a prevailing misconception concerning the Church.

What ‘Ecclesia’ Means

Tyndale explained in Answer to Sir Thomas More’s Dialogue that ‘ecclesia’ was a general,non-specialized Greek word, which pre-dated the apostles and the Christian religion, andwhich was used generally in common speech and in the bible to refer to any sort ofmeeting or assembly:

Now ecclesia is a Greek word, and was in use before the time of the apostles, andwas taken for a congregation among the heathen where there was no congregation ofGod or of Christ. And also Luke himself useth ecclesia for a…congregation of heathenpeople three times in one chapter, even in the 19

th chapter of Acts, where Demetrius

the goldsmith…had gathered a company against Paul for preaching against images.1 

As Tyndale said, at Acts 19:32, ‘ecclesia’   was used to describe a gathering of pagantownspeople in Ephesus. They had assembled hastily to hear the complaints of thegoldsmith Demetrius, whose trade in images was threatened by Paul’s preaching againstidols. Demetrius inflamed the crowd of townsfolk with zeal for their idol:

When they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out saying: Great isDiana of the Ephesians! And all the city was on a roar, and they rushed into thecommon hall with one assent, and caught…Paul’s companions…Some cried onething, and some another, and the ecclesia  (WT ‘congregation’) was all out of quiet.

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Later in Acts 19, ‘ecclesia’ is used in the town clerk’s speech with reference first to alawfully called assembly, and then with reference to the mob of townsfolk:

If Demetrius and the craftsmen…have any complaint…the law is open, and there arerulers. Let them accuse one another. If ye go about any other thing, it may bedetermined in a lawful ecclesia   (Tyndale, ‘congregation’)…And when he had thusspoken, he let the ecclesia  (‘congregation’) depart (Acts 19:39,41).

Interestingly, the Acts passages demonstrate how the English word ‘congregation’ has,since Tyndale’s time, become more specialized, so that it no longer serves well in thesecontexts. But formerly it, like ‘ecclesia,’   was a general word. That is one reason why

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Tyndale’s vocal critic, Sir Thomas More, objected to it. He preferred the specialized term‘church,’ at least with reference to gatherings of Christians. But ‘church’ would not haveserved in Acts 19 with reference to the pagan assemblies. Therefore one may see whyTyndale felt it was not the truest translation of ‘ecclesia,’ and that the Greek called for anEnglish word that was correspondingly general. He explained:

When [More] saith that congregation is a more general term; if it were, it hurteth not,for the context doth ever tell what sort of congregation is meant.

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Therefore ‘ecclesia’ was a very general word for assemblies, meetings, and gatherings ofany sort – orderly or disorderly, formal or informal, religious or not – and the nature of thegathering must be discerned from the context.

The Meanings of ‘Church’

Tyndale was not concerned only about the meaning of the Greek ‘ecclesia,’  but also theEnglish word ‘church.’ This was not a general word. Altogether he identified five special,contemporary meanings for it. In one use, he understood it to mean all the members of acommunity of faith in one place, roughly in the sense of a parish. This appears in his

explanation of the meaning of Matthew 18:17, “Tell it to the ecclesia ”:In this…signification the ‘church’ of God, or Christ, is taken in the scripture to meanthe whole multitude of all them that receive the name of Christ to believe in him…[asin Matthew 18]: "If thy brother hear thee not, tell the church or congregation"…Inwhich places, and throughout all the scripture, the church is taken for the wholenumber of them that believe in Christ in that place.

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He also defined it wistfully as a place or house where people had formerly, “in the oldtime,” gathered to hear God’s word, and for common prayer:

It signifieth a place or house where Christian people were wont in the old time toresort at times convenient, for to hear the word of doctrine, the law of God, and thefaith of our Savior Jesus Christ, and how and what to pray, and when to ask powerand strength to live godly. For the officer thereto appointed preached the pure word ofGod only, and prayed in a tongue that all men understood. And the people hearkenedto his prayers, and said thereto Amen, and prayed with him in their hearts.

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In a third sense, sometimes ‘church’ was taken “generally for all them that embrace thename of Christ, though their faiths be naught,”6  and then, in a fourth, spiritual sense,sometimes “specially for the elect only, in whose hearts God hath written his law with hisHoly Spirit, and given them a feeling faith of the mercy that is in Christ Jesu our Lord.”7 This last, of course, makes the distinction between the visible and the invisible Church.

Lastly he described the fifth sense, which he saw as pernicious. He explained how clericsand monks had appropriated to themselves the name ‘church,’ so that in the mind of thepeople it had, over time, come to be restricted to the visible ecclesiastical hierarchy and tomonks and poor friars, to the exclusion of the laity. This had resulted in the people’s

subjection to or inappropriate veneration of clerics and monks. Since ‘ecclesia’ nevermeant anything of this sort, he felt ‘church’ simply was not the right translation:

Wherefore inasmuch as the clergy (as the nature of those hard and indurate adamantstones is, to draw [everyone] to them) had appropriated unto themselves the term thatof right is common unto all the whole congregation of those who believe in Christ, andwith their false and subtle wiles had beguiled and taken in the people, and broughtthem into the ignorance of the word, making them understand by this word church

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nothing but the shaven flock of them that shaved the whole world; therefore in thetranslation of the new Testament, where I found this word ecclesia, I interpreted it bythis word congregation. [This is why I did] it, and not of any mischievous mind orpurpose to establish heresy, as Master More untruly reporteth of me.

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Historian George Fisher confirms Tyndale’s analysis, and describes the development ofthe medieval conception of the Church:

The influence of the idea of the Church as the community of the faithful, of the electchildren of God, an idea which retained a degree of power in the thoughts ofAugustine, continually waned. More and more the Church came to be identified withthe visible, hierarchical organization. Patristic authority, running back to Cyprian, andeven farther, could be appealed to in support of this principle at the root of themedieval conception; but in the carrying out of this principle there was a wide gulfbetween the earlier and the later period. The exaltation of the hierarchy, the absolutedependence of the laity upon the priesthood, existed to an extent unknown in thepatristic age. The privileges still left to the laity in the concerns of the soul are soscanty as to be the exception that proves the rule. Significant of the state of thoughtthat had long existed is the language of Philip the Fair in his indignant answer to the

haughty rebuke of Boniface VIII: “Holy Mother Church, the Spouse of Christ, iscomposed not only of clergymen, but also of laymen.”9 

The taking and misuse of ill-gotten wealth by clergy, monks, and prelates, whom Tyndalecalled ‘the spirituality,’ was also a grievous concern:

What good conscience can there be among our spirituality to gather so great treasuretogether, and with hypocrisy of their false learning to rob almost every man of houseand lands…seeking in Christ nothing but lucre?

10 

Tyndale said ‘the spirituality’ crept into people’s consciences, robbed them of the faith ofChrist, and caused them to give their money to build new Churches and cloisters througha false faith in such works, by which all suffered:

The building of [churches and steeples] and such like, through the false faith that we

have in them, is the decay of all the havens in England, and of all the cities, towns,highways, and shortly of the whole commonwealth. For since these false monsterscrept up into our consciences and robbed us of the knowledge of our Saviour Christ,making us believe in such pope-holy works, and to think that there was none otherway unto heaven, we have not ceased to build for them abbeys, cloisters, colleges,chauntries, and cathedral churches with high steeples, striving and envying oneanother as to who should do the most.

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Therefore by using ‘congregation’ in his New Testament, Tyndale was both being faithfulto the Greek and avoiding a misunderstood word that might contribute to the continuingexploitation of the people. Indeed this, Tyndale’s translation, together with his books andwritings, have caused many to credit him with “breaking the spell attached to the wordchurch,”12 and “breaking the suffocating power of the medieval church.”13 

Tyndale’s Desire for the Church

But Tyndale’s use of ‘congregation’ did not mean that he was ‘anti-Church.’ Nor was heaverse to a benign use of the word ‘church,’ which he employed himself in somecontexts.14 Rather, he longed for a Church, place, or congregation, where the word of Godwas rightly preached, where the people were led truly in worship and prayer, and wherethe sacraments were faithfully administered – especially Holy Communion, with “earnest

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ceremony,”15 because it is “an absolution of sin,” “heals the conscience,” and “makes thefaith sink into the heart.”16 Blessed is the disciple who can find such an ‘ecclesia.’  

Tyndale wrote strongly, not against ‘Church’ per se, but against the abuses, falsehood,tyranny, and superstition that had crept into the contemporary Church, wrapping

everything in error, and locking up the knowledge of Christ. He wrote against Antichrist,the spiritual power that had then so terribly gained the upper hand. Remarkably, however,he prophesied that when Antichrist was then revealed, he would “go out of play” for awhile, and afterwards “come in again” disguised with “new raiment,” which identifies adanger that came with post-Reformation denominationalism:

Antichrist was in the Old Testament, and fought with the prophets. He was also in thetime of Christ and the apostles, as thou readest in the Epistles of John, and of Paul tothe Corinthians and Galatians, and other Epistles. Antichrist is now, and will, (I doubtnot) endure till the world’s end. But his nature is (when he is revealed and overcomewith the word of God) to go out of play for a season, and to disguise himself, and thento come in again with new raiment.

17 

Tyndale would not strive about names, titles, or outward things, for all are at risk:

There is a difference in the names between a pope, a cardinal, a bishop, and so forth,and to say a scribe, a Pharisee, a senior [elder] and so forth; but the thing is all one.Even so now, when we have exposed him, he will change himself once more, andturn himself into an angel of light (2 Cor. xi.).

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Tyndale warned generally about the suppression of the true gospel, the word, and thesacraments.19 Therefore however and wherever such suppression arises, with raiment oldor new, or under names old or new, in any denomination, Church, place, house,congregation, or gathering, and whether under pastor, priest, elder, minister, father,brother, sister, mother, reverend, spiritual director, bishop, or presbyter, it is wrong, andwe need to watch, and awake, and be sober.

Therefore Tyndale’s vision for corporate worship included reading and preaching of the

gospel and scriptures, common prayer, and the often, meaningful celebration of the Lord’sSupper (and also, a thing many moderns do not realize, traditional holy days, following atraditional Church calendar to guide corporate worship20). A Church  or congregation isfaithful when it serves in spirit and in truth, and where we may know Christ and himcrucified, and may lift our hearts in praise and petition.

‘Congregation’ and ‘Church’ in the New Matthew Bible

We will keep ‘congregation’ in the NMB wherever it was used in the original with referenceto Christian gatherings. However, because its meaning has narrowed, we cannot use it inother contexts. Admittedly its modern, narrower, quasi-religious sense may argue againstkeeping it. Tyndale chose it, after all, because it was then a neutral and general word. Butno suitably general word now exists, and in any case, ‘congregation’ is historically

significant in the Matthew Bible. Further, it is still a good word for Christian gatherings,especially now that the Church, broadly speaking, is so divided and diverse, and theLord’s children may be found in all manner of congregations, under many different names.

We will also keep ‘church’ wherever that word was used in the Matthew Bible. Therefore itis not intended to deny the place or name of the Church in any legitimate sense. And wedo not deny, but rather affirm, the apostolic and catholic Church, the holy and heavenly

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Jerusalem and city of God. The citizens of that city who have found their way there willknow whereof we speak.

In the Matthew Bible there is moving mention of the Church as it may be understoodmystically or spiritually in subheadings to the Song of Solomon, where it is explained who

is speaking to whom. These declare the voice of Christ to “the Church,” and hers to him.At Verse 1:15 we find:

Christ to the Church.

How fair art thou (my love), how fair art thou? Thou hast dove’s eyes.

The beloved then responds:

The Church to Christ.

O how fair art thou (my beloved), how well favoured art thou? Our bed is decked withflowers…

Christ and the Church speak again:

The voice of Christ.

I am the flower of the field, and lily of the valleys. As the rose among the thorns, so ismy love among the daughters.

The voice of the Church.

Like as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among thesons. My delight is to sit under his shadow. For his fruit is sweet unto my throat. Hebringeth me in to his wine cellar, and loveth me specially well.

We pray that every congregation and every Church, and every member of the body ofChrist, may find not only its beloved in the pages of the October Testament, but alsopeace and freedom from undue strife of words, names, and outward things. Words matter

 – yea, they matter very much – but if we chew unwisely upon them, then, as Tyndale

would say, we will fail to attain to the sweet pith within.Endnotes:

1 William Tyndale, An Answer to Sir Thomas More’s Dialogue   (Parker Society edition, ed. Henry

Walter, 1850) (hereafter ‘Answer’ ), p. 15. Punctuation and language in early English quotationsmay be minimally updated.2 Scripture quotations are from the 1549 Matthew Bible.

3 Answer , p. 15.

4 Answer, p. 13.

5 Answer, p. 11.

6 Answer, p. 13.

7 Answer, p. 13.

8 Answer , pp. 13-14, and see p. 12.9 George Park Fisher, History of Christian Doctrine (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1909), p.

251.10

 William Tyndale, The Obedience of a Christian Man (Penguin Classics edition, 2000) (hereafter‘Obedience’ ), p. 51.11

 Answer , p. 78.

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12 Brook Foss Westcott, A General View of the History of the English Bible, (MacMillan and Co,

London, 1872), p. 173. [I do not like or promote Westcott’s views, but merely reference the sourceof the quotation.]13

  Patrick Whitten, “Tyndale at the Huntington,” The Tyndale Society Journal, No. 45 (Summer2015), p. 22.14

 For example, in a note to his 1534 New Testament he protested “We be the church,” obviouslyintending it in the sense of the catholic congregation of true and faithful believers.15

 William Tyndale, “A Fruitful and Godly Treatise Expressing the Right Institution and Usage of theSacrament of Baptism and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Jesu Christ,”contained in Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures(Parker Society edition, ed. Henry Walter, Cambridge University Press, 1848) (hereafter Treatises ), p. 361.16

 Treatises, pages 357, 359, 360.17

 William Tyndale, Parable of the Wicked Mammon (Benedicton Classics facsimile reprint of anearlier, unidentified edition, 2008) (Hereafter ‘Mammon’ ), p. 4.18

 Mammon , p. 5.19

  Tyndale wrote that those who suppress or distort God’s word deny people entrance to the

kingdom of heaven, which is the word of God, especially the preaching of the gospel (Obedience, p27; Answer, p. 69). They “shut up” the kingdom of heaven with “false glosses” and by “taking awaythe meaning of the ceremonies” (Answer, p. 43). Those who put down the sacraments he called“destroyers” (The Practice of Prelates {Parker Society edition, ed. Henry Walter, 1849, fromExpositions and Notes on Sundry Portions of The Holy Scriptures Together With The Practice ofPrelates, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2004}, p. 91).20

 Tyndale carefully appended to his 1534 New Testament readings for no less than 189 days orseasons in the Christian year, including Advent, Christmas (three masses on Christmas night),Lent, Easter, and Trinity, and readings for saints’ days, The Conception of Our Lady, and theDedication of the Church. He translated texts from the Old Testament for public reading on AshWednesday, Saint John the Evangelist’s day, and others.