#1, I was taught in Bible school that the only proper way to translate the Bible is to do so from the original tongues, which the Septuagint is not. Perhaps you think its okay to prefer a translation to the original. #2, The vocabulary used in the Septuagint in almost every verse is quite different from what is used in Hebrew manuscripts. #3, The word "ecclesia" is never used in the Hebrew text, again because it was not written in Greek, therefore the word "ecclesia" or the English "church" is unknown in the Old Testament. #4, If you have a problem with Dispensational theology you should make your arguments known rather than just dismiss it as if it is a known heresy. I would be interested to read your rational argument against it. I have yet to read one that is persuasive. #5, The ministry of the Holy Spirit to the church in the New Testament is unlike anywhere else in Scripture, and makes the church distinct from Israel.
If you think somehow the Septuagint is 'non-official' because it's 'not the original language', then please consider that Yeshua and the first generation apostolic community would have quoted from it...and in fact, all OT quotations in your NT are from the Septuagint, not the original paleo-Hebrew the Tanakh was composed in. That was lost until the Dead Sea Scroll discovery in 1947 (I think). The Septuagint codices were verified by cross checking them. Accurate to the crossing of the 't' and the dotting of the 'i' so to speak. Even the Masoretic Text that most English OT are based on, came nearly 1000 years after the Septuagint...and therefore could not have been used by Yeshua or the early apostolic communities.
However, the writer of this article blew it. The 'ekklesia' is not 'church'. There are two different words in the Greek for them. The 'ekklesia' is a form of government. The 'church' is a physical building. The word 'church' should have never been used to translate 'ekklesia' in the NT. Never. It totally alters the meaning of the text in the translation when it's left there. It was used simply for convenience and because there was an established 'church' system already and the King and the translators didn't want competition. Besides, why did the Jews and the Romans so brutally persecute the early believing communities if they were just a building? They persecuted and tried to snuff them out because they recognized the ekklesias were God's form of government breaking in on planet Earth, in opposition to all other forms of government which are under the manipulative control of the the Fallen One, Satan. He recognized that the ekklesia is the Creator's model of government, family, community, true democracy (though not like the world's idea of democracy), etc. In the millenial kingdom prophesied in OT and NT, the ekklesia will be how the Messiah rules over nation's via the monarchy of David's throne. If you want to be a part of that...all you have to do is believe and accept Yeshua for who He said He was: God's chosen Messiah come to save and rule humanity!
RE: Ecclesia in the 70
by Grace - 11/22/23 4:41 PM
You say "The 'ekklesia' is not 'church'. There are two different words in the Greek for them. The 'ekklesia' is a form of government. The 'church' is a physical building." I'm not sure what you are aiming at here -- but, no, Church is NOT a Greek word found in the New Testament, because it is not Greek. Your argumnent makes no sense because your "facts" are not reality. And who told you that church is a physical building in the New Testament? Even in English, it didn't acquire that meaning (which has indeed caused a lot of misunderstandings) for centuries after the writing of New Testament, or perhaps I should say after the translation of the New Testament into English.
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Ecclesia in the 70
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