Preliminary considerations - Inasmuch as ekklesia is supposed by Hort and other scholars to be used differently in Ephesians and Colossians, special study is given to these passages. A preliminary consideration to an understanding of these passages, how­ever, must be understanding and recognition of the nature of the epistles.

     The study of ecclesiology in these epistles is not so much a study of church polity as it is a study of the relationship between Christ and his church. This is a vital message of the two epistles. Christ is set out as the preeminent one and the church's relation to Him is defined.

     A second preliminary consideration has to do with the encyclical nature of the Ephesian and Colossian letters. It is pointed out by the textual scholars that the phrase "at Ephesus" is not in the more reliable manuscripts but the epistle to the Ephesians is to be viewed rather as a circular letter. The church at Ephesus was the first recipient of the let­ter, after which it was shared by the sister churches.
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¹ Cf. Smith, op. cit., pp. 527, 528.

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     The same is true of the Colossian letter as well as certain other of the epistles. The destination of the Colossian letter was all of the churches of the Lycus Valley of which the Colossian church was the more important as regards the content of the letter. All of these churches were predominately Gentile.¹ defined.

     These two factors furnish valuable insight into the usage of the word ekklesia. The consideration of these factors coupled with an understanding and recognition of the varied uses of words shows that these epistles are not a contrast to other teachings but harmonous, united, whole.

     Words may be used either in the concrete or abstract sense but the basic meaning does not change because of different usage. A concrete usage confines the subject to time and place where as an abstract
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¹ Ibid. pp. 553, 554

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[p. 72]
usage is confined to generalities. This abstract usage of ekklesia may have the sense of designating a kind (often called a generic use), or it may refer to an institution or some similar equivalent idea but the meaning is never changed by a simple change of usage. The abstract usage is essential in many cases for the expression of a thought in a general way without any reference to a partitualar object. The abstract or generic use of a word basically, is no different in meaning from its use to designate a particular assembly.

     Dr. Strong recognnizes this generic use and illustrates it beautifully when he says:

It is only by a common figure of rhetoric that many churches are spoken of together in the singular number, in such passages as Acts 9:31.¹ We speak generically of "man" meaning the whole race of men; and of "the horse," meaning all horses.... So we may speak of the "American college," or the "American theological seminary," but we do not thereby mean that the colleges or the seminaries are bound together by any tie of outward orginization.²

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¹ Dr. Strong erroneously assumes that this refers to a plural number of churches referred to in the singular. Rather it is a reference to the original assembly at Jerusalem which was scattered by persecu­tion. Cf. pp. 61, 62. His illustrations of the generic usage of word, however, are accurate.
² Strong, op. cit., p. 296.

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