My Theology & Culture professor just mentioned that King James translated the Greek as “church” (and “bishop”, etc) for his own political purposes — to establish/legitimize Anglican polity. I haven’t heard a prof mention that yet, but it’s not unknown! You have been telling us that for several years now.
Bekah
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Yes, that is true. That is a known fact among scholars. King James gave his translators a list of rules they had to follow in their translation. The third of those rules (preserved at Cambridge University in England) was that they were required to mistranslated the Greek so as to make it appear that the word “church” belonged in there. Most believers, however, are not told about that, and so those who tell that story seem ungodly and irreverent. I have, in the past, also entertained suspicions about the word “pastor”, but I finally decided it was a harmless term. Likewise, “bishop”. It is the word “church” that is a major problem.
The Greeks had a word for “church”, and it is found nowhere in the original New Testament writings. The way that Christians typically translate the Greek word ekklesia (as “church”) is just wrong and very misleading. It legitimizes a religious system that is evil, one that destroys souls in the name of Jesus. William Tyndall (1494-1536) refused to use the word “church” in his English New Testament because he knew it had no place in the mouth of Jesus or the apostles. At that time, the Church held such power over men that it was forbidden for anyone to translate the Bible into a language that Englishmen could read,. That, and Tyndall’s determination to produce a faithful version of the NT, were principal reasons that CHURCHMEN, the powerful men whom King James wanted to please, viciously persecuted Tyndall and, eventually captured, tortured, and executed him.
Daddy