176 sigurd grindheim
unnecessary (rom 16:23). in expressions such as “the whole church” (1 Cor
14:23), “every church” (1 Cor 4:17), and “no church” (Phil 4:15), the idea of a
local congregation is also essential.
in a number of other instances, however, the term takes on varying
degrees of a more general meaning. For example, Paul mentions that
“god has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third
teachers” (1 Cor 12:28) and that “those who prophesy build up the church”
(1 Cor 14:4; cf. 1 Cor 14:5, 12).4 the idea of “local assembly” is still present
here, but it has receded into the background. the idea is perhaps more
that of a community, even moving towards that of a people. these con-
notations are also present when Paul says that secular judges “have no
standing in the church” (1 Cor 6:4), and when he warns the Corinthians
against showing “contempt for the church of god” (1 Cor 11:22).
in other examples, the image of an assembly is closer at hand, but it
is less clear that a particular congregation is in mind. “in church,” Paul
“would rather speak five words with [his] mind... than ten thousand
words in a tongue” (1 Cor 14:19). the prophet should “be silent in church”
if “there is no one to interpret” (1 Cor 14:28). For a woman, it is shameful
“to speak in church” (1 Cor 14:35). Clearly, these maxims apply specifically
to the Corinthian church, but Paul’s argument depends on the presup-
position that they are universal, or at least more broadly applicable.5 the
underlying idea may still be that of an assembly, but not so much a spe-
cific, local one. “Church” may be paraphrased “where the people of god
come together.”
that ἐκκλησία for Paul has connotations of god’s people becomes clear
in 1 Cor 10:32: “give no offense to Jews or to greeks or to the church of
god.” “Church of god” is here a third entity, besides the ethnic groups
Jews and greeks.6 the term probably also has this generalized mean-
ing when Paul recalls that he had persecuted the church of god (1 Cor
15:9; gal 1:13). what is interesting for our present purposes is that there
is a development in Paul’s own use of the term with this meaning. the
4 unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations are from the nrsV.
5 K. l. schmidt observes that “these things apply to the Church as a whole and not
merely to the local congregation” (“καλέω κτλ,” in TDNT, 3:506). when he concludes that
Colossians and ephesians represent a post-Pauline development, it is because he holds to
the view that the language in these letters is dependent upon gnostic mythology (512).
this view has now been discredited (cf. stettler, Kolosserhymnus, 39–42).
6 similarly, wolfgang schrage, Der erste Brief an die Korinther (eKK 7/2; neukirchen-
Vluyn: neukirchener Verlag, 1995), 2:475; anthony C. thiselton, The First Epistle to the Cor-
inthians (nigtC; grand rapids: eerdmans, 2000), 795.