Of the Signification in Scripture of the Word Church
The word Church ( Ecclesia ) signifieth in the books of Holy Scripture divers things. Sometimes, though not often, it is taken for “God’s house,” that is to say, for a temple wherein Christians assembled to perform holy duties publicly, as (1 Cor. 14:34), “Let your women keep silence in the Churches.” But this is metaphorically put for the congregation there assembled, and hath been since used for the edifice itself, to distinguish between the temples of Christians and idolaters. The Temple of Jerusalem was “God’s house,” and the house of prayer; and so is any edifice dedicated by Christians to the worship of Christ, “Christ’s house”; and therefore the Greek fathers call it Κυριακὴ , “the Lord’s house”; and thence in our language it came to be called “kyrke” and “church.”