Ecclesiology

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ecclesiology

1. What is the early historical challenge?
2. What is the key governance models?
3. What does the Greek word "ekklesia" mean?
4. Why did early Christians debate whether Gentile converts had to follow the Mosaic Law?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the early historical challenge?The status and integration of Gentile converts within the early Jewish-Christian community
2. What is the key governance models?Debates between episcopal (bishop-led) and presbyterian (elder-led) forms of church polity
3. What does the Greek word "ekklesia" mean?The Greek word "ekklesia" means an assembly or gathering of people, and it is the word used for a church.
4. Why did early Christians debate whether Gentile converts had to follow the Mosaic Law?Early Christians talked about whether Gentile (non-Jewish) believers had to follow the old Jewish laws, like circumcision, because they wanted to grow the church beyond its Jewish beginnings.

Ecclesiology: The systematic theological study of the nature, origins, mission, and structure of the Christian Church.
Gentile: A term used in biblical contexts to refer to a non-Jew.
Polity: The system of governance and organization within a religious body, particularly the Church.
Eschatology: The theological doctrine concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity and the world.