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The ekklesia in Athens convened on a hill called the Pnyx For other uses, see Citizens' assembly (disambiguation) . The ecclesia or ekklesia ( Greek : ἐκκλησία ) was the assembly of the citizens in city-states of ancient Greece .
Ecclesia (ancient Greece) or Ekklēsia, the principal assembly of ancient Greece during its Golden Age; Ecclesia (Sparta), the citizens' assembly of Sparta, often wrongly called apella; The Greek and Latin term for the Christian Church as a whole; Ekklesia (think tank), a British think tank examining the role of religion in public life
The ecclesia or ekklesia (Greek: ἐκκλησία) was the citizens' assembly in the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. Unlike its more famous counterpart in Athens , the Spartan assembly had limited powers, as it did not debate; citizens could only vote for or against proposals.
The Greek word derives from ekklesia "assembly," [5] as the Hebrew word derives from kahal "assembly," [6] but while the Greek word means 'member of an assembly', [7] the meaning of the original Hebrew word it translates is less certain. [8]
The Pnyx was the official meeting place of the Athenian democratic assembly (Ancient Greek: ἐκκλησία, ekklesía). In the earliest days of Athenian democracy (after the reforms of Kleisthenes in 508 B.C.), the ekklesia met in the Agora. Sometime in the early 5th century, the meeting place was moved to a hill south and west of the Acropolis.
In a few poleis, the ekklesiasterion was a separate building, but in many cases the theater was used for both performances and the meetings of ekklesia. In some cases, multiple locations were used. In Athens, the regular meetings of the assembly were held on the Pnyx hill and two annual meetings took place in the Theater of Dionysus.
Christian churches were sometimes called κυριακόν kuriakon (adjective meaning "of the Lord") in Greek starting in the 4th century, but ekklēsia and βασιλική basilikē were more common. [17] The word is one of many direct Greek-to-Germanic loans of Christian terminology, via the Goths.
The situation regarding the etymology has been summed up by Alister McGrath: "'Ecclesiology' is a term that has changed its meaning in recent theology. Formerly the science of the building and decoration of churches, promoted by the Cambridge Camden Society, the Ecclesiological Society and the journal The Ecclesiologist, ecclesiology now stands ...