Would anyone care to actually address the OP and my point that the characteristics of the NT church are nowhere seen in any OT setting? If not, this thread is a total win for me. :Cool
I'm not holding my breath. It would seem that many (most?) of the posters in this thread have committed the root fallacy by insisting the meaning of the word εκκλησια is based on its etymology rather than (correctly) seeing that the meaning of the word, at the time it was given in the bible, should be understood by its philology.
Dr. Clearwaters used to tell us that a man could not claim good Theology or claim to be a Theologian until he mastered both the etymology and philology of the words in the bible.
In fact he strongly encouraged us to purchase our own personal copies of the Oxford English Dictionary which contains a thorough philological section defining the meaning of the word in common usage.
I bought the "compact" edition (only two huge volumes 12" by 16" and each volume about 4" thick) with four pages shrunk down and put on a single page (they even provided a magnifying glass to read it). It is still available from Amazon for $399 (or used from around $50). The full size 20 volume set is only $1118 plus tax, shipping and handling, of course. :)
No, because this misunderstands the nature of a type, which uses an historical person or event as an illustration. (The Greek word tupos is sometimes translated as "example" or "ensample.") An institution or nation is not really a type.
So OT saints were baptized in the name of Jesus and celebrated the Lord's Supper? And some of them were pastors and deacons? And they met on Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ?
No, they are included into the body of Christ because they were saved same way we all were, but the death/resurrection of jhesus christ on their behalf!
He was a brilliant man. He had a Masters in New Testament Greek, having studied under Edgar Goodspeed, and, like Dr. Cedarholm, completed his work for a Ph.D. but found himself in dire financial straits and never completed his dissertation. But he did have the teaching of such greats as Robert Dick Wilson, R.A. Torrey, G. Campbell Morgan, Griffith Thomas and Billy Sunday to help shape his ministry.
Well, a thousand dollars was a little out of my price range. Okay, okay! Ten dollars would have been out of my price range! Look up "starving student" in the dictionary and all you will see is a picture of me! :D