The book "The Church" by John Huss is available at:
http://www.biblesupp...ohn-the-church/
This does raise related questions about the spelling of the author's name and the book's name. Should the book's name be listed as "De Ecclesia" in addition to or in lieu of "The Church"?
There is an article about Jan Hus Bohemian religious leader, provided by authors of Encyclopedia Britannica.
Bartoš, František M. and Spinka, Matthew. "Jan Hus". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Jun. 2023,
https://www.britanni...ography/Jan-Hus
They list his name as “Jan Hus, Hus also spelled Huss”. They explain that “Hus was born of poor parents in Husinec in southern Bohemia, from which he took his name.”
Jan Hus’s writings were written in the language that was usually used when writing about theological subjects, that is Latin, and he also wrote a large number of treatises in Czech.
“The most important of his treatises was De ecclesia (The Church). He also wrote a large number of treatises in Czech and a collection of sermons entitled Postilla.”
The articles provided by Bible Support are a translation of his Latin treatise “De ecclesia”, which in English translation, is referred to as “The Church”.
However, Wycliffe, Tyndale, and Hus were clearly trying to dethrone the hold that the ecclesiastical and imperial rulers had in the minds of the people and to alienate them from the mental hold that Caesar had upon them through heathenistic (central) authoritarian government rules by dogma and decree.
The word “Church” and “Ecclesia” come from two different sources in Greek. The word CHURCH is from Greek KURIAKOS: (adjective) lord-like. From KURIOS: lord. Old English CIRCE; Germanic KIRKE; Scottish KIRK.
The word ECCLESIA is from Greek EKKLESIA: (noun) the called-out (those summoned); from EK: out + KALEO: to call. Thus, THOSE WHO ARE CALLED OUT.
When King James commissioned the King James Version, he approved 15 principles of translation which were instituted by Richard Bancroft, the bishop of London in 1604. The first four translation principles are as follows:
1. The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops’ Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the Truth of the original will permit.
2. The names of the Prophets, and the Holy Writers, with the other Names of the Text, to be retained, as nigh as may be, accordingly as they were vulgarly used.
3. The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. the Word Church not to be translated Congregation, etc.
4. When a Word hath divers Significations, that to be kept which hath been most commonly used by the most of the Ancient Fathers, being agreeable to the Propriety of the Place, and the Analogy of the Faith.
The Bishops’ Bible used both the word congregation and the word church as a translation of ecclesia. In William Tyndale’s translation the word church never occurs, because he consistently used the word congregation in both the Old and New Testaments. Unfortunately, the intentional mistranslation of words in the Holy Scripture and the intentional misguidance of the members about the meaning of the English words church, congregation, and assembly in subsequent Bible versions, has kept many people ignorant of the meaning of the word ecclesia. God's people are expected to live by the ecclesia pattern – together in communities, holding all things common, under the government of God through His anointed leaders.
I suggest that you read the dictionary definition of the word church in Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language.
Webster’s Dictionary of American English (1828). The definition of Church is given as:
CHURCH, noun.
1. A house consecrated to the worship of God, among Christians; the Lord’s house. This seems to be the original meaning of the word. The Greek, to call out or call together, denotes an assembly or collection. But, Lord, a term applied by the early Christians to Jesus Christ; and the house in which they worshipped was named from the title. So church goods, bona ecclesiastica; the Lord’s day, dies dominica.
2. The collective body of Christians, or of those who profess to believe in Christ, and acknowledge him to be the Savior of mankind. In this sense, the church is sometimes called the Catholic or Universal church.
3. A particular number of christens, united under one form of ecclesiastical government, in one creed, and using the same ritual and ceremonies; as the English church; the Gallican church; the Presbyterian church; the Romish church; the Greek church.
4. The followers of Christ in a particular city or province; as the church of Ephesus, or of Antioch.
5. The disciples of Christ assembled for worship in a particular place, as in a private house. Colossians 4:15.
6. The worshipers of Jehovah or the true God, before the advent of Christ; as the Jewish church.
7. The body of clergy, or ecclesiastics, in distinction from the laity. Hence, ecclesiastical authority.
8. An assembly of sacred rulers convened in Christ’s name to execute his laws.
9. The collective body of Christians, who have made a public profession of the Christian religion, and who are united under the same pastor; in distinction from those who belong to the same parish, or ecclesiastical society, but have made no profession of their faith.
CHURCH, verb transitive To perform with any one the office of returning thanks in the church, after any signal deliverance, as from the dangers of childbirth.
https://webstersdict...ctionary/church
A module for the 1828 edition of Webster’s Dictionary has been supplied for use by users of e-Sword, available internally in e-Sword, in the Dictionary Download section, for the English language, and is free to anyone to download directly to the device on which they read e-Sword modules.
Noah Webster was a Christian and famously said "Education is useless without the Bible." His dictionary has seventy thousand words and over six thousand Bible references and remains one of the only mainstream dictionaries to use Bible references to demonstrate the meaning of words. His dictionary is an essential tool for anyone studying the Bible.
Edited by Olaf Bacon, 10 June 2023 - 03:56 AM.
