Comments on: The name of the church http://www.gospelunion.com/2004/08/21/the-name-of-the-church/ Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. Mon, 17 May 2010 14:28:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Stuart http://www.gospelunion.com/2004/08/21/the-name-of-the-church/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Stuart Sun, 26 Dec 2004 23:31:00 +0000 http://gospelunion.com/?p=4#comment-5 Kevin wrote: "The first century church had no formal name. All of the terms used to describe the church [the church of God, the general assembly and church of the firstborn, etc.] are descriptive references, never used as proper nouns."<br /><br />True. And that is why I believe that churches should not have any kind of "trademark" name.<br /><br /><br />Kevin wrote: "It is the difference between saying 'I have a black cat' and 'My cat is named Black Cat.'"<br /><br />Yes. And the same thing could be said about the use of the word pastor. In the Bible, it is only used as a description of a man's function in the church. It is never used as a religious title, as it commonly is today. In other words, it is scriptural to say, "John Smith is a pastor." But it is unscriptural to say "Pastor John Smith." Some might think that this is an inconsequential point but once men are assigned religious titles, that tends to elevate them above the other members of the congregation and creates an anti-biblical clergy/laity division. Kevin wrote: “The first century church had no formal name. All of the terms used to describe the church [the church of God, the general assembly and church of the firstborn, etc.] are descriptive references, never used as proper nouns.”

True. And that is why I believe that churches should not have any kind of “trademark” name.

Kevin wrote: “It is the difference between saying ‘I have a black cat’ and ‘My cat is named Black Cat.’”

Yes. And the same thing could be said about the use of the word pastor. In the Bible, it is only used as a description of a man’s function in the church. It is never used as a religious title, as it commonly is today. In other words, it is scriptural to say, “John Smith is a pastor.” But it is unscriptural to say “Pastor John Smith.” Some might think that this is an inconsequential point but once men are assigned religious titles, that tends to elevate them above the other members of the congregation and creates an anti-biblical clergy/laity division.

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