Gerald Weston On Democracy

 

From an LCG source:

(Gerald) Weston said,

"But neither democracy nor a military approach correspond to the model Christ gave us."

I agree with the military comment, but the democracy comment is 100% incorrect.

Jesus used the Greek democratic "ekklesia/ecclesia" to describe his model. Even if he didn't intend for every detail of a Greek ecclesia to be mimicked, his first followers would have immediately associated it with a democratic approach. 

From “The Assembly,” C. Blackwell, ed., Dēmos: Classical Athenian Democracy :

The Assembly (ecclesia) was the regular opportunity for all male citizens of Athens to speak their minds and exercise their votes regarding the government of their city. It was the most central and most definitive institution of the Athenian Democracy.

From Encyclopedia Britannica entry "Democracy":

What political institutions are necessary for governing?—the Athenians adopted an answer that would appear independently elsewhere. The heart and centre of their government was the Assembly (Ecclesia), which met almost weekly—40 times a year—on the Pnyx, a hill west of the Acropolis. Decisions were taken by vote, and, as in many later assemblies, voting was by a show of hands. As would also be true in many later democratic systems, the votes of a majority of those present and voting prevailed. 

 

Aside from the question of whether Jesus and the Apostles restricted participation to only males, the pertinent issue in this discussion is whether Jesus endorsed a democratic model. If he did not then he would not have used "ecclesia" to describe what he was building, because the people of his time would have known exactly what an ecclesia was, and that it involved direct participation in decision making by all the members of the group, so it would not have made sense to use "ecclesia" if he meant an elite hierarchy or corporation.

If Jesus had meant to adopt a human hierarchy with governance by a few then he would have used another term besides "ecclesia" to describe what he was building such as "dikasteria," which was a smaller group that served as a powerful court, or "aristocracy," “the rule of what Herodotus called ‘the one man, the best’” Ancient Greek Democracy

Or Jesus could have said he would build his "boule" which was a "council of 500 men, appointed annually by lot from among citizens aged at least thirty, and with severe restrictions on repeated membership. Its chief function was to prepare the agenda for meetings of the ekklesia, and to undertake certain routine administrative duties, in particular, that of coordinating the activities of numerous boards of minor officials" A Glossary of Athenian Legal Terms

King James I had the same concern about government and ecclesiastical authority that Gerald Weston has, and so when he authorized the English translation of the Bible, he made sure to give the translators the rule:

"The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. the Word Church not to be translated Congregation etc."

This is where King James insisted that when the translators find the word ecclesia that they make sure to substitute the traditional institutional word "Church" and not use a proper translation of "congregation" like Tyndale used and was murdered for. What would be King James’s motive for forbidding the proper translation of ecclesia and using "Church" instead? I think the answer should be obvious, but it has to do with maintaining a separation between clergy and laity and ensuring that the authorized translation supported ecclesiastical authority over and repression of the masses. The COGs today fall right in line with King James’s rule when they insist that their groups must use the term "Church of God" to be valid.

Even the popular ISBE (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) says this in the first line of the entry “Church”:

The word "church," which is derived from kuriakos, "of or belonging to the Lord," represents in the English Versions of the Bible of the New Testament the Greek word ekklesia; Latin, ecclesia.” 

 

What this is saying is that “church” is not derived from ekklesia, and that English Bibles substitute (“represent”) the Greek word ekklesia with the English word “church.” So, if Jesus had meant “church” then he would have used the Greek word kuriakos.

Democratic ecclesia didn't mean lack of leadership as would be the accusation to this by the aristocracy in the COGs, and it’s why teaching discernment to the followers of Jesus is so important. The Greek ecclesia had heralds whose job it was to make sure everyone who wanted to speak had an opportunity. This freedom to speak presented the risk of an ecclesia getting out of control, thus,

  This freedom to speak was not absolute or without regulation. Aeschines tells us, for example, that in the early democracy (before the 5th century) citizens over 50 years of age could speak first, and only after those had their say could younger men speak. Other formal restrictions could apply, such as decrees limiting discussion of certain topics to certain meetings of the Assembly (C. Blackwell).