church - Origins

In architecture, a building used for public religious worship, especially Christian. First adapted by the early Christians from the Roman basilicas and martyrs' shrines, it was later developed in the Romanesque architecture of the 11th-c and 12th-c into the now more usual Latin cross plan, typically consisting of nave with side aisles, transepts, chancel, and apse, such as Pisa Cathedral (mainly 1063–1118) and the Panthéon (Sainte Geneviève), Paris (1757–90), architect J G Soufflot. The centrally-planned circular or Greek cross plan was briefly favoured in Renaissance Italy, such as Santa Maria della Consolazione, Todi (1508–1604). In the 20th-c, church design has become increasingly eclectic, most famously the Chapel of Notre Dame, Ronchamp, France (1950–5), architect Le Corbusier; the Roman Catholic Cathedral, Liverpool, UK (1960–7), architect Frederick Gibberd; and also in numerous smaller, usually urban churches.

Origins

The Christian concept "Church" (Greek εκκλησια - ekklesia, ref. Of the 114 occurrences of the term in the New Testament three are found in the Gospel accounts, all in the Gospel according to Matthew on the lips of Jesus: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my ekklesia, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Mt 16:18);

The Greek term εκκλησια - ekklesia, literally meaning a "convocation", was a governmental and political term, used to denote a national assembly, congregation or council of common objective (see Ecclesia (ancient Athens), Ecclesia (Church)).

The Christian use of this term has its direct antecedent in the Koine Greek translation of the Old Testament (see also Septuagint), where the noun ekklesia has been employed 96 times to denote the congregation of the Children of Israel, which Christians regard as a type of the "Body of Christ", as they also call the Christian Church of Christ.

On many occasions Jesus used the term "temple" (e.g.