Thesis (Th. M.)--Grace Theological Seminary, 1962. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83).

In this study we will attempt to discover the background of [apostolos] among its pagan ancestors. In addition to this area, we will also be concerned with the Jewish background which exerted a formative influence on the meaning of the word. Finally, an attempt will be made to see the result of this combination of backgrounds as it came to be reflected in the New Testament.

Several years ago the writer became interested in a study of the New Testament concept of the church. Since the major part of the New Testament collection dealing with this concept is made up of the writings of the apostle Paul he felt that the study should begin with these writings. In making a preliminary study it was found that the apostle's concept would be too extensive and too inclusive to incorporate in its entirety within the scope of a thesis written as partial requirement for the Master of Arts Degree. Consequenty this work is limited, being primarily foundational. In order to maintain this foundational character the writer decided to make a study of a representative passage of each variant shade of Paul's concept, and, that only where some form of the term (ecclesia) appears in the text. So that Paul's usage of the term might be more fully understood the first and second chapters are designed to serve as a background. These chapters will show that Paul, when he had become a Christian, had inherited a word that was potent with vital significance for him and for others like him in the new religion. The remainder of the thesis is divided according to the major emphases which Paul makes upon the term 'ecclesia'. This has caused a shift of the Galatian letter from its traditional date of composition which places it shortly after the writing of the Corinthian letters into a closer proximity with the Thessalonian letters. The concept of 'ecclesia' in Galatians is more in accord with that found in the Thessalonian letters than with that in Corinthians and Romans.

In studying the background and origin of meaning for this word [ecclesia], this paper will seek to investigate the pagan, the Jewish, and the Christian literature in this order. Of couse, as the preliminary discussion has so far indicated, the primary weight and burden of study will be upond the Septugintal influence. The three stages to be developed are reminiscent of the comment of R.C. Trench in his opening comments concerning ecclesia. He named them as heathen, Jewish, and Christian. The development of these stages will be united and brought together to make some pertinent conclusions in the final chapter of this thesis. At all points, this study will seek to limit itself to this one Greek word, [ecclesia], and words which have a direct relationship with it, rather than dealing with the many images used by the New Testament and theology to understand and to explain the church.

This essay surveys the current theoretical landscape of modern linguistics, asking whethe generative and possibly transformational linguistics can be applied to syntactic analysis of New Testament texts written in Koine Greek to find lingual hallmarks in the form of personal usage of syntactic rules that uniquely identify the authors of the texts. The conclusion is that there seems to be evidence that an application of a minimalist approach could make the detection of such lingual hallmarks possible.