Stumbled upon this while reading Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan today; thought it was relevant to the conversation:
"Church (when not taken for a house) signifieth the same that ecclesia signified in the Grecian commonwealths; that is to say, a congregation, or an assembly of citizens, called forth, to hear the magistrate speak unto them; and which in the commonwealth of Rome was called concio, as he that spoke was called ecclesiastes, and concionator.
"Church (when not taken for a house) signifieth the same that ecclesia signified in the Grecian commonwealths; that is to say, a congregation, or an assembly of citizens, called forth, to hear the magistrate speak unto them; and which in the commonwealth of Rome was called concio, as he that spoke was called ecclesiastes, and concionator.
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza
