In Acts 2, who are the people called the church (Ecclesia)?
In Acts 2, the church (Ecclesia) is the called-out assembly of Jewish believers who had separated from mainstream Judaism. They believed Jesus was the Christ and gathered together in fellowship and the breaking of bread. The term denotes a called-out assembly, not automatically the body of Christ as Paul later describes it.
Les explains that in Acts 2 the word Ecclesia was a called-out assembly, namely Jewish believers who had separated themselves from the mainstream of Judaism. They had believed that Jesus was the Christ and were assembling themselves in fellowship and the breaking of bread. He contrasts this with Acts 19, where the same word Ecclesia describes a riotous mob called out by the silversmiths, not a church. Les cautions that when you see the word 'church,' you should not automatically assume it means the church as we know it or the body of Christ Paul refers to.
More Questions
According to traditional teaching, what begins in Acts 2?
Traditional teaching is that Acts 2 is where the beginning of the Gentile Body of Christ occurs.