# What Was the Church as the Ancient Athenians Understood It?!

> We cannot speak of the term Ekklesia without passing through a period in the golden age of rule in ancient Athens, namely the period of Solon's rule, from (560 BC to 460 BC), and getting to know this poet, legislator and thinker…

*2016-12-03T14:13:10Z*

![Quote card with a silhouette of a person with raised arms against an orange sky: "Be careful to gather together more frequently, to offer the Eucharist to God and to glorify Him, for when you gather frequently the powers of Satan are dissolved and the destruction he plans for us is nullified, through your harmony in the faith; nothing is better than the peace that nullifies all warfare, whether earthly or heavenly." - St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians 13 and 15.](/uploads/sites/1274e232-e31c-46f4-a48b-27b854406479/media/church-in-ancient-athens.png?w=815&h=815)

We cannot speak of the term Ekklesia without passing through a period in the golden age of rule in ancient Athens, namely the period of Solon's rule, that is, the period from (560 BC to 460 BC), and we also get to know this poet, legislator and thinker, in whose era the term ekklesia emerged in the history of the Hellenized Athenian civilization, and also some important definitions that will help us understand the term ekklesia, such as (the Senate – the Areopagus)

### Solon (Σόλων):

Solon in Greek (Σόλων), pronounced "Solon," the Greek poet and legislator (see Image 1-1), who lived between the sixth and seventh centuries BC (560 BC to 460 BC), and who, besides being a poet and one of the Seven Sages of Greece [^1], was also a brilliant politician, for the people of Athens elected him ruler, and he carried out legislative and administrative reforms, and these laws were called the laws of Solon.

And Solon was not only a sage, a poet and a ruler, but was one of the pioneers of democracy in Athens, and the credit goes to him for abolishing the system of slavery that permitted the enslavement of farmers if they were unable to pay their debts, and thereby he broke the power of the nobles and dealt with them just as he dealt with the poor, equally.

And the abolition of the system of slavery is considered the first constitutional reform in the history of Greece, for Solon freed the slaves and protected the personal freedom of hired workers and ordinary people and admitted them, by election, and those who had passed the age of thirty, into the council of notables, which conducts the affairs of the state that the council of governors presents to it for study, without their having authority over them. [^2]

And thereby Solon laid in Athens one of the foundations of democracy that allow the ordinary citizen to take part in politics and government.[^3]

![Marble bust of a heavily bearded man with curled hair, presented as the image of Solon, the Greek poet and legislator.](/uploads/sites/1274e232-e31c-46f4-a48b-27b854406479/media/church-in-ancient-athens-2.jpg?w=300&h=459)

Image of Solon, the Greek poet and legislator (1-1)

**The Senate (Ἄρειος Πάγος):**\
The Senate in Greek (Ἄρειος Πάγος), pronounced "Areios Pagos," is one of the institutions that the Greeks share with other Aryan peoples, and we find it among them in all eras.

It held a great standing in the time of the king. But it grew in importance in the era of aristocratic rule and became the real pillar of the nobles' authority, for it is the one that, as Aristotle says in his book (The Constitution of Athens): \[preserves the laws and administers the affairs of the state\][^4], and it is the one that undertakes the election of the three chiefs (the ruler, the king, the commander), and the rest of the officials, and it was named in Athens (Areios Pagos) to distinguish it from the other councils that were founded afterward, and perhaps this name is derived from the hill of Ares, where it held its meetings to consider criminal cases, which are among its most important functions (see Image 1-2).[^5]

Solon's constitution kept the Senate at the head of the government, but after stripping it of some powers on the one hand, and after making it open to all members of the first class, whatever their lineage, on the other hand, and besides that he created alongside it a new council called the Council of the Four Hundred, whose members are elected from the four tribes of (Attica), a hundred from each, and the task of this council is to prepare the proposals that must be presented to the Senate, and thereby it was able to oversee all the laws[^6]

This council is mentioned in the Bible when St. Paul the Apostle preached in Athens and the philosophers took him to this council for trial, and he spoke to them about the unknown God (Acts 17:19-22)

![A whitish rocky hill in Athens surrounded by cypress trees and houses, with a few small figures on top; presented as the Areopagus (Senate).](/uploads/sites/1274e232-e31c-46f4-a48b-27b854406479/media/church-in-ancient-athens-3.jpg?w=597&h=447)

Image of the Senate (1-2)

**The Assembly of the People (ἐκκλησία):**\
\[Solon's democratic tendency appears in his reviving the Assembly of the People (the Ekklesia), which was known in the Homeric era and in whose discussions all citizens take part, and Solon entrusted this assembly with the task of selecting the rulers who had previously been elected by the Senate, and all the officials were answerable to this assembly, which can punish any official and which has the right to call rulers and commanders to account at the end of their term of service and to deprive them of becoming members of the Senate.\] [^6] (picture of the Ekklesia 1-3)

In addition to that, declaring war and drawing up military strategy were also ascribed to this assembly, and the responsibility for electing the rulers was made its own, making it elected indirectly for the Senate[^7] so this assembly became the ruling power at that time, so that rule would be by the power of the people, which is the essential meaning of ("democracy").

And thus the literal meaning of the word (ekklesia), according to its historical concept, is the assembly of the people or the congregation, and we leave it to the reader, if he wishes, to reflect on the characteristics of the historical sense of the word, for in my personal opinion there is much that could be said!

![Open rocky archaeological site in Athens under a blue sky with a stepped stone platform in the background; presented as the Ekklesia.](/uploads/sites/1274e232-e31c-46f4-a48b-27b854406479/media/church-in-ancient-athens-4.png?w=717&h=529)

Image of the Ekklesia in the ancient Athenian civilization (1-3)

[^1]: Tarikh al-Yunan (al-Juz' al-Awwal) [History of Greece (Part One)] - Dr. Muhammad Kamil Ayyad, p. 228
[^2]: Aristotle, Dustur al-Athiniyyin [The Constitution of the Athenians] - translated by Fr. Augustinus Barbara, p. 30
[^3]: Ibid., p. 28
[^4]: Ibid., p. 25
[^5]: Tarikh al-Yunan (al-Juz' al-Awwal) [History of Greece (Part One)] - Dr. Muhammad Kamil Ayyad, p. 217
[^6]: Ibid., p. 234
[^7]: Hansen & Fischer-Hansen 1994, p. 51–53

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Source: https://abba.fadymondy.com/en/blog/church-in-ancient-athens