Fenton John Anthony Hort and his friend B. E. Westcott compiled the texts used for
almost every modern translation of the Bible. Hort was perhaps the greatest New
Testament scholar of his time. In 1888 and 1889, he gave a series of lectures on early
Christianity. Throughout, Hort uses the Greek word “ecclesia” in order to avoid
contemporary cultural associations with the word “church.” His lectures explore what the
ecclesia meant to its first members. To this day, the scholar’s insights have helped people
understand more about life in the early church.
