Archaic KJV Word
Conversation Piece
Modern equivalent: citizenship
What Was Lost
The political dimension of Christian identity. 'Our conversation is in heaven' did not mean we talk about heaven or behave heavenly -- it meant we are citizens of heaven, our commonwealth is there, our political allegiance belongs to a heavenly polity. This was a radical, treasonous claim in the Roman colony of Philippi.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
polity (the system of governance/community identity)
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Philippians 3:20 -- 'Our conversation is in heaven' (Greek politeuma -- 'citizenship/commonwealth')
Died ~1750
This is a distinct usage from 'conversation' as conduct. Here Paul used it to translate politeuma -- citizenship, commonwealth, political identity -- a dimension even further from 'dialogue' than 'conduct.'
What Replaced It
“citizenship”
Political; conversation-as-politeuma meant your entire public identity and allegiance, not just legal status
“commonwealth”
Institutional; conversation here meant belonging to a community with shared governance
“way of life”
Individual; conversation-as-citizenship was fundamentally communal