The Church as Body of Christ
One body, many members — Christ the head, the faithful his living limbs
This teaching describes the Church as the mystical body of Christ, with Christ as the head and believers as its members. Drawn from Paul's letters—1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians, and Romans 12—the image conveys both unity and diversity: each member has a distinct role, yet all are joined in one living organism animated by Christ. The metaphor expresses how Christians are bound to one another and to their Lord.
How it traveled
- 1 CorinthiansEphesus · 67explains
- EphesiansRome · 67explains
- RomansCorinth · 67explains
- JohnEphesus · 100explains
- The Epistles of Cyprian.Carthage · 258explains
- The Church History of EusebiusCaesarea · 339explains
- The Life of Constantine with Orations of Constantine and EusebiusCaesarea · 339applies
- The LettersCaesarea (Cappadocia) · 379explains
- Select Orations of Saint Gregory NazianzenNazianzus · 390explains
- Selections from the Letters of St. AmbroseMilan · 397explains
- Homilies on First CorinthiansConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and EphesiansConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- A Commentary on the Acts of the ApostlesConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the RomansConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and ThessaloniansConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John ChrysostomConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. JohnConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the HebrewsConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- Expositions on the Book of PsalmsHippo Regius · 430explains
- Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. JohnHippo Regius · 430explains
- Letters of St. AugustinHippo Regius · 430explains
- City of GodHippo Regius · 430explains
- On Baptism, Against the DonatistsHippo Regius · 430explains
- Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New TestamentHippo Regius · 430explains
- Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the DonatistHippo Regius · 430explains
- Reply to Faustus the ManichæanHippo Regius · 430explains
- The Letters and Sermons of Leo the GreatRome · 461explains
- The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the GreatRome · 604explains
- Selected Epistles of Gregory the GreatRome · 604explains
- Treatise on the Sacraments (qq[60]-90)Paris · 1274explains
- Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59)Paris · 1274explains
- Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic ChurchGeneva · 1564explains
- Book Third. the Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. the Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from ItGeneva · 1564explains
- A History of the Work of RedemptionNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- Inquiry Concerning Qualification for CommunionNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- Seventeen Occasional SermonsNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- Five Sermons. On Different OccasionsNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- Misrepresentations Corrected and Truth Vindicated, in Reply to the Rev. Solomon WilliamsNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- HeavenNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
- XIV Five discourses on the soul's eternal salvationNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
Key passages(20)
Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man · Henri de Lubac
The Pillar and Ground of the Truth · Pavel Florensky
The Bride of the Lamb · Sergei Bulgakov
Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom
Homily XXX. 1 Cor. xii. 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. After soothing them from the considerations t
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Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom
Homily XXXI. 1 Cor. xii. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Having checked the envy of those in lower rank, and hav
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Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom
Next he also adds the reason, showing that with a view to their profit he both caused it to lack and more abundantly honored it. And what is the reason? “That there should be no schism,” saith he, “in
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The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians · John Chrysostom
Homily X. Ephesians iv. 4 “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” When the blessed Paul exhorts us to anything of special importance, so truly wise a
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Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59) · Thomas Aquinas
We must now consider the grace of Christ as the Head of the Church; and under this head there are eight points of inquiry: (1) Whether Christ is the Head of the Church? (2) Whether He is the Head of
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Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread.
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For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
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For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.
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If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body.
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The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.”
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When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or when one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
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Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
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Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
5. But let us proceed to a full exposition of this view. Paul says that our Saviour “ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
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Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
8. Accordingly, inasmuch as it was of importance to us to recognise it, the Lord has distinguished it by certain marks, and as it were symbols. It is, indeed, the special prerogative of God to know th
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City of God · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 18.—Of the Perfect Man, that Is, Christ; And of His Body, that Is, The Church, Which is His Fullness. To understand what the apostle means when he says that we shall all come to a perfect man
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He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
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for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
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Modern teachers who discuss this idea
Modern and living teachers whose books take up The Church as Body of Christ. These works are still in copyright, so we can’t show the text here — each links out to the book.
- Pavel FlorenskyThe Pillar and Ground of the Truth(1914)View on Amazon→
- Henri de LubacCatholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man(1938)View on Amazon→
- Sergei BulgakovThe Bride of the Lamb(1945)View on Amazon→