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christian-ecclesiology-sacramentsfeatured in 40 works

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. 1 Corinthians
    Ephesus · 67
    explains
  2. Ephesians
    Rome · 67
    explains
  3. Romans
    Corinth · 67
    explains
  4. John
    Ephesus · 100
    explains
  5. The Epistles of Cyprian.
    Carthage · 258
    explains
  6. The Church History of Eusebius
    Caesarea · 339
    explains
  7. The Life of Constantine with Orations of Constantine and Eusebius
    Caesarea · 339
    applies
  8. The Letters
    Caesarea (Cappadocia) · 379
    explains
  9. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen
    Nazianzus · 390
    explains
  10. Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose
    Milan · 397
    explains
  11. Homilies on First Corinthians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  12. The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  13. A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  14. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  15. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  16. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  17. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  18. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  19. Expositions on the Book of Psalms
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  20. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  21. Letters of St. Augustin
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  22. City of God
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  23. On Baptism, Against the Donatists
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  24. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  25. Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  26. Reply to Faustus the Manichæan
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  27. The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great
    Rome · 461
    explains
  28. The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great
    Rome · 604
    explains
  29. Selected Epistles of Gregory the Great
    Rome · 604
    explains
  30. Treatise on the Sacraments (qq[60]-90)
    Paris · 1274
    explains
  31. Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59)
    Paris · 1274
    explains
  32. Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church
    Geneva · 1564
    explains
  33. Book Third. the Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. the Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from It
    Geneva · 1564
    explains
  34. A History of the Work of Redemption
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  35. Inquiry Concerning Qualification for Communion
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  36. Seventeen Occasional Sermons
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  37. Five Sermons. On Different Occasions
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  38. Misrepresentations Corrected and Truth Vindicated, in Reply to the Rev. Solomon Williams
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  39. Heaven
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  40. XIV Five discourses on the soul's eternal salvation
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains

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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.