Body of Christ

In Christian theology, the term Body of Christ has two main but separate meanings: it may refer to Jesus' words over the bread at the celebration of the Jewish feast of Passover that "This is my body" in Luke 22:19–20 (see Last Supper), or it may refer to all individuals who are "in Christ" 1 Corinthians 12:12–14 (see Christian Church).

The Institution of the Eucharist by Nicolas Poussin, 1640

Christ also associated himself with the poor of the world and this is also called the Body of Christ. “If we truly wish to encounter Christ, we have to touch his body in the suffering bodies of the poor, as a response to the sacramental communion bestowed in the Eucharist. "The Body of Christ, broken in the sacred liturgy, can be seen, through charity and sharing, in the faces and persons of the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters”, said Pope Francis on launching the World Day of the Poor.[1]

There are significant differences in how Christians understand the term as used by Christ at the Last Supper and as developed in Christian theology of the Eucharist. For some it may be symbolic, for others it becomes a more literal or mystical understanding.

As used by Saint Paul in the Pauline epistles The Body of Christ refers to all individuals who "heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit" Ephesians 1:13, "are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit" Ephesians 2:22, are "joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love" Ephesians 4:16.

In Roman Catholic theology the use of the phrase "mystical body" distinguishes the mystical body of Christ, the Church, from the physical body of Christ, and from a "moral body" such as any club with a common purpose.[2]

The Eucharist and real presence

Catholicism

While teaching that in the bread consecrated in the Eucharist there is absolutely no change open to the senses or to scientific investigation, the Catholic Church supports the real presence, i.e. that the reality of the bread is changed into that of the body of Christ. The Church teachings refer to this change as one of the "substance" or "transubstantiation".[3] It rejects the term "consubstantiation", which suggests that the substance or reality of the bread remains after the consecration, instead of being converted or changed into that of the body of Christ. At the same time, the Church holds that all that can be examined either directly or by scientific investigation  what in Aristotelean philosophy are called the "accidents" (as opposed to the reality)  remains quite unchanged.

In the Roman Rite, the priest or other minister who gives the consecrated host to a communicant says: "The body of Christ", indicating what is held to be the reality of what is given.

Since the consecrated bread is believed to be the body of Christ and sacred, what remains of the host after celebration of Mass is kept in the church tabernacle. This is primarily for the purpose of taking Communion to the sick, but also to serve as a focal point for private devotion and prayer. On appropriate occasions, there may be public Eucharistic adoration.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The Eastern Orthodox Church also believes that the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ. It has authoritatively used the term "Transubstantiation" to describe this change, as in The Longer Catechism of The Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church[4] and in the decrees of the 1672 Synod of Jerusalem.[5]

Protestantism

Historically, various Protestant theologians expressed different opinions regarding the Eucharist and the body of Christ. In contrast to Zwingli, Martin Luther reasoned that because divinity involves omnipresence, the body of Christ can be present in the Eucharist because of its participation in the divine nature.[6] A long debate took place between Luther and Zwingli on the issue of omnipresence, with each providing a variety of theological and biblical arguments to support his view.[7] By contrast, Zwingli held that while Christ's divine nature was omnipresent, his human nature — including his physical body — could be in two places at once, and hence it could not be simultaneously present in multiple Eucharistic loaves, or be both in those loaves and simultaneously in heaven.

In current Lutheran teachings, the Body of Christ is used in a somewhat similar form to the Catholic teachings, but the Lutherans reject the Catholic teaching of transubstantiation. For the Lutheran, the Body of Christ is the formal title of the sacramental bread in the Eucharist, as seen in the Lutheran Divine Service. It is also said in the Words of Institution  see Luther's Small Catechism. A similar teaching is taught in various Methodist churches.

John Calvin disagreed with Luther's reasoning about omnipresence and, like Zwingli, argued that human presence requires a specific location.[6] Calvin stated that Christ's body was present in the first Eucharist during the Last Supper, but was thereafter in heaven.[6][8] Melanchthon was accused of supporting Calvin, and the debates between the various groups eventually caused a further rift between the followers of Luther and Zwingli.[8]

The Church

Catholicism

1 Corinthians, from the Douai Bible, 1749

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.1 Corinthians 12:12–14

The first meaning that Catholics attach to the expression "Body of Christ" is the Catholic Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes with approval, as "summing up the faith of the holy doctors and the good sense of the believer", the reply of Saint Joan of Arc to her judges: "About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter."[9] In the same passage, it also quotes Saint Augustine: "Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself. Do you understand and grasp, brethren, God's grace toward us? Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ. For if he is the head, we are the members; he and we together are the whole man.... the fullness of Christ then is the head and the members. But what does 'head and members' mean? Christ and the Church." In light of all this, the Catholic Church calls itself the "universal sacrament of salvation" for the whole world, as it dispenses the sacraments which give the grace of Christ to the recipient.

Saint Paul the Apostle spoke of this unity of Christians with Christ, referred to in the New Testament also in images such as that of the vine and the branches,[10] in terms of a single body that has Christ as its head in Romans 12:5,1 Corinthians 12:12–27, Ephesians 3:6 and 5:23, Colossians 1:18 and 1:24.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "the comparison of the Church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his Church. Not only is she gathered around him; she is united in him, in his body. Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ are to be more specifically noted: the unity of all her members with each other as a result of their union with Christ; Christ as head of the Body; and the Church as bride of Christ."[11] The Catechism spells out the significance of each of these three aspects.

To distinguish the Body of Christ in this sense from his physical body, the term "Mystical Body of Christ" is often used. This term was used as the first words, and so as the title, of the encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi of Pope Pius XII. In that document, Pope Pius XII in 1943 states, "the mystical Body of Christ... is the Catholic Church." But in 1964 the Catholic bishops gathered at the Second Vatican Council, while acknowledging that “full incorporation” in the Church required union with the Sovereign Pontiff, described various degrees of being “conjoined” or “related” to the Church including all persons of good will,[12] which was not something new.[13] The Council's decree on Ecumenism stated that "all who have been justified by faith in Baptism are members of Christ's body" (3).[14] Following this understanding, Karl Rahner coined the term “anonymous Christians”.[15]

Eastern Orthodoxy

The Orthodox see the description of the Church (Ecclessia) as the "Body of Christ" as being inextricably connected to Holy Communion. According to Saint Ignatius (c. 35–107), the unity of the Church is expressed in Eucharistic terms. Just as there are many offerings made throughout the world on any given day, and yet all partake of one and the same Body of Christ, so the Church, though existing in many separate localities, is only one.

Protestantism

In modern teachings, the "Body of Christ" is used by other Protestants to collectively describe believers in Christ, as opposed to only those who are members of the Catholic Church. In this sense, Christians are members of the universal body of Christ not because of identification with the institution of the Church, but through identification with Christ directly through faith. This theology is based on several passages in the Bible, including Romans 12:5,1 Corinthians 12:12–27, Ephesians 3:6, 4:15-16 and 5:23, Colossians 1:18 and 1:24. Jesus Christ is seen as the "head" of the body, which is the church, while the "members" of the body are seen as members of the Church. In this way, Protestantism defines the "Body of Christ" in a much broader way than does the Catholic Church. This has allowed for a broad base within Christianity to call themselves part of the "Body of Christ."

See also

References

  1. McElwee, Joshua J. (13 June 2017). "Launching World Day of the Poor, Francis says 'no Christian may disregard' serving them". National Catholic Reporter.
  2. Mystici corporis Christi, a papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII, sections 60–62
  3. Council of Trent, The Thirteenth Session Archived February 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "The bread and wine are changed, or transubstantiated, into the very Body of Christ, and into the very Blood of Christ" (question 339).
  5. "In the celebration (of the Eucharist) we believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be present, not typically, nor figuratively, nor by superabundant grace, as in the other Mysteries, nor by a bare presence, as some of the Fathers have said concerning Baptism, or by impanation, so that the Divinity of the Word is united to the set forth bread of the Eucharist hypostatically, as the followers of Luther most ignorantly and wretchedly suppose, but truly and really, so that after the consecration of the bread and of the wine, the bread is transmuted, transubstantiated, converted and transformed into the true Body Itself of the Lord, Which was born in Bethlehem of the ever-Virgin, was baptised in the Jordan, suffered, was buried, rose again, was received up, sitteth at the right hand of the God and Father, and is to come again in the clouds of Heaven; and the wine is converted and transubstantiated into the true Blood Itself of the Lord, Which as He hung upon the Cross, was poured out for the life of the world." (Decree XVII)
  6. The Encyclopedia of Protestantism by Hans Joachim Hillerbrand 2003 ISBN 0-415-92472-3 page 676
  7. James A. Wylie (2002), The History of Protestantism ISBN 0-923309-80-2, pp. 595–596
  8. The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism by Alister E. McGrath, Darren C. Marks 2003 ISBN 0-631-23278-8 page 27
  9. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 795 Archived December 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  10. John 15:4–5
  11. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 789 Archived December 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  12. Vatican II Decree on the Church
  13. Lumen Gentium, Chapter 2, Footnote 19.
  14. "Unitatis redintegratio". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  15. Anonymous Christians

Further reading

  • Kim, Yung Suk. Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor (2008) ISBN 0-8006-6285-7
  • Kim, Yung Suk A Theological Introduction to Paul's Letters (2011) ISBN 978-1-60899-793-0
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.