[Published in The Greek Australian Vema, January 2010, 6]

Glimpses of a Symbolic Anthropology

Part Five: The Body as Communion
Revd Dr Doru Costache

The intention of this series is to prove from within the ecclesial tradition that
Orthodoxy has no share in what secular people today designate as the Christian
aversion to the body; furthermore, that from the viewpoint of our tradition there is
more about the body than any secular mind can conceive.

My previous article reviewed the main anthropological consequences of the

incarnation of God the Logos, concluding that Christian anthropology cannot be
correctly assessed outside the horizon of holiness and the spiritual
transformation. Before exploring the realm of this anthropology of holiness
though, some related notes are in order.

With the exception of the eucharistic dimension, in the previous article I have
not specifically referred to the body as a means of communion between Christ
and the believers, more precisely as an image of the Church. Nevertheless, this is
perhaps one of the most prominent features of the New Testament imagery:
Christ and the Christians constitute one body, the Church, the body functioning
here as a wonderful metaphor of communion or unity. With reference to the
following examples, I am not interested in their ecclesiological aspects instead
trying to unveil the anthropological significance of the body imagery.

In a previous article (see The Greek Australian Vema, November 2009, page 5)
I noted a very interesting use of the word “flesh” in Genesis 2:23 and 2 Kings
(Samuel) 5:1, where it designates the genetic unity of a nation (i.e. the old Israel)
and humankind in its entirety, respectively. Beyond the various secondary
connotations, it is obvious that such scriptural passages take “flesh” as
suggesting an intimate, or ontological, connection between people. The New
Testament imagery of the body as communion between Christ and the believers
precisely builds upon this understanding. Thus, it reaffirms the positive approach
to the body characterising Christian anthropology, where it means more than the
biological side pertaining to the human constitution.

Throughout the Pauline literary corpus the body consistently features as a

metaphor of the Church. For instance, in his earliest letter preserved St Paul
states: “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members
do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body,
and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:4-5). The image depicts
God’s people as a body in which – within a communal context – each and
everyone exercises a function for the benefit of the whole. Far from any pejorative
connotation therefore, the body serves here as a positive term of comparison for
the ecclesial dynamic and functional unity.

In the same vein, and developing this positive approach, the Apostle explores
at length the structure of the body in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, showing his
awareness of how things function within it. Further elaborating on this topic, he
maintains that within the harmonious structure of the body there is no superior
and inferior, noble and shameful, the whole needing each of its different
constituting parts. Thus, just as the proper functioning of the body presupposes
the good condition of all its organs, in the same way the Church (Christ’s body)
cannot thrive without the contribution of all its members. The last verse of the
passage, 27, summarises this idea quite clearly: “you are the body of Christ, and
each one of you is a part of it”.

Perhaps the most important elaborations around the theme are those in St
Paul’s very ecclesiological letter to the Ephesians. Continuing the previous line of
thought, the Apostle indicates from the outset that Christ is the head of his body,
the Church (see Ephesians 1:22-3). There are two interesting aspects to point out
here. First, this organic relationship between Christ and the Church answers the
fundamental expectation of early Christians for the participation in the divine life
(the way it is phrased for instance by 2 Peter 1:4). As Christ’s body, immediately
articulated with the head, God’s people receive the divine life directly and
uninterruptedly (the idea is developed in Ephesians 4:15-6). Second, as Christ’s
body, the Church is not merely an historical occurrence or solely a social reality,
detached from the mystical reality of the kingdom. Moreover, within the salvific
economy, the Church is as necessary to Christ as Christ is to the Church; the head
cannot exist without the body. The aspect powerfully emerges in verse 23, where
the Church is presented as “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way”.
Christ fills all things as a provident God and head of the Church, bestowing his
bountiful mercies upon each and everyone according to their needs and
envisaging their personal growth. However, the Church as Christ’s body is not a
passive recipient of those mercies; instead it “adds” to the head the multilayered
structure of the body, with the wide variety of gifts, tasks and works accomplished
by Christians.

The second connotation is further illustrated by Ephesians 3:6, where the

mystery of salvation is presented as the effectuation of the gentiles’ addition to
God’s people “through the gospel”, becoming “members together [with the old
Israel] of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus”.

Or, given that a fundamental quality of any living being, including the body, is
to grow, the incorporation of humankind into one body, Christ’s Church, is a
prerequisite of humanity’s growth and coming of a mature age characterised by
spiritual development. In the Apostle’s own words (Ephesians 4:12-4), all the
responsibilities and tasks fulfilled within the ecclesial milieu function so “that the
body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure
of the fullness of Christ”.

Through and beyond these examples, it is obvious that for Christian

anthropology the body encompasses various symbolic dimensions which are
mostly ignored by contemporary culture. In fact, the powerful imagery of the
Church as a body may serve today as an inspirational paradigm, to be
contemplated as a viable alternative to the currently fractured humanity.