ACC ~ Ephesians 1 v22c - 23a

HOW THE CHURCH IS CHRIST’S BODY. JEROME: In the same way as a hand has many members subject to it, of which some are diseased and weak, so too our Lord Jesus Christ, being the head of the church, has as his members the whole congregation of the church, the saints and also the sinners. But the saints are in voluntary subjection to him, while the sinners are under compulsion. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.1.22-23.

WHETHER CHRIST IS THE SOUL OF THE CHURCH. ORIGEN: The church is called the body of Christ. We inquire whether as the body is distinguished from the head so we should think of [the church] here as an organ of its Head. Or should we rather think of the head as an aspect of the body of a person, so the whole church of Christ is Christ’s body in that he ensouls it with his Godhead and fills it with his Spirit. Or perhaps it should be interpreted in another way. But even if the second is true, the more human part of it is by itself a subservient aspect of the whole body, while the divinity that gives life to the whole church is, as it were, the divine power that enlivens it. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

THE LIFTING UP OF THE CHURCH. CHRYSOSTOM: Oh, how high he has raised the church! For, as if he were lifting it by some stage machine, he has led it up to a great height and installed it on that throne. For where the head is, there is the body also. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 3.1.20-23.

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