ACC ~ Ephesians 5 v29

THE ERROR OF MARCION HINGED ON HATRED OF THE FLESH. TERTULLIAN: “No one,” he says, “hates his own flesh”—excepting only Marcion, obviously—“but he nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church.” But you [Marcion] are the only one who hates it, since you deprive it of resurrection. So you also hate the church. But Christ loved the flesh, as seen in his love for the church. The point is that as no man hates his own flesh so he does not hate his own wife but indeed acts to preserve, honor and crown her. AGAINST MARCION 5.18.9.

NO ONE HATES HIS OWN FLESH. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: When the apostle asks “whoever hated his own flesh?” what is meant by flesh? Flesh is to be taken care of, “nourished and fostered.” Flesh here refers to the body yoked to the rational soul, as is clear [from the previous verse]. ON ZECHARIAH 1.169.

THE HEALTHY MEMBER OF THE BODY DOES NOT CUT OFF THE LAME MEMBER. CHRYSOSTOM: It is all too evident that our bodies have many defects. One is lame, one has crooked feet, another a withered hand, each a weakness in a different member. Nevertheless the person does not complain or cut off the defect. Rather he often treats it better than the other members—and all this quite reasonably, since it is his own. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 20.5.31.

GOD, WHO MADE THE BODY, LOVES IT. PSEUDO-AUGUSTINE: The purpose of God cannot be undone, nor can anyone make a better provision than God already has. God made the body. No workman loves another’s work better than his own. Hence the apostle says “no one hates his own flesh.” QUESTIONS ON THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS 127.31.

Eph