Body of Christ is a term of Christian theology, implicitly traceable to Jesus's statement at the Last Supper that "This is my body" in Luke 22:19-20, and explicitly used by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 12:12-14.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the term "Body of Christ" refers not only to the body of Christ in spiritual realm, but also to two distinct though related things: the Church and reality of the transubstantiated bread of the Euchari...
more
Body of Christ is a term of Christian theology, implicitly traceable to Jesus's statement at the Last Supper that "This is my body" in Luke 22:19-20, and explicitly used by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 12:12-14.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the term "Body of Christ" refers not only to the body of Christ in spiritual realm, but also to two distinct though related things: the Church and reality of the transubstantiated bread of the Eucharist.
The first meaning that the Roman Catholic Church attaches to the expression "Body of Christ" is the 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." In the same passage, it also quotes Saint Augustine: "Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but...
less
