Body of Christ

In Christian theology, the term Body of Christ (Latin: Corpus Christi) has two main but separate meanings: it may refer to Jesus Christ's 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).

As used by Paul in the Pauline epistles "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.

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.

In Catholic theology the use of the phrase "mystical body" distinguishes the mystical body of Christ, i.e. the Church, from the physical body of Christ, and from a "moral body" such as any club with a common purpose.^[1][2] In Eastern Orthodoxy, the term "mystical body of Christ" is also applied to the Eastern Orthodox Church in the sense that "mystical union with Christ is a reality in his Church".^[3][4]