Soma - Preliminaries

One of my favorite quotes is from the movie "Luther" (2003). Luther (Fiennes) is in hiding after his trial at Augsburg, and decides to bide the time by translating the New Testament into German. He is pondering over a text, and muses aloud: "The words of Scripture are like children... the more attention you give them, the more they demand."

A servant working nearby corrects him: "More like women."

I have started a study on the Greek word σωμα ("soma") as it is used in the book of Ephesians. The literal and most common translation is "body". The word is of particular significance in Ephesians because Paul uses σωμα as part of an extensively developed metaphor for the church (εκκλησια). The church is described as not simply a loose connection of believers, or an institution, or a movement, but the very body of Christ, with a special relationship to him, and a special place in the Divine Plan.

Paul seems to draw out multiple connotations of the word, in order to illustrate various aspects of the church and its relationship to Christ. Three emphases in particular have stood out to me. For one, Paul utilizes heavily the direct and obviously physical imagery of the word, especially to illustrate the functioning of the church:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (του σωματος του χριστου) . . . . We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, 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. (Eph. 4.11-12, 15-16, ESV)

Another strong emphasis is the relationship between Christ and the church, with Christ as the head (κεφαλη) and the church as the body. It is a relationship, respectively, of love and reverence, of leadership and submission, as in this passage:

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. . . .For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. (μελη εσμεν του σωματος αυτου, Eph. 5.23-25, 29-31)

And a third emphasis is this concept of the church being many, and yet one. That is, the church is composed of many individuals, and yet is one unique entity in the sight (and plan) of God:

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body (actually συσσωμα) and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Eph. 3.4-6)