In three striking movements these verses introduce (vv. 12–13), develop (vv. 14–26), and apply (vv. 27–31) Paul’s best-known ecclesiastical metaphor: the body of Christ. Scholars debate the exact background from which Paul may have drawn inspiration for developing this memorable image for the church. Paul is likely to have encountered the thinking of Stoic philosophers, some of whom spoke of the cosmos in its unity as a body, and Jewish wisdom thinking, which often reflected upon the idea of corporate personality among a whole people. Nonetheless, Paul’s thinking has unique elements, and his use of the image of body is extraordinary. One should notice that Paul uses this metaphor both of the local church and of the church universal (see Rom. 12). Furthermore, in the philosophical view of a…