Consider the possibility that the church israther than ought to be the Body of Christ. What if paul was not speaking metaphorically but factually when he said to the Corinthians, “Now you are the Body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Colossians 12:18, 24; 2:9-10, and Ephesians 1:22 and 4:15-16.) John Calvin said in the Institutes 4.1.1 that God chose to entrust the Gospel of salvation to the church. If that is true, we have to ask the question of whether God had a means of salvation in mind that transcends the normal understanding of how to accomplish that. How might God accomplish the divine intention of salvation through a clearly flawed instituion?
Since we affirm that God approached humanity through the Word made flesh, is it possible to consider that God continues this revelation in Christ’s historical body made concrete in the church? Is there a way that we can experience the Word of God made flesh in the church?
