Raymond E. Brown, The Churches the Apostles Left Behind.
Chapter 3: The Pauline Heritage in Colossians/Ephesians: Christ's Body to Be Loved, p. 47-60

(Detailed summary)

The Epistle to the Colossians was probably composed in the decade following Paul's death, making it closer to him in time than any of the other Deutero-Pauline epistles. It displays so many characteristics of authentic Pauline thought (but not Pauline style) that even some biblical scholars believe that Paul composed it, at least through a secretary. It is not known to what extent the author of the Epistle to the Colossians was familiar with earlier Pauline writings (beyond the Epistle to Philemon), but the author of the Epistle to the Ephesians was familiar with most of them. In any case, the question that interests us is: given that the apostolic figure has disappeared (or is disappearing) from the scene, how do these writings enable the communities to which they are addressed to survive?

1. The proposed solution: a mystical vision of the Church
   1. Similarities and differences with the pastoral epistles

      Just as 1 Timothy 3:15 speaks of “the house of God, which is the church of the living God,” so Ephesians 2:19 speaks of “the family of God” that has been integrated into “the building that has the apostles and prophets as its foundation, and Jesus Christ himself as its cornerstone.” Similarly, ethical behavior is expected of members of the Christian household.

      However, unlike the author of the pastoral epistles, the authors of Colossians and Ephesians do not emphasize apostolic succession or the institutional aspects of the Church. We hear nothing significant about the functioning of “pastors and teachers.” This silence cannot be explained by a different situation. Even though Col 2:8-23 and Eph 4:14 mention false teachers, the emphasis is on a positive and idealistic vision of the Church.

   2. A comprehensive and absolute vision of the Church

      In Paul's undisputed letters, we see him frequently using the term “church,” but most often in reference to local communities, for example, “the church of God in Corinth,” “the churches of Galatia,” “in every church.” But in Colossians/Ephesians, the absolute and global term “the Church” comes to the fore. Note that this global vision of the Church is more than the sum of individual churches. Indeed, it seems to be more than an earthly reality, for it affects the heavenly powers.

   3. Body image

      Paul had made imaginative use of the “body” of Christ in his undisputed correspondence, particularly to overcome jealousy over charisms in Corinth. He spoke of the resurrected body of Christ, of which every Christian is a member (1 Cor 12:21-31). The author of the Epistle to the Colossians, followed by the author of the Epistle to the Ephesians, adopts Paul's image of the body and develops it in a new way to emphasize the Church. "In his body of flesh, through his death, Christ reconciled those who were far away (Col 1:21), and they were called to form one body (3:15). This body is now identified as the Church, and Christ is its head (Col 1:18, 24; Eph 1:22-23; 5:23). Thus, we have a collective understanding of Christian life with Christ as Lord of this body (Eph 4:4-5).

   4. A dynamic vision of the Church as a body

      For the Colossians/Ephesians, the Church is a growing entity that lives the very life of Christ. While there are different ministries, they exist “for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain [...] the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:12-13). “We must grow in every way toward him who is the head, that is, toward Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, ... grows and builds itself up in love” (Eph 4:15-16).

   5. A Church born in love

      According to Ephesians 5:32 and the above, God's mystery or hidden plan involves Christ's love for the Church. Thus, “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25); in other words, the purpose of Christ's life and death became the Church. Therefore, the love between husband and wife should be modeled on Christ's intense love for the Church (Eph 5:21-33).

   6. A Holy Church

      Christ died to sanctify the Church and purify her so that she might be presented as “a radiant bride, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:27). The two become one (Eph 5:31-32) so that the holiness of Christ may be seen in the Church, his body, which is built up in love (Eph 4:16).

   7. The Church is a form of kingdom

      The Colossians liken the Church to a form of kingdom: the Father “has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14). Thus, the Church without darkness, of which Christians are members, is the kingdom of the Son of God in which “they share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col 1:12). This is possible because, in the context of realized eschatology, Christians are told: “You have been raised with Christ through faith” (Col 2:12). Another passage (Col 3:1-3) indicates that heavenly glory is still to come; but Eph 2:6 considers even this aspect to be partially realized: God “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

   8. The Church includes angels

      For Christ has reconciled all things on earth and in heaven (Col 1:20; Eph 1:10), and the powers and principalities are subject to him who is the head of the Church. Thus, in a certain sense, the angelic and superhuman powers that recognize Christ can be considered part of the Church as the body of Christ. Therefore, the body and the head extend from earth to heaven. It is not surprising, then, that the Church has an almost divine character, as shown in the doxology of Eph 3:21: “To him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

2. The strengths and weaknesses of this solution
   1. The love of an institution that ensures its survival?

      The image of the body of Christ personalizes the Church and encourages our love for her, in imitation of Christ's love for his bride. The advice given in the pastoral epistles should enable effective and benevolent administration. But ultimately, people do not love a structure or an institution for its own sake. And the institution or structure is inevitably influenced by secular models and constitutes that aspect of the Church that is not easily perceived as having a connection with Christ or God. Before Vatican II, it was often referred to as the “Mother Church” and sometimes had a patronizing attitude. Despite all its faults, the “Mother Church” was both personal and familial; and even when a mother exaggerates her role, she can still be loved by her children.

      An implication of a personal Church conceived as the body loved by Christ is found in a statement attributed to Paul: "I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for his body, which is the Church" (Col 1:24). This attitude stems from the principle that Christ ”gave himself up for her" (Eph 5:25). If Christ was willing to give himself for the Church, his apostle must also be willing to give himself for the Church. And once the apostle has left the scene, if there are still others willing to give themselves for the Church, she will survive. Thus, if the Church is loved in a personalized relationship, she becomes a cause that attracts generosity from generation to generation, as the history of cathedrals testifies.

   2. A Holy Church?
      1. The value of this notion

         Inevitably, members of the Church sin; even during Paul's lifetime, marital disputes, incest, and the desecration of the Eucharist tarnished the Church of Corinth. It is no coincidence that the New Testament's directives to presbyters explicitly or implicitly warn against greed and arrogant domination (1 Peter 5:2-3; Acts 20:32-35). Scandals related to sin jeopardize the survival of the Church. Yet the author of the letter to the Ephesians, who knew of scandals that had taken place in the churches founded by Paul, could nevertheless describe the Church as a spotless, holy, and unblemished bride. His appreciation of the Church was not naive romanticism, but a mystical vision. Those who follow his example will be able to recognize sins while relativizing them through their love for the Church. Institutional scandals and stupidities, even at the highest administrative levels, will not prevent people with this vision from accomplishing “what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Col 1:24). As long as people have this faith, the Church will endure.

      2. The weakness of this notion
         1. Paradoxically, the emphasis on the holiness of the Church can be a weakness if it begins to mask existing flaws. Sometimes, an ecclesiology of holiness has led Christians to hide sins or stupidities, especially those of public figures in the Church, on the grounds that their disclosure would cause scandal. Yet oppression, venality, and dishonesty undermine the internal vitality of the Church; they must be denounced and combated. Silence can prolong the harm done to Christians who suffer from these sins. Moreover, when repression lasts for a long time, Christians do not learn to deal maturely with the tension surrounding a spotless Church filled with sinners. Thus, a Church whose holiness must be perceived in faith, but whose flaws are physically visible, embodies the mystery of the divine in the human. An exclusive focus on holiness can become a vehicle for Gnosticism rather than the gospel.

         2. A second weakness of this ecclesiology concerns the possibility of reform. It is difficult to imagine reforming a spotless bride. If the members of a body are united in growth that comes from God and are built up in love, is there room for defective and cancerous growths, for disease, and for corrective surgery? The triumphalism inherent in the epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians leaves little room for failure. It is not surprising that Vatican II, a council of self-reform, preferred the biblical image of the “people of God” rather than speaking of the “body of Christ.” The impressive holiness of the body of Christ, which is the spotless bride, did not lend itself to self-reform. Indeed, Catholic resistance to the reforms of Vatican II was often based on the thesis that such changes implied some previous error or fault on the part of the Church. Thus, perhaps without taking into account the dynamism of change, the council facilitated reform by turning to the image of the people of God, a people unique because they are of God, but who may nevertheless be composed of sinners, a pilgrim people on their way to the promised land, sometimes wandering and needing to be brought back to the right path. This image was necessary, alongside that of the body of Christ, to express the tension that exists in ecclesiology between holiness and the constant need for reform.

   3. The Church and Local Churches

      A third weakness is that the emphasis on the Church in these epistles weakens the role of local churches in ecclesiology. Rather than speaking of a local church, we tend to speak of a parish or a diocese, and to apply the term “Church” without qualification to the universal entity, symbolized by “Rome.” Yet, in a very real sense, the Church finds its center when the community of believers celebrates a liturgy in which the word of God is preached and the Eucharist is received. Without losing sight of the concept of the Church, those who have been formed by the epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians must work with the holiness of the local community.

   4. The Church as the ultimate goal of God's plan of salvation in Christ?

      The fourth weakness is to focus exclusively on the Church as the ultimate goal of God's plan of salvation in Christ, failing to explicitly take into account a large part of the world that has not yet been renewed in Christ. Indeed, no real consideration is given to the many inhabitants of this world who are neither believers nor hostile. It is true that the inability to deal with a “third world” that is neither light nor darkness is common in the New Testament; it is simply more apparent in the ecclesiology of the epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians.

   In conclusion, however, we must reaffirm the extraordinary power of the ecclesiology of Colossians/Ephesians with its elements of holiness and love. No church can survive without giving it the importance it deserves. Within Roman Catholicism, while we can expect another decade of dominance of the image of the people of God, the motif of the body of Christ should reappear. After all, Israel was the people of God. What distinguishes the Christian Church is its relationship with Christ and the particular holiness that flows from that relationship.