Religious Education
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27
Newsletter
Welcome back Parents
This year’s Scripture focus is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27
On Friday, the staff reflected upon this scripture quote by participating in a hermeneutical process. As mentioned in previous newsletters - hermeneutics is the “art of interpretation.” This process provides the opportunity to think about the words of the scripture and its’ meaning in our world today.
Over the next few weeks, the students will also take part in this hermeneutical process to explore the meaning of the scripture quote in their classrooms. Perhaps your family would also like to take the time to use this hermeneutical process over the next few weeks. I have included the process below:
Hermeneutical Process for 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Staff listened to the scripture passage 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27 as someone reads it to them
Distribute a copy to everyone and someone reads it again for everyone to follow along. Choose a word, a phrase or a sentence. Share with each other.
Read the commentary (Harpers Study Bible Commentary- found below)
How does the speak to you after reading the commentary? Listen to the reading one more time – think about how the text talks to you?
Complete the following sentence- “This text talks to me of a world in which…
Watch the following clip of St Teresa of Avila who shares her interpretation of the scripture.
https://resource-macs.com/2018/10/03/the-prayer-of-st-teresa/
Share your interpretations- your sentences- with each other.
Did you engage in any of the following hermeneutical processes when exploring the scripture focus?
- Express meaning in more than one way
- Engage with the mystery of God
- Open to change and reinterpretation
- Dialogue with others
- See new layers of meaning
What did you discover?
Harpers Study Bible-
A Commentary of 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Paul now introduces and elaborates his metaphor of the body as Christ’s body. Like certain other ancient writers, Paul regards the human body as illustrating the point that unity and diversity are not incompatible. Applying this to the church, conceived as Christ’s body, he alludes to an early Christian affirmation about the meaning of baptism into Christ - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, which is also mentioned in Galatians and Colossians
Made to drink of one Spirit may suggest that new believers become suffused with the Spirit at their baptism. Paul stresses the diversity, thus interdependence, of the body’s members. The body’s diversity in unity is God’s own doing. The members…that seem to be weaker probably an allusion to the vulnerable but vital internal organs of a human body, thus by analogy the most vulnerable yet vital members of a Christian congregation. 12:23 Less honourable…less respectful members, the genitals, which in many cultures are covered to avoid shame (see Gen 3:7-10); by analogy the members of lower standing in society, who are nonetheless important to the congregation 12:24 More respectable members, the parts of the body left uncovered; by analogy the congregational members of higher standing in society. The inferior member, perhaps better, “the needy member,” which would include the weaker, the less honourable, and the less respectable. 12:26 Paul’s conception of Christian community as sharing in the sufferings and joys of others departs from the ancient Greek and Roman ideal of dispassionate, self-sufficiency. This description of the Corinthian Church as the body of Christ makes explicit what seems implicit in verse 12.
Take Care and have a good week
Bernadette Reed
(Religious Education Leader)