Fathers

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What the Fathers say

1 Corinthians 12:19

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"And if they were all one member, where were the body?" "But now are they many members, but one body." Thus having silenced them sufficiently by God's own arrangement, again he states reasons. And he neither doth this always nor that, but alternates and varies his discourse. …

Homily on 1 Corinthians 30 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Note the wisdom: he shuts their mouths by the very thing that seemed to produce faintheartedness, that is, by the fact that the gifts are diverse and unequal in honor. For if there were not diverse members, there would not be one body; and if there were not one body, there would not be equal honor. But as it is, all have equal honor, precisely because all are united into one body. …

Commentary on 1 Corinthians ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, If all were a single organ, he comes to another awkward conclusion, which is a lack of bodily completeness. Hence, he first posits this awkwardness, saying: if all were a single organ, where would the body be? i.e., where would the completeness of the body be? As if to say: It would not be. Thus, if all the Church were of one state and grade, it would destroy the perfection and beauty of the Church, which is described in Ps 45 (v. 14): as "adorned with many-colored robes."

Commentary on 1 Corinthians ↗