CHAPTER 11 / A Disability Reading of Paul’s ‘Body of Christ’ Metaphor Romans 12:3–8 and 1 Corinthians 12:12–31 Louise Gosbell Introduction In his letters to the churches in Rome and Corinth, the Apostle Paul outlines his expectations of the ekklesia as a place of unity and con- cord by using the metaphor of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:3–8; 1 Corinthians 12:12–31). 1 In both pericopes, Paul likens the members of the ecclesiastical community of Christ to members of the human body where all the various parts have particular functions and roles to play within the whole. Paul’s use of the body as a metaphor for a group of people is not unique. Troughout the Greco-Roman world, the image of a body was employed frequently to represent the mem- bers of a collective body, such as a social or political group. Te premise of the metaphor is that just as the human body requires all its diverse parts to work together for the greater good of the body, so too the body politic needs to work together with all the various members playing their part. Paul uses the image of the body in a similar way when call- ing on Christ-followers to strive for unity and for the well-being of the whole body. Tus, Paul’s adoption of the body metaphor is one of the 1 Rom. 12:5: ‘we are one body in Christ’ (σῶμά ἐσμεν ἐν Χριστῷ); 1 Cor. 12:27 ‘body of Christ’ (σῶμα Χριστοῦ). Extract from Peter G. Bolt & James R. Harrison (eds.), Romans and the Legacy of St Paul. Historical, Theological, & Social Perspectives (Occasional Series 1; Macquarie Park, NSW: SCD Press, 2019)