Paul goes beyond the physical temple of Jerusalem, as the Lord did, and teaches the Corinthians that they (through Baptism, sacraments, faith, and everything given in the New Testament) are a living temple of God. His words were not weird from the Old Testament, but were built on it through our Lord Jesus Christ (See for example Ezekiel 37: 27 and Jeremiah 25: 11).
“I will dwell in them and walk among them”; this phrase refers to the exodus from Egypt under Moses’ leadership. However, the true leader is God that made his people cross the wilderness of Sinai into the land of Canaanites (Palestine). This phrase is also in the future tense; but, God’s true dwelling in us and walking among us is not a transition from a place to another but from a state of sin slavery into another of salvation through Jesus Christ.
What did he mean by his old saying to the Hebrews: “Come out from among them”? Come out to where? This doesn’t mean, of course, to build a political kingdom by putting all foreigners out; this is practically impossible. It meant to leave their actions, and to build a faithful community which is the church that is spread all over the world as it was meant to do through the Lord’s saying: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”. You shall be special through your love for people in the church and outside it. I said the word “special” because love is the only basis of Christian ethics. You are in a constant state of renewal.
The question here is the following: If the Savior said clearly that we are a living temple of God, then why do we still build temples? Historically, Christianity did not know any temples in the first two centuries because the faithful used to gather in one place of a village or in an alley of the city and have liturgy there. The first built church was in Tyr. The idea of consecration of churches also came late. The sacredness of the church comes from the Holy Book, which, when read in the church, makes the place a platform for God’s word. This is why Preaching becomes necessary in order to explain the word of God or deliver it to the faithful. Sacredness also comes from the Holy Liturgy and all the sacraments.
The reality of our churches is that they are huge halls that people had to build in order to be together. Being together means to gather on the day of resurrection, Sunday, and this is our purpose to become “Resurrectionists”.
After that, reality showed that every large street needs a church, as it is impossible for all the faithful to gather in the Cathedral. However, sometimes churches are not made due to this need but because of the piety of a rich person who wants to build a church and give it the name of his Patron saint. This is well known in our Archdiocese.
Our churches and their beauty should not make us forget that we, people, are the church of Christ before anything. Before the end of the Soviet Union, in 1920’s, the number of churches decreased to four and then became ten in the time of Khrushchev; however, Orthodox people were still there. Who of us really cares about being a living member in the body of Christ, carrying the Bible in his mind and heart and speaking about it? If we were not together and moving together through the Word, then we would only have physical stone temples and not Churches.
Translated by Mark Najjar
Original Text: “المؤمن هيكل الله” – 06.02.11
