'The bride of Christ' and 'the cup of the Lord' are among many terms in the New Testament that are simply taken for granted or whose underlying symbolic or figurative meanings are not well understood. The reader can easily assume that a passage is understood without fully grasping the meaning of the terms used. The Author's profound study of the implications of a hundred terms in the New Testament offers a deeper understanding of what the Christian Church really is. This pioneering work allows the reader to uncover the true nature of the Church through the extensive gallery of images in the New Testament. The range of connotations communicated by a particular image is analysed against the historical background. Paul Minear shows that images can communicate more than language alone; they can also broaden the mind of an individual, forming a particular mode for perceiving and understanding a given reality. The minor images of the church in the New Testament are investigated through to the people of God and the body of Christ. The final chapter assesses the interrelations of the images analysed and the inferences to be drawn from their interweaving. Paul S. Minear is Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology at Yale University. 'A book that deserves to be reprinted - and read' From the Preface by Leander E. Keck

A key text in the study of Paul's Epistle to the Romans.