Bride of Christ

[7][8] Expanding on this, in The Harvard Ichthus, Jane Thomas explained that in a sense, all Christian women are brides of Christ:[6] Just as these Sisters are the brides of Christ, so too is every married woman (whether she sees it or not), for just as Jesus dwells in school children, so too does he dwell in the husband of a married woman.

Paul's instruction, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord" (Ep 5:22), is more than just a metaphor meant to illustrate a degree of submission.

[6]Bridal theology has influenced the works of, among others, Henry Suso, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Ávila, Gregory the Great and Bernard of Clairvaux.

The bridegroom is also mentioned in the Parable of the Ten Virgins: Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.The Book of Revelation repeatedly mentions the appearance of the Bride: And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [...]

And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the lamb's wife.

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from GodIn this passage, John, the author of the Revelation, speaks of seeing the bride revealed and refers to her as the New Jerusalem, first mentioned in Revelation 3:12.

"[21] It implies that the "Bride" is the body of believers that comprise the universal Christian ekklēsia (lit.

Just as husband and wife are to be "one flesh",[22] this analogy for the writer describes the relationship of Christ and ekklēsia.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

A notable promoter of that interpretation was Gertrude the Great, a highly influential Christian mystic of the 13th century.

It is known that, together with her friend and teacher Mechtilde, Gertrude practiced a spirituality called "nuptial mysticism", and came to see herself as the bride of Christ.

[33] The earliest Christian tradition identifies texts from the Hebrew Bible as symbolic of the divine love of God and people.

A similar concept existed in Valentinian Gnosticism with the notion of the Bridal Chamber, which involved a marriage to one's heavenly counterpart.