Mr. Salza, a Methodist told me that when Christ said He will destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, the rebuilding of the temple was symbolic for His Church, which is none other than Christ Himself. Therefore, the Catholic Church cannot possibly be the true Church because the Church is just a symbol. I am sure you have a response to this, don’t you?
J. Salza: The Temple Christ was referring to was His body (the Church was not destroyed and then raised up in three days, right?) So your Protestant friend’s argument really makes no sense. Saint Paul also talks about Christ’s body as the Temple, and, as those baptized in Christ, are bodies are also temples of the Holy Spirit.
The Church is not a symbol. It is the visible body of Christ, the living and breathing reality of Christ’s presence among us. Remember also that Christ gave Peter and the apostles the authority to “bind and loose in heaven what they bound and loosed on earth” (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). Binding and loosing are visible acts, not symbolic ones. Jesus said a city set on a hill cannot be hidden, and this is the Church on earth.