You're thinking about this from the typical modern perspective, which draws a dichotomy between "spiritual" and "physical". There is no such distinction in the Aristotelian philosophy that the RCC hijacked. Instead, everything is divided into substances and accidents. Accidents are properties, and substances are the 'real things'. So in the Catholic conception, communion is not symbolic; it has the substance of Jesus, but the accidents of the cracker and wine. It is no longer a wafer; it just looks, tastes, feels, smells, etc. like one.PeZook wrote:The explanation itself does basically say it's symbolic: "The physical properties of the waffle don't change, it's the intangible, spiritual properties that change! It's both a wafer and Christ's flesh!"Bounty wrote:Symbolic to the outside observer. To the catholic, it's a miracle.
What can this mean other than symbolism? As far as I know, Catholics don't consider inanimate objects to have souls...
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