The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Presbyterian Church, Episcopal, Methodist, Southern Baptist, Anglican, etc. ARE human constructs - organizations built around interpretation of the Christian experience. Neither ONE is THE CHURCH. The Church of Jesus Christ is the spiritual building of which each member (those who have received Christ) are being built into and made a part of His body. Some of these visible organizations consist of more real believers than others, but they can certainly be found within them. What I reject, and which I believe was NEVER held by the Apostles and first Christians, is that any one local church was superior over another. It took HUNDREDS of years for Rome to assert her dominance, but it was not something Scripture says must happen. I think history proves it wasn't a great idea.
The Catholic Church consists of men and women, and so the notion of a purely spiritual body makes no sense. Men and women consist of body and soul and either without the other is incomplete. Which is why we hold to the doctrine of the Resurrection of the body: a soul without a body is not a human being.
>> “I think history proves it wasn’t a great idea.” <<
Understatement of the week!
As a card carrying member of a conservative Presbyterian denomination I agree 100%. We are not THE true church, but A true church where the Gospel is clearly preached every Sunday. We pray for our brothers and sisters in other true churches, matters not if Baptist, Independent, Lutheran, etc.