Thanks Sopater.
Posted on 08/01/2013 9:26:53 AM PDT by Sopater
Archeologists conducting excavations at the site of a church in Turkey have unearthed a stone chest containing a relic that may be part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
The items were discovered during a large-scale excavation at the Balatlar Church, which was built in A.D. 660 near the Black Sea, Today's Zaman reported.
Professor Gülgün Köroğlu, an associate professor at Turkey's Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and excavation leader, told the newspaper the artifacts are linked to Jesus' crucifixion.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I have a hammer that came over on the Mayflower. The head's been replaced twice and and handle three times...
It's a very human reaction to take keepsakes of a loved one who has died. It's certainly humanly reasonable that Christ's disciples and hidden followers might have sought slivers of the cross. He wasn't just a loved one to them - He was God almighty and His Cross was covered with the blood of the literal Son of God.
Many modern people do not believe this; be that as it may - Christ's followers certainly did.
Some of them had drunk his blood on the Thursday evening. Also: they were steeped in the Mosaic tradition of the passover, the blood of the lamb on the lintel, etc.
As for opportunity - hmm, here's a thought that just came to me.
Longinus is the name traditionally given to the Roman Centurion who said of the dead Christ 'this was a/the Son of God'.
He may have been the man who pierced Christ with a spear. He may have presided over the crucifixion party; he may even have hammered the nails in himself - we just don't know.
We do know one thing for sure. He spoke of the dead Christ with awed respect.
It seems likely that Longinus himself - a centurion - was in direct custody of the Cross after the crucifixion. Maybe he himself took slivers from the cross - or even spirited away the entire thing for safe keeping.
Hope this was helpful. I have to go home now, so God bless and good night.
Since you seem incapable of recognizing hyperbole when it is used, I do not know how to help you. The literalness with shich you live your life must make most things very difficult.
-— Wearing a reminder of what Jesus went through is not an act of worship. It is a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice. This does not constitute worship. it helps a person stay recollected because there are many distractions in modern life. ——
Well said.
For me, I do not need a “piece of the true cross” to make my faith in Jesus and His gift of salvation to us that He paid for with His life on the cross. As a historian, I doubt that there is a way to determine if any piece of wood actually came from the cross. I will not scoff at tradition either. Marantha.
And so it continues
The True Cross scammers are resurrected and duping the true believers as they have for hundreds of years
IIRC, he compared it to a scoped sniper rifle decoration for JFK worshippers.
I just read about a Norman king who pulled a rusty spear out of a heap and said it was the spear that pierced Christ’s side on the cross. It helped him motivate his troops to save Antioch. Crusaders!
Hellion, my daddy told me the H was for Hellion.
I wonder if they used the same cross over and over again? I’m guessing they “would” - seeing as wood of that size might be a rarity in that area? Perhaps it was months or years later that they thought to take some pieces bit by bit?
Of course then one probably couldn’t be assured that it was THE cross.
actually, there are not that many authenticated relics of the true cross...
True, fraud was widespread in the middle ages, but that’s why the church started authenticating stuff.
The cross and titular were buried and later unearthed by the Emperor Constantine's wife, Helena, around 325 AD. You can follow the story, here. True Cross.
“...big deal to us, was it really big enough for people to chop up for relics...?”
Yes it was a very big deal to have something tangible after the resurrection. It was a major event. People of those times didn’t have our picture taking abilities to preserve the event so they used real objects/ relics.
Thank you so very much. Our FR community is truly an exceptional place as evidenced by your knowledgeable response.
The comedian was talking about what Jesus might think, not about what 'they', or us, would think.
IIRC, Jesus wasn't very happy with the whole 'nail me to a cross' thing. Says so in the Bible.
Imagine coming back from the spiritual world to human form (again) and finding that mankind wears and worships the token symbol of the most painful moment of your previous 'carnation'. Then, imagine Jesus walking into a church and finding a 'representation' of his actual body nailed to a life size cross, with a crown of thorns and stab wounds on it.
To an outsider, Christianity might appear to be a very 'sadistic' worshiping religion.
Oh.... you mean like an Obama speech ?
You are so right! In fact I have seen Mormons say that very thing on FreeRepublic no less.
I know exactly what you are saying. Perhaps 'worship' was the wrong word.
What I was referring to was use of the cross, as if the symbol itself had some kind of 'power', such as in exorcisms.
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