Posted on 01/26/2010 6:24:55 PM PST by SunkenCiv
The bottle containing the bones first surfaced at a pharmacy in 1867. Its label read: "Remains found under the pyre of Joan of Arc, maiden of Orleans." Different techniques, including DNA analysis, several forms of microscopy, chemical analysis and carbon dating, were used to examine the bottle's contents. A few years ago, Philippe Charlier, a forensic scientist at Raymond Poincare Hospital in Garches, France, and his team first determined that the bottle contained an approximately 4-inch-long human rib covered with a black coating. It also housed part of a cat femur covered with the same coating, three fragments of "charcoal" and "a brownish textile scrap" about the same length as the rib. Charlier said some historians then speculated that a cat, perhaps symbolizing the devil, was thrown onto Joan of Arc's funeral pyre. Carbon dating, however, found that the objects predate the French heroine's lifetime by many centuries. The "textile scrap" is likely a mummy wrapping, since "the chemical composition of the coatings was comparable with that of embalming products, such as those used by the old Egyptians," the researchers concluded. The dark coating contained a mix of bitumen, wood resins, gypsum and other chemicals. Pine pollen was also identified, probably from pine resin, commonly used during Egyptian embalming. The researchers believe the remains were first stored as "mummia," which were parts of Egyptian mummies used in medieval pharmaceuticals. Medieval medicine, for example, may call for a compress made of a mummy bit and the juice of an herb (Bursa pastoris) to stop nosebleeds.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
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But accurate!
Relics have the same worth as idols.
But, to each his own...
It’s not a fetish and it’s quite understandable: the bones of Elisha and the handkerchiefs of St. Paul and all that.
But the standpoint of historical claims, one must be very careful. They were easy to fake and lucrative enough for a dishonest person.
Acts 19:22...was that idolatry?
The theology of relics is often poorly understood. Of course the things have no supernatural power in themselves, but if the good Lord wishes to *give* them such a power, who are you or I to object?
In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that even a fake relic devoid of any historical value can be a conduit for grace if used piously.
LOL!
:’)
heh...
“Relics have the same worth as idols.”
You have to be reading the entire Bible to know why that is not the case.
Abridged versions (intentionally?) leave that part out.
“How would you like your stake?”
So, nobody is going to mention that few academics could be trusted to conduct such tests properly and report the results honestly?
Is it just me or does it feel hot in here?
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