Posted on 11/24/2006 2:49:16 PM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
(Nov. 23) -- Hardly an hour goes by without Thomas Serafin or one of his cyber-sleuths checking what eBay has to offer.
They're not hunting for bargains and never place a bid. Their interest is bone shards, bits of wizened flesh and a contemporary twist on the sacred and the profane: How the ancient trade in the most coveted religious relics has moved into the global flea market of online bidding.
"You can find bone fragments supposedly from St. Augustine being hawked on the Internet along with trinkets and antiques. There is something very wrong here," said Serafin, a professional photographer and Catholic activist based in Los Angeles, who has led an expanding campaign since the late 1990s to block the online sale of objects purported to contain the remains of Christian saints.
Last month, Serafin's group, the International Crusade for Holy Relics, opened a new front that's truly worthy of a David and Goliath metaphor: a call to boycott eBay.
It seeks to pressure the world's largest online auction site to close alleged loopholes used to bypass its ban on allowing bids for human remains.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.news.aol.com ...
It means that relics are unnecessary.
-A8
Cars, clothes, phones etc???? What are you talking about? I mean relics are not necessary to have a relationship with God. Relics are not necessary if you want to pray to Jesus, he will hear you whether you have a relic or not.
If there is anything I am certain about, it is that Jesus Christ is who He said He was. Moreover, I know I am forgiven and I am saved from hell because of Him.
The bible warns against false teaching (i.e. the bones of dead people are "holy"). To point out false teaching is biblical.
Here is what Paul said:
"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron...If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed" (1 Timothy 4:1-2,6).
Peter warned of false teachings (see 2 Peter 2:1-3).
You tried to admonish me, yet the scripture supports my saying that worshiping bones is not biblical, and we should not be afraid to say it is so.
If you would like further proof that the bible tells us to refute false teachings, here are some other scriptural references:
Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:10; Mark 22:23; Acts 20:25-31; Romans 16:17-18; Galatians 1:6-9; Colossians 2:8,18-19;
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 1:18-20; 1 Timothy 4:1-8,16; 1 Timothy 5:3-10;
1 Timothy 6:20-21; 2 Timothy 2:14-18; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Titus 1:9-16;
2 Peter 2:1-22; 2 Peter 3:14-18; 1 John 1:18-27; 1 John 4:1-6; 2 John 7-11; Jude 3-19
-A8
Ive got a sixpack of Holy Beer I want to sell
maybe we can get a device from e-bay (or sharper image) that would measure the holiness that is attached to or is inside of various objects.
you could point it at the object, in the way they use geiger counters, and it would give a reading.
the ad on e-bay would list the reading (verified by an independent examiner), so that no one would get ripped off.
i think this would solve the whole problem, and end the debate.
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