Peters shadow and peters hankie were NOT RELICS...
Please show me where the apostles used the bones of dead men to heal anyone..
On Elisha, indeed a dead man was revived when he was physically placed in the presence of the dead prophet .....The bible does not tell us that it was the power of the dead prophets bones.. or anything within the bones themselves .. Just as God had honored the prophet Elijah by taking Him away in the sight of men .. He honored Elisha by causing this miracle to honor this prophet
This is the only recorded miracle caused by a dead mans bones ..there is no record that these bones were then taken up, no other miracles are recorded by these bones,, they were not put on the altar, or knelt before, or kissed or placed in a special display box..
..We have been warned... Mat 12:39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
"The first Christians left the bodies of the saints in their graves, obeying the universal sentence, that all flesh is dust, and TO DUST IT MUST RETURN, and did not attempt their resurrection before the appointed time by raising them in pomp and state. This example has not been followed by their successors; on the contrary, the bodies of the faithful, in opposition to the command of God, have been disinterred in order to be glorified, when they ought to have remained in their places of repose awaiting the last judgment." CALVIN
Clothing and handkerchiefs are second-class relics. I gave you the scripture on relics, but you are unshakably bound to your non-biblical traditions. You prefer the testimony of Calvin over St. Ambrose and St. Augustine.
52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
54Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
The bible does not tell us that it was the power of the dead prophets bones.. or anything within the bones themselves .. Just as God had honored the prophet Elijah by taking Him away in the sight of men .. He honored Elisha by causing this miracle to honor this prophet
>>Bingo. What you say here is precisely what Catholics and Orthodox believe about the relics of the saints, which is why we venerate them. God uses physical objects as means of his grace.
The Evangelical Protestant God is out there somewhere. It’s not too difficult to see how Calvinism in New England degenerated into Unitarianism and Deism within 150 years of the pilgrims landing on Plymouth rock.