Posted on 02/06/2013 4:11:39 AM PST by NYer
You thought there couldnt be a law and religion angle to todays news—fascinating for us history nerds—that archaeologists have discovered the mortal remains of Richard III beneath a parking lot in Leicester? Think again. Plans are underway to re-inter the bones in the citys Anglican Cathedral. Not so fast, say some: the hunchback king wasnt a Protestant, but a Catholic, and he requires a Catholic burial. In fact, as Shakespeare fans know, Richard died at Bosworth Field (A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!), defending his throne from Henry Tudor. Henry went on to reign as Henry VII; his son, Henry VIII, broke with Rome. As The Tablets blog argued this morning, Had Richard prevailed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, there would have been no Henry VII, therefore no Henry VIII and no Reformation. England today might still be a Catholic country. Think of it: no Reformation, no Established Church, no Archbishop Laud, no Puritans, no Great Migration no Massachusetts! and no Establishment Clause. Surely theres a law review article in there somewhere.
Leicester Cathedral seems to know its facing a sensitive situation. A Catholic priest is keeping watch over Richards remains (as is an Anglican, I believe), and the cathedral is planning a multifaith burial ceremony. Personally, Im not sure why English Catholics are so keen to claim Richard, anyway. They must be forgetting the nephews in the Tower.
A gentle correction is in order.
A Christian funeral is done not only to say “goodbye” the the believer, bring confort to those who are left behind, and also to celibrate the life of that person.
You miss the whole point of the Gospel passage, which has nothing to do with funerals and everything to do with putting a priority on following Jesus.
I must not have expressed it clearly enough, because that is exactly what I was trying to say.
And check out Dick’s skeleton. You will notice the meat has rottted and been eaten by worms. Jesus’ body would have been rotting meat had he not been who he said he was. There will be a resurrection, of course, but if you check any grave anywhere on the planet where the burial is not fresh, you will find either rotting meat or no meat.
At the resurrection we will all be given a body. One will be given one long enough to go to everlasting destruction/death, the other to eternal life with the Lord. But earthly graves contain decomposing “tents”. All of them.
It is important to remember that you do not occupy the same body you did approximately seven years ago. Not one cell is left. Likewise with dead bodies. The Lord can reconstruct your body at the resurrection, if we even want to go there. It’s not the point.
As you say, the point is putting a priority on following Jesus. It is what I was attempting to say but must not have said it very well.
A Christian funeral is done not only to say goodbye the the believer, bring confort to those who are left behind, and also to celibrate the life of that person.
Plus even in death, a Christian’s body was were the Holy Spirit lived in.
A Christian funeral is done not only to say goodbye the the believer, bring confort to those who are left behind, and also to celibrate the life of that person.
And to put that in the context of Jesus’ comment, imagine Jesus was walking the earth right now and he walked up to you and said the exact same thing as in the scripture preceding the one I posted, and you said the same thing. How would you interpret the posted scripture?
Yeah, me too. I’d forget about the funeral and follow him. It’s a priority thing.
That is one of my favorite tools I use to interpret scripture. After all, it is supposed to speak to me personally, so when possible I personalize it.
Drat. I’ll have to listen to the whole 12-hour set of “War of the Roses” lectures again, because I’ve forgotten, like, *everything,* and it’s only been a couple of months!
But as one previous poster has said, burying the dead IS a corporal work of mercy.
You said:
“ but if you check any grave anywhere on the planet where the burial is not fresh, you will find either rotting meat or no meat.”
Obviously you have not heard of the “Incorruptibles”.
Your loss.
Lurking’
Plus even in death, a Christians body was were the Holy Spirit lived in.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120916145733AATEMDq
The “incorruptibles” is proof of the grace of God.
If a dead human body is just rotting meat, it doesn't matter who its "owner" was, or who he claimed to be, etc. Unless perhaps you think that Jesus' body was something other than human. Going down that path will quickly lead you to the heresy of Docetism (Jesus was truly divine, but his humanity was more-or-less an illusion).
Romans 8: the redemption (Paul says "redemption", not "replacement") of our bodies. What are you going to do with it?
Plenty of Catholic saints' bodies are incorrupt, BTW.
That is why proper respect is given when it comes to Christian buriel for the very reason I have stated.
Obviously you have not heard of the Incorruptibles.
;-)
If a dead human body is just rotting meat, it doesn’t matter who its “owner” was, or who he claimed to be, etc.
True. Unless, of course, it was Jesus - or Laserus.
BTW, I believe all believers are “the saints”.
I do believe there is even a book on such a subject.
Plenty of Catholic saints’ bodies are incorrupt, BTW.
Naw. Some are just “less” corrupt. They would not look too good if they were re-animated.
Wrong, horribly wrong. A human person is a body-soul duality, not a ghost temporarily inhabiting a sack of meat. This is exactly what I mean when I say your anthropology is not Christian.
As someone said, it is said you have a soul. You ARE a soul. You have a body.
"Someone" may have said that, but it's not in the Bible. Nor is it even correctly attributed to C.S. Lewis. I'd say "someone" got it wrong.
Horribly complicated war! But in the end it’s just two families slaughtering each other to get the crown (or really, the lands that come with it).
Richard III is my 33rd great grandfather. It’s only bones.
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