Ping
1) Where did Jesus give instructions that the Christian faith should be based exclusively on a book?
2) Where did Jesus tell His apostles to write anything down and compile it into an authoritative book?
3) Where in the New Testament do the apostles tell future generations that the Christian faith will be based solely on a book?
4) Where in the Bible do we find an inspired and infallible list of books that should belong in the Bible?
The best evidence concerning the “Shroud of Turin” is that it dates to the medieval period and is probably an artifact of human artistry. In David Farley’s words, “a medieval fake.”
Well I’d sure like to know HOW it was faked. So far no one has been able to answer that.
Of course, the special status of this relic was the fact that, according to the claim, this skin was the only remnant of Christ’s body on earth.
Does it, like, glow? Or is it just a leathery scrap, having not passed through death to a triumphant resurrection life? What are the implications of this for uncircumcised males?
Consider the attention given in recent days to the claim that remnants of Noah’s ark had been found on Mount Ararat in Turkey. A team from “Noah’s Ark Ministries International,” based in Hong Kong, claimed that wood found on the mountain came from Noah’s ark — with a certainty of “99.9 percent.”
As long as I can remember there have been people claiming to have come back from Ararat with bits of the ark.
“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ “
It is sad that some people think straw men like these are accurate.
Dishonest Christians like this author give Christianity a bad name.
Obama is in a bit of a confrontation with members of the Catholic Church right now. So, I have a question here for the anti-Catholics (they should know who they are) that may give some insight into how the they view the situation.
Who do you dislike more: Obama or the current pope?
Knowing the antics of the anti-Catholics on this site, we can’t count on honest answers. Nevertheless, the replies should be edifying.
If your premise were correct there would not be so many different “bible-based” denominations.
No amount of contrived accusation can change that.
Where did you post this from?
As of now, it’s unattributed.
Source?
It does seem to be part of fallen human nature to worship the creation rather than the Creator. Evidently preserving some fragment of the Ark was not important to faith, indeed like Moses’ body.
The LORD is extremely gracious and may well have left evidence of His resurrection knowing that believing in Him in such a materialistic and wicked world would not be easy. While He was here He not only taught by word but also did many miracles and signs. People who refused to believe refused no matter how many miracles He did, but those that would believe had their faith strengthened by seeing all of the miracles He did. People back then were helped to believe by seeing evidence as well as hearing His words. People are still the same today. Seeing something real that proves that Christ is real is helpful for some.
God works in many ways to bring His sheep in. Some have become believers because of the witness of the Shroud of Turin. Not all are as strong as you and need only The Bible and nothing else to believe (not that anyone is beyond having their faith strengthened). The LORD has worked in many mysterious ways and we should not try to put Him into a small box of our own making. That said, if somebody does something contrary to The Holy Word of God or if something contradicts The Holy Word of God then it is wrong. Worshiping something like the Shroud of Turin is contrary to The Bible, but seeing it as something that agrees with The Bible and strengthens one faith is not wrong.
The LORD gave material witnesses to spiritual truths in The Bible. The ark of the covenant he gave to the Jews as a visible reminder of the covenant He had made with them. The temple was a physical place where He communed with Israel even though He did not need a physical place as He is everywhere. He did these things to help support their belief in Him. Also, all of creation with it's order and beauty is a testimony to Himself. The heavens declare the glory of God. The LORD is shown forth in other than The Holy Bible, but again if something contradicts His Holy Word than it should be revealed as such and disavowed.
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Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed [it] unto them. Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
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Jhn 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast [day], many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
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Psa 19:1 [[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.]] The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
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Psa 97:6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.
Relics
Mark 15:43; John 19:38 - Joseph of Arimathea sought Christ’s dead body instead of leaving it with the Romans. Joseph gave veneration to our Lord’s body.
Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1 - the women came to further anoint Christ’s body even though it had been sealed in the tomb.
John 19:39 - Nicodemus donated over one hundred pounds of spices to wrap in Jesus’ grave clothes. This is also veneration of our Lord’s body.
Matt. 9:21; Mark 5:28 - the woman with the hemorrhage just sought the hem of Christ’s cloak and was cured. This shows that God uses physical things to effect the supernatural.
Acts 19:11-12 - Paul’s handkerchiefs healed the sick and those with unclean spirits. This is another example of physical things effecting physical and spiritual cures.
Acts 5:15 - Peter’s shadow healed the sick. This proves that relics of the saints have supernatural healing power, and this belief has been a part of Catholic tradition for 2,000 years.
Rev. 6:9 - the souls of the martyrs are seen beneath the heavenly altar. Their bones are often placed beneath altars in Catholic churches around the world.
2 Kings 13:21 - Elisha’s bones bring a man back to life. The saints’ bones are often kept beneath the altars of Catholic churches and have brought about supernatural cures throughout the Christian age.
Rom. 13:7; Phil. 2:25-29; Heb. 3:3; 1 Pet. 2:7 – we are taught to honor the people of God and in 1 Cor. 4:16-17; 1 Cor. 11:1-2; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Thess. 3:7; Heb. 6:12; Heb. 13:7; James 5:10-11 – we are reminded to imitate them. Keeping relics of the saints serves both to honor and imitate their heroic faith in Christ (just as keeping articles of deceased loved ones helps us honor and imitate them).
The Bible itself is a Holy Relic.John’s Revelation makes mention of the martyrs. As for the veneration of the Martyrs, early evidence can be found in the catacombs dating back to the 2nd century, As early as 140, pilgrims were visiting the tomb of Peter in Rome. Evangelical “horror” about the veneration of relics seems to Catholic a kind of over-spiritualization, tending even to a gnostic distaste for the corporal. The Puritans were iconoclasts, and ahistorical in their outlook, but not squeemish.
I don’t always bother to post on these threads, because they are so silly.
The relationship between the Bible and the Church has already been discussed, so I will simply mention the relation between ourselves, the Bible, and the world.
The world is not evil. It was created by God, and only partly corrupted by man and original sin. Everything that God made was “good,” or “very good,” as it says in the opening of Genesis.
We were not brought into this world to live our whole lives with our noses stuck in the Bible. We were also brought here to live with and love other people—spouses, children, family, friends, community, country. And we were brought into this life to try, as far as possible, to understand reality. God completely transcends His creation, yet it is through his creation, and through other people, and most especially through His Church and its Sacraments, that we are enabled to come to Him. The Bible plays a part in that, but it is not the whole thing—or Sola Scriptura—a phrase that you will not find in the Bible.
Curiosity, properly used and controlled, is a good thing. Why would it make us better persons if we refuse to ask what gopher wood is? Or if we turn up our noses and refuse to study history?
Ignorance, even invincible ignorance, lies in that direction.
If archaeologists later agree that the fragments are indeed from Noah’s ark, that will be a matter of real interest to Christians, but this should add nothing to our confidence in the Bible
It may surprise whoever wrote it, but I as a Catholic can say the same thing, and with greater precision. That a particular relic one day proves archaeological true or false will be of real interest to me but this will not either add to or subtract from my confidence in the Faith and doctrine of Jesus Christ given me by the Catholic and Orthodox Church. Further that one, or very many, relic may be a hoax does not add credulity to the Protestant charlatans and their idiotic and counter-scriptural doctrines.