Yeah, yeah, we know...Calvin was bad, Luther was bad, Wycliffe was bad, everyone BUT Roman Catholics are bad...blah, blah, blah. Seems like most of the hate and ignorance is coming from those who find it impossible to believe anyone can actually be saved outside of "their" church. At least men like Calvin and Luther acknowledged the grace of God could reach anywhere, even to the halls of the Vatican and that some Catholics really could be saved. It seems no matter what us non-Catholic Christians testify to about our faith in Jesus Christ, we are treated worse than the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual Catholic politicians who demonstrate NO genuine Christ-likeness at all! Does calling Calvin derogatory names absolve you from reading anything he might say no matter how true it is??? Good thing I don't follow that practice.
As to the St. Polycarp story, it is clear that the Christian community wanted to preserve his relics.
No, they wanted to give him a proper Christian burial. Didn't their own words make it clear that they did not worship anyone but Christ? Show me anywhere in Scripture where Christians are told to venerate the remains of "saints". Show me where anyone was instructed to divvy up body parts so everyone got equal access to God's ear through them.
You cannot expect every practice of the Early Church to be mentioned by St. Paul.
If it was anything worthwhile, it would have been. I would think teaching about an avenue to God's special graces would be more important than telling some guy about how long his hair should be, don't you? There sure were a lot of martyrs Paul could have used as examples, but not one word from him, or Peter, or John - who lived longer than all the Apostles. John took care of Mary, right? How come he neglected to say a word about her death, or her assumption, IF that happened?
The reference to the relic under the altar in the Apocalypse is there, -- you ignore it.
No, I don't. Someone already answered you about that. By the way, it speaks of the "souls" of those slaughtered for their testimony of faith in Christ - NOT anything about their physical bones/relics. On that passage in Revelation 6:9-
The Epistles mention things that were controversial. Veneration of relics was not controversial, -- it was common to non-Christian as well, -as you yourselves discovered.
Yeah, it was common to PAGANS. It wasn't even mentioned among Christians until several centuries AFTER the Apostles had all died off yet, we already know that thousands of Christians had been martyred during those first few centuries. The Romans and the Greeks all had some form of hero worship and they had what could be easily called "relics" of them. They already had the same ideas about these relics BEFORE Christians started getting them around the fourth century. Gee, I wonder how that happened?
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb to do -- what exactly in your opinion?
Is this a trick question? Mark 16:1, tells us what Mary Magdalene was doing there: "When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body." Luke 24:1 repeats that, "On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb." That was a common burial procedure, one that they would have done thoroughly when Jesus was first laid in the tomb, but it was too late and the Sabbath was starting so they had to wait until after the Sabbath was over. Luke 23:56 tells us, "Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment." We know that Joseph of Arimathea had hastily wrapped Jesus' body and used some embalming spices when he was first laid in the tomb, the spices now brought by the women were intended to complete the preceding operation. It was a common Jewish practice not a whole lot different than what dead bodies get today. It is interesting that, because Jesus rose bodily from the grave, there wouldn't BE any body relics of him, but that sure didn't seem to stop all the others scams that went on during the middle-ages - THE nails that pierced Jesus, splinters from THE cross, THE shroud that covered Jesus' body in the tomb, THE cloak the Roman guards gambled over, THE crown of thorns Jesus wore on his head, etc. etc. Don't you ever wonder why we don't have any of THE epistles personally written initially by Paul or Peter or John or James, Matthew, Mark, Jude? Something tells me, if they HAD been preserved by some miracle, they would have been worshiped more than their very words were obeyed. Just human nature.
Now, the Orthodox are for example, very good because theirs is an authentic Church, and they preserved most of the Holy Relics from destruction. Also, they never allowed the Protestant error in their midst. The reason Protestant thinkers can be dismissed summarily is because they have no historical continuity with the Early Church and in fact oppose most ancient practices, including this one.
Didn't their own words make it clear that they did not worship anyone but Christ?
A good example why talking to a Protestant is waste of time. No one worships relics. I don't. The students of St. Polycarp didn't. If you want to be taken seriously, understand the topic you are trying to opine about.
There sure were a lot of martyrs Paul could have used as examples, but not one word from him
I already gave you St. John's quote. Veneration of saints is referenced approvingly by St. Paul (Hebrews 10:35-40, 11:1-2). Veneration of relics, specifically, no, albeit his relics were gathered and he did not object (Acts 19:12).
Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
Another charlatan explaining clear text with Protestant fables.
It wasn't even mentioned among Christians until several centuries AFTER the Apostles had all died off yet
I gave you St. Polycarp example. He was a student of Apostle John.
Mark 16:1, tells us what Mary Magdalene was doing there
Right, with the Myrrh-bearing women. But then she came alone, St. John tells us, to the tomb she already knew to be empty. Why?
THE nails that pierced Jesus, splinters from THE cross, THE shroud that covered Jesus' body in the tomb
These were discovered by Emperor Constantine and St. Helena, and preserved. It is the vandals of the Reformation in the West, and the Muslim vandals in the East that, through their looting, made the provenance hard to prove. Why do you defend these criminals? Shouldn't the mere behavior of Reformation scum be repugnant?
Here are some Scriptural accounts of relics being used for healing.
The hem of Jesus’ garment heals a woman:
“And Jesus rising up followed him, with his disciples. And behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself: If I shall touch only his garment, I shall be healed.” Matthew 9:19-21
“And there was a certain woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had bestowed all her substance on physicians, and could not be healed by any. She came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment; and immediately the issue of her blood stopped.” Luke 8:43-44
Peter’s shadow heals people in the streets:
“Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that when Peter came, his shadow at the least, might overshadow any of them, and they might be delivered from their infirmities.”
Acts 5:15
Paul’s handkerchiefs and aprons heal many people:
“And God wrought by the hand of Paul more than common miracles. So that even there were brought from his body to the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the wicked spirits went out of them.” Acts 19:11-12
Clothing pieces are considered relics. (I don’t know how one would classify Peter’s shadow, but evidently it had healing properties, too.) I can’t imagine that those who were healed would have given Paul’s handkerchiefs and aprons back to him. They probably would have passed them along to other Christians who were sick. This would be one of the first instances of the use of relics - and surprise - it’s recorded in Scripture!