Posted on 06/18/2017 2:20:09 PM PDT by narses
Must be a big Father’s Day sale on old Red Herrings!
“If anything is distinctive of the devotional practices of the Catholic Church compared to Protestant Christians, it’s the Church’s practices surrounding relics.”
Yes, idolatry became firmly rooted when paganism became tradition in Rome.
As with anything we encounter in life, abuses can and do occur. We do not despise the things of the creation, nor do we idolize them. There may be a salutary use for relics (as defined herein), but the substance of all that matters is the Body of Christ.
It is unfortunate to see general Protests go overboard in rejecting relics altogether, but it would be a mistake to insist upon the acceptance of relics as a condition of faith or salvation.
LORD, have mercy upon us.
What we do not see in Roman Catholicism is the same instantaneous result.
In addition, we're not told to keep or to "venerate" the bones or pieces of cloth from the Apostles.
That is where the Roman Catholic again veers off into error.
For the Roman Catholic they've become an item of worship...aka an idol.
Relics as the focal point of faith to the point that they are seen as conduits to God and instruments of power and obligatory veneration?
That way lies idolatry most foul.
Bingo
“For the Roman Catholic they’ve become an item of worship...aka an idol.”
Nope.
“What we do not see in Roman Catholicism is the same instantaneous result.”
Wrong. Again.
There should never be a sick Roman Catholic ever again.
Using people’s healing because they touched Jesus or his clothing is hardly a rational way to explain relics
If you think a relic is going to save your soul so be it
My salvation comes by God’s grace and the belief in His only begotten Som
Belief is part of this equation, too. Many on this thread are forgetting that.
Symbols in Christian Art and Architecture (Variations of Crosses)
Lessons In Iconography : The Chi Rho - Christ
The Holy Cross
Pope Benedict explains veneration of images before heading to Holy Land (CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS)
Liturgical Vestments (and prayers the priest says while vesting for Mass)
Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus}
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Scapulars [Ecumenical]
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, The Miraculous Medal [Ecumenical]
'Holy Things To The Holy': Sacred Things, Places, and Times [Ecumenical]
Purification of Sacred Vessels in U.S. (and more on the Purification of our Lord)
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Relics and the Incorruptibles
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Ashes
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Palm Branches
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Incense
Why We Need Sacred Art
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Sacred Images: Statues and Other Icons
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Crucifixes and Crosses
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, [New] Fire, Paschal Candle
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Holy Oils
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, [Holy] Water Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Relics and the Incorruptibles
“When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. (Mark 5.27-29)”
Maybe you ought to read the next two or so verses- The Lord asks “who touched me?” the disciples were a bit amazed, as there was a crowd pressing in on them, Jesus states that He knew “power had gone out of Him” ( I think He knew more than that, though, he was asking rhetorically IMO- the event was to describe the type of living faith He provided and that the woman appropriated for herself....).
Well, golly, there you have it, the hem of His robe did the miracle, not the Lord Himself.
The Lord then discusses the instance with the woman ( who by Hebrew laws was not supposed to be out on public due to her condition, let alone touch a man). He kinda sorta states that “her faith” made her well ( He didn’t mention the hem of his garment, she did).
How do you get a doctrine to venerate ( worship??) a piece of clothing or a part of a dead man from these instances of scriptural events?
Worship the LORD, He is living and is seated at the right hand of the Father until all enemies are made his footstool....
Regards;
...such a concise list of idols.
Thanks for posting.
That is a very good post. Also, re the bones of Elisha. The bones were in his grave. I.e.: they had not been preserved or given special treatment. The contact with them was purely circumstantial: adead man was thrown into the grave as a result of fear—the Moabite raiders were coming.
Most importantly: the Scripture says nothing about veneration in the aftermath. Even though a miracle occurred, there is no record of subsequent attention accorded to these bones. In all of the Bible, this is the only reference to them.
If bones or clothing were meant to be venerated, we’d see an example of it. A chance, one-off encounter with bones in a grave is not veneration.
Also, while it’s true that handkerchiefs and aprons were carried from Paul’s body to the sick, we’re not told that these items were subsequently venerated. It would have been a trivial addition to the text to add such language, but it’s absent. If we were meant to preserve and give special treatment to such objects, why wouldn’t God have made it clear?
Article states....”Relics are the remains of those recognized as saints, whether it is a part of their body (first degree relic), something they owned (second degree relic), or even, though less impressive, objects that have touched a first or second degree relic (third degree relic). Catholics carefully preserve relics, honor them, and even sometimes claim miracles in connection with them.”.....
Why anyone would “preserve dead body parts” and display them for worship is beyond any Christianity I have studied.....that is just too close to cultish behavior if not actual.
Not in my lifetime!..Never would I Kiss a dead body part, or stand before a golden image holding a tooth begging for a miracle, nor kneel before the in prayer as depicted in these photos.... Roman Catholics claim that they do not worship relics.... That is a gross lie.... this is damnable idolatry behavior and a spectacular form of paganism.
“Why anyone would “preserve dead body parts” and display them for worshi...”
Pagan practice, with ncorporated under Rome and now claimed as tradition.
At one time, 18 different churches claimed to have the foreskin of Jesus’ circumcision as their relic.
My favorite is the church that claims to have the mother’s milk of Mary.
An example of such a relic would be NEHUSHTAN.
Made:
Numbers 21:8
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”
Numbers 21:9
And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Destroyed:
He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
And the early church was not error free. By the time Paul was writing Gnosticism and dualism were already cropping up
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