CHRISTIANNEWS.COM.- Relics, religious items carefully preserved and intended to be respected, have played an important role in many religions, including Christianity.
In the Middle Ages there were hundreds of alleged burial places for the twelve apostles. It has also been said that a great boat could be built with all the pieces of wood that were supposed to be from the cross of Jesus.
The most famous Christian relic is the Shroud, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. For this and more reasons, the question arises, should Christians be interested in relics?
Origin of the veneration of relics
The veneration of relics is believed to date from the 4th century AD. C., like the veneration of “saints”. For religious, economic, and even political reasons, the number of relics has gradually increased over the centuries, and thousands of them exist today.
The Second Vatican Council reaffirmed that “according to tradition, the Church worships the saints and venerates their images and authentic relics.”
Among the cities particularly famous for their relics is Trier, Germany, where one of many “sacred robes” is preserved…the seamless undergarment worn by Jesus Christ.
In the Vatican City itself there are more than 1,000 relics in a special archive. In fact, thousands of religious relics are kept in the church of “Saint Ursula” in Cologne, Germany.
What does the Bible say?
The Bible does not say that God’s favored people, ancient Israel, venerated religious relics while in slavery in Egypt.
It is true that the patriarch Jacob died in Egypt and that his remains were transported to the land of Canaan to be buried ‘in the cave that was in the field of Machpelah’.
His son Joseph also died in Egypt, and in time his bones were transported to Canaan to be buried there. Nevertheless, the Scriptures do not indicate that the Israelites ever venerated the remains of Jacob or Joseph as religious relics.
Idolatry
One of the dangers associated with the veneration of relics is the temptation to commit idolatry. This is exactly what happened in ancient Israel.
God had told Moses to make a bronze serpent to save the Hebrews from a plague of poisonous serpents (Numbers 21:8-9). That bronze serpent was kept by the Israelites as a reminder of God’s goodness and salvation.
However, by the time of King Hezekiah, the “relic” had become an object of worship. Hezekiah’s reforms included breaking into “pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because until then the children of Israel burned incense for it.” ( 2 Kings 18:4 ).
Physical aids to faith, if not commanded by God, are unnecessary and lead inevitably to superstition and idolatry.
catholic justification
Many Catholics cite the Bible to justify their idolatry and veneration of relics, but in the wrong way. The verse they use is 2 Kings 13:21 which says:
“And it came to pass that while some were burying a man, suddenly they saw an armed band, and they threw the corpse into Elisha’s sepulcher; and when the dead man touched Elisha’s bones, he revived, and stood up on his feet.”
But, this verse does not justify the veneration of relics, nor would it justify the veneration of other physical means that God has used to perform miracles, such as: the rod of Moses, the bronze serpent in the desert, the mud that Jesus used to heal the blind, or the hands that the apostles used to heal diseases.
God clearly commanded his people not to make images and not to bow down to them in an act of religious devotion (Exodus 20:4.5). This is the same error of the pagans who “honored and worshiped the creatures before the Creator.” (Romans 1:25).
conclusion
If we want our worship to please God, we have to make sure that it has no connection to any form of idolatry. For our worship to be accepted, it has to be directed to the Creator, not to some relic or creature.
We also have to acquire accurate knowledge of the Bible and build strong faith. And if we walk in the path of true worship, we will act on the overwhelming Biblical evidence that devotion to relics is not pleasing to God.
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