Posted on 09/06/2013 7:15:37 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
A relic hunter dubbed 'Indiana Bones' has lifted the lid on a macabre collection of 400-year-old jewel-encrusted skeletons unearthed in churches across Europe.
Art historian Paul Koudounaris hunted down and photographed dozens of gruesome skeletons in some of the world's most secretive religious establishments.
Incredibly, some of the skeletons, said to be the remains of early Christian martyrs, were even found hidden away in lock-ups and containers.
They are now the subject of a new book, which sheds light on the forgotten ornamented relics for the first time.
Thousands of skeletons were dug up from Roman catacombs in the 16th century and installed in towns around Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the orders of the Vatican.
They were sent to Catholic churches and religious houses to replace the relics destroyed in the wake of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s.
Mistaken for the remains of early Christian martyrs, the morbid relics, known as the Catacomb Saints, became shrines reminding of the spiritual treasures of the afterlife.
They were also symbols of the Catholic Church's newly found strength in previously Protestant areas.
Each one was painstakingly decorated in thousands of pounds worth of gold, silver and gems by devoted followers before being displayed in church niches.
Some took up to five years to decorate.
They were renamed as saints, although none of them qualified for the title under the strict rules of the Catholic church which require saints to have been canonised.
But by the 19th century they had become morbid reminders of an embarrassing past and many were stripped of their honours and discarded.
Mr Koudounaris' new book, Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, is the first time the skeletons have appeared in print.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
name an organization in the world that does more for the poor with THEIR OWN MONEY, than does the Catholic church.....noone else even comes close...
you stole the bible from noone...the Catholic church graciously gave it to you...transcribed it, edited it, copied it BY HAND for 1,600 years and when the "reformers" came along, tried to keep them from eliminating many important passages from it....to no avail....at least say thanks for the portion that we saved for you....the rest is in Luther's possession if you need it.
you can only have ONE true and complete Christian religion....the Catholic church has been that for 2,013 years.
don't give up so soon...the Prots on the site are great entertainment....you will see some of the most asinine defenses for the revolution that you can imagine!!
Who cares what an organization does. Jesus wasn’t talking to organizations. He was talking to believers. Individuals.
Individuals are the ones to show the love of Christ to those in need.
Catholics seldom judge another persons soul, nor should you....confession and repentance is available to all and you have no way of knowing the status of the soul of anyone except yourself....take a look at your own status, are you following the church that Christ Himself established.....if not, are you in full compliance with His intentions and commands.....I think not.....many are called, few are chosen.
Christianity is about Christ, not religion.
Religion is worse than useless and meaningless.
It is a deceptive cheat, causing people to think that they can reach God by their own efforts.
God isn't about religion. He's about relationship.
But you will anyway......
As expected here, at the end of your post.....
take a look at your own status, are you following the church that Christ Himself established.....if not, are you in full compliance with His intentions and commands.....I think not.....many are called, few are chosen.
it's nice of you to come along in the year 2013 and decide what Christ meant when, on the Apostles, He founded the Catholic Church. For one thousand six hundred years the church did just fine following what He taught but along came Luther Zwinglie, Calvin, Metmom and decided that they knew better how to form a thought process than did GOD. It amazes me no end how individual people thing that they have the knowledge and authority to change that which Christ established.....amazing!!!
I did not condemn you to hell...I merely pointed out that you may be in need of Confession and repentance before you arrive at the pearly gates......you make the decision, not me......but be sure of your decision....be VERY SURE.
Well, if God were interested in religion, Jesus didn’t need to die.
The Jews had a perfectly fine, legalistic, religious system going that they elaborated on from the Law that God handed down at Mt. Sinai. If the Law that God Himself gave didn’t save, then nothing any man concocts will do any better.
Jesus came to mend the broken relationship between God and man so that we could become God’s children through faith in Him.
Religion is about man trying to reach God. Jesus is God reaching man.
Cults do this. They emotionally manipulate their members by threats of being cut off from the “One True Path to Redemption”, the “True Priesthood Powers” and, ( of course) “Damnation to Hell”.
Gee! I am glad to be free of this cult.
Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
He has adopted me into His family through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 3:3-14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
The relationship angle is here....
John 17:20-21 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Did I say you did?
Yup. The minute it's *Our way or the highway*, you know that you're dealing with a cult.
Any church or group which claims exclusivity, in that you have to go through them to get to God, is absolutely a cult.
Churches don't save. Religions don't save. Works don't save.
JESUS saves.
As you know, I am almost always very supportive of Catholicism on these threads. Our nation would, indeed, be far better off in every way if those who claim to be Catholic actually lived their faith...ALL... of it.
But....I **know** that I am where the Lord wants and needs me to be. The Holy Spirit has testified this to me many times. If this I am flat out certain because i KNOW.
I hear you.
Thanks for proving my point!
Oh no, I’ve had it! Too many wild-eyed people on the religious threads for me, I’m afraid. (Hope that “wasn’t personal”!)
It’s God’s Word, that He delivered to all men. Claiming credit for acts that God has wrought is just prideful boasting. Did you ever hear the apostles brag about how they had delivered, firsthand, those writings you want gratitude for? Did they ever demand thanks from the churches for the small part they played, which was ever so much more important than the part that those churches might have subsequently played, in delivering and preserving the Word?
I’ll give my thanks to God for giving us the Bible, as all praise for the matter belongs to Him.
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