The bones of Paul found. Oh no!

So the Pope believes the bones found in a coffin beneath the Basilica of St Paul in Rome are those of the Apostle Paul himself. For everyone’s sake, I hope this proves to be false. Here’s why.

It was Calvin who famously said regarding the worship of relics; 

Now, the origin and root of this evil, has been, that, instead of discerning Jesus Christ in his Word, his Sacraments, and his Spiritual Graces, the world has, according to its custom, amused itself with his clothes, shirts, and sheets, leaving thus the principal to follow the accessory.

According to the New York Times the Pope is convinced recent scientific testing on bones within a white marble sarcophagus located under the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome “seem to conclude” they are the remains of the Apostle Paul.

We can only pray they are not, for if history is any guide, even the suspicion they are Paul’s bones will be enough to turn the Church into a medieval circus.

Medieval relics
In case you think Calvin was exaggerating consider the list of relics which were allegedly doing the rounds in his own day;

• Over 100 vials containing the blood of Jesus
• The manger & swaddling clothes
• The water jugs from the Cana wedding
• Jesus’ sandals
• The table, bread & knife used at the last supper
• The cup used at the last supper
• The towel Jesus used when washing the disciples’ feet
• Bread from the feeding of the 5000

The list goes on and on. Think of any story in the four gospels and there was a supposed artifact from it on display somewhere in the world at that time.

And in case you think Calvin did not have a sense of humour, he says regarding the display of Apostles’ remains that if they were all gathered in one place, ‘It would then be seen that every apostle had more than four bodies’.

But the pièce de résistance is surely the cross itself. Let Calvin explain;

Now let us consider how many relics of the true cross there are in the world. An account of those merely with which I am acquainted would fill a whole volume, for there is not a church, from a cathedral to the most miserable abbey or parish church, that does not contain a piece. Large splinters of it are preserved in various places, as for instance in the Holy Chapel at Paris, whilst at Rome they show a crucifix of considerable size made entirely, they say, from this wood. In short, if we were to collect all these pieces of the true cross exhibited in various parts, they would form a whole ship’s cargo.

Will the real Paul please stand up
The idea that Paul, most likely beheaded as an enemy of the State under Nero, would then have his remains carefully put aside for posterity seems ridiculous to put it mildly. Who at that time would have stepped forward to claim the body and then preserve it for succeeding generations? Live Christians were an endangered species, let alone dead ones.

Most likely, these remains are those of a Pope who thought way too much of himself, but the real argument here is not whether they are Paul’s bones or not. They could be, but I sincerely hope they are not.

There is nothing new
People have always been prone to superstition, especially religious people. I visited Israel 10 years ago and vividly remember the scene on the Mount of Olives when we reached the place at which Jesus is supposed to have spent much of the night he was arrested.

Several old Olive trees were barricaded from the public because Jesus leaned up against them etc., but there were places where you could lean through the fencing and touch an Olive tree twig or leaf. And there they were in droves reaching through the fences, touching flora and crying.

The only thing these trees have in common with Jesus is they are growing with a 5k radius of where Jesus stood 2000 years ago. But that doesn’t mean he would have seen them. History records Rome utterly destroying Jerusalem so that it would be uninhabitable and this included denuding the countryside of trees. I can’t imagine the Mount of Olives surviving intact with its most famous foliage untouched.

I didn’t spend much time looking at the trees, but I did watch the people for a considerable amount of time. It was baffling. They were being blessed of their socks somehow, but I seriously doubt it was because of the trees.

All this, however, is not really the point is it? They could be trees from Jesus’ day and the bones in Rome could possibly be Paul’s, but whether they are or not does not enhance our spiritual growth one iota.

Now, if we found, say, one of Paul’s original letters, I would make an effort to see it. I would like to know what his handwriting looked like (I assume he wrote at least parts of them himself! cf Gal 6:11) or what parchment he used, but I would not be praying or crying over them.

How can something as base as paper, animal skin, cloth or wood have any spiritual benefit simply because it was once used by a Biblical figure and remains in existence? That is superstition and it was a major factor in the Reformation.

Bones of contention
To be honest, I don’t believe these are Paul’s bones at all. I can’t prove it anymore than the Pope can prove they are, but I think it is a huge leap to assume they could have survived intact to this day.

But my prediction is, if the religious authorities and scientists get together and make a grand announcement that these are unequivocally Paul’s bones, then we will see a rash of ‘miracles’ being experienced by pilgrims who will flock to worship them.

Make no mistake; worship them they will, far more than any tree. That’s human nature. It’s part of the fallen condition which makes humanity prone to fill the spiritual void with anything but the truth.

Men and women will indeed exchange the truth of God for a lie until they come to faith in the person and work of Jesus.

References
Calvin, J. Treatise on Relics, (Prometheus 2008)