> > A question
> >> arises about scraps of wood said to be from
> >> the true cross.
>
> > The
> >total number of known relics of the True Cross has been investigated and
> >the entire mass does not come anywhere near a tiny portion of a real
Roman
> >instrument of execution. ...
> > --Dennis Martin
Several years ago, right before Christmas, the body of a crucified man was
unearthed in Israel, with nails through his feet. If I recall correctly
from newspaper reports, this was the first time they had found the body of
somebody who had definitely been crucified, though it was known that the
Romans crucified people.
The question arose of whether this could be the body of Christ, which of
course couldn't be determined. The Bible is fairly bare of descriptions of
what people and places look like, and has no description of what Christ
looked like. Heavy on metaphorical language and simile, as in calling the
promised land a land of milk and honey--which says nothing about the flora
and fauna, or what the terrain was like.
Similar limitation with all relics. You might eliminate counterfeits by
saying that a certain kind of nail was made only during a much later period.
But given two nails of the right vintage, there's no scientific way of
determining which, if either, was used to crucify Christ. Resort to the
supernatural might be the only recourse. If miracles were said to occur in
the presence of one of the nails, religious authorities might be asked to
give an opinion.
Oddly enough, the technology might not be insurmountable, though I think not
in any of our lifetimes. It's eerie that if we only had dental x-rays of
Christ, then it <would> be possible to check out that skeleton. It's more
eerie that the sound waves set off by the big bang (if there was one) are
supposed to be still traveling through the universe, and therefore to be at
least theoretically recoverable or recordable. If sounds from the past don't
disappear, and a way could be found to access them, one might anticipate
future CDROMs of the Sermon on the Mount (if it was an historical event).
Sounds bizarre. But who would have believed what computers can do if we
hadn't seen it? And here we are today collecting DNA from dinosaur bones.
Will wonders never cease?
pat sloane
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