Tests confirm St Paul's bones - Pope
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The first-ever scientific test on what are believed to be the remains of the Apostle Paul "seems to confirm" that they do belong to the saint, Pope Benedict XVI has said.
It was the second major discovery concerning St Paul announced by the Vatican in as many days.
On Saturday, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano announced the June 19 discovery of a fresco inside another tomb depicting St Paul, which Vatican officials said represented the oldest known icon of the apostle.
Pope Benedict said archaeologists recently unearthed and opened the white marble sarcophagus located under the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome, which for 2,000 years has been believed to be the tomb of St Paul.
The Pontiff said scientists had conducted carbon dating tests on bone fragments found inside the sarcophagus and confirmed that they date from the first or second century.
"This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul," Pope Benedict said, announcing the findings at a service in the basilica to mark the end of the Vatican's Paoline year, in honor of the apostle.
Paul and Peter are the two main figures known for spreading the Christian faith after the death of Christ.
According to tradition, St Paul, also known as the apostle of the Gentiles, was beheaded in Rome in the 1st Century during the persecution of early Christians by Roman emperors.
Popular belief holds that bone fragments from his head are in another Rome basilica, St John Lateran, with his other remains inside the sarcophagus.
The Pope said that when archaeologists opened the sarcophagus, they discovered alongside the bone fragments some grains of incense, a "precious" piece of purple linen with gold sequins and a blue fabric with linen filaments.
GOLD FRESCO
On Saturday, the Vatican newspaper announced that a round fresco edged in gold featuring the emaciated face of St Paul had been discovered in excavations of the tombs of St Tecla in Rome.
It was believed to have dated from the end of the fourth Century, making it the oldest known icon of St Paul, meaning it was an image designed for prayer, not just art, L'Osservatore Romano said.
Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, presidente of the Vatican's culture department, said the discovery was an "extraordinary event" that was an "eloquent testimony" to the Christianity of the first centuries, L'Osservatore said.
Vatican archaeologists in 2002 began excavating the 2.4m-long tomb of St Paul, which dates from at least 390 AD and was buried under the basilica's main altar.
The decision to unearth it was made after pilgrims who came to Rome during the Roman Catholic Church's 2000 Jubilee year expressed disappointment at finding that the saint's tomb - buried under layers of plaster and further hidden by an iron grate - could not be visited or touched.
The top of the coffin has small openings - subsequently covered with mortar - because in ancient times Christians would insert offerings or try to touch the remains.
The basilica stands at the site of two 4th Century churches - including one destroyed by a fire in 1823, that had left the tomb visible, first above ground and later in a crypt.
After the fire, the crypt was filled with earth and covered by a new altar. A slab of cracked marble with the words "Paul apostle martyr" in Latin was also found embedded in the floor above the tomb.
Monday is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a major feast day for the Roman Catholic Church, during which the pope will bestow a woollen pallium, or scarf, on all the new archbishops he has recently named.
The pallium is a band of white wool decorated with black crosses that is a sign of pastoral authority and a symbol of the archbishops' bond with the pope.
At the end of Sunday's service in the warm basilica, the 82-year-old Pope lost his balance slightly as he slipped on a step on the altar, and was steadied by one of his assistants who was by his side.
- AP
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Carbon dating tops out at 60,000 years, so even if the pope were of the fundamentalist persuasion (which being a catholic he isn't) there would be no problem with him agreeing with the use of carbon dating. That is unless his branch of fundamentalism said the world was even younger than 60,000 years.
poopboy you just vindicated my words. ziggy I accept your comment in part, as in the OT the prophets did address the situation as it was but they prophesied of the coming consequences, and of Israel's future restoration. As for Revelation it is end times prophecy with the exception of the 7 letters to the 7 churches which were current at the time of writing. The rest of Revelation is yet to come. Thanks both for your comments
pukeko - you say "The last, Revelation is 100% prophecy (mostly yet to be fulfilled)and again it uses typical prophetic literary devices."
Most biblical prophetic writing is not about telling the future, but about explaining the current political climate and environment. All of the book of Revelation can be read in this light. It is not about 'end times' etc, but about the times it was written in.
pukeko #30 some valid points, but many would disagree with your take on the early chapters of the book of Genesis. To see these writings as historical documents is to miss the point of the truths they hold. Like many creation stories from the ancient near-east, they are an attempt to describe why the world is the way it is - rather than how. They are no more historical than the editorial in a newspaper. There are even 2 creation stories - joined and blended - from different writers in different centuries in the first chapters of Genesis. The desire to see these texts as historical records is a purely modern issue.
Pope Benedict XVI has said..... .....announced by the Vatican .....which Vatican officials said Pope Benedict said ..... Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano announced ..... The Pope said that when ....
Blah blah blah!!! Ugly, heartless, and enslaving religion!
Is there not somebody within Catholisism that can open his holiness' (joke) eyes, and unblock his ears, and heal his heart; that he might extoll the way, the truth, and the life to 500 million?
Lisa #28 - good question. The bible is 66 different books by over 40 authors using a wide variety of genres of writing. The genre helps determine how it is to be understood. They include mythology, history, poetry, letters, legal documents, collections of sayings etc etc. Just as you can differentiate with different types of writing in a library, so you can with ancient texts including religious ones.
To Lisa in #28 Generally it's quite clear. There is history, prophecy, poetry and doctrine in the Bible. Most Protestants who are also referred to as looney fundamentalist and such, believe the Old Testament in the same way the Jews do. The first 18 books are essentially history although they contain small amounts of prophesy, doctrine and poetry. The next 4 books are essentially poetry but include some prohecy and doctrinal passages. The remaining 17 are books of prophecy. Here one finds a lot of picture language, anthropomorpisms, allegory, metaphor, parables etc. Prophecy uses these devices because it speaks of things not known to the prophet or others at the time, when speaking of things to come and even Nostradamus and others do the same. Literary and Hebrew scholars, many of whom are not Christian/religious, generally agree that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are written in such a way as to be read literally as history and that there is no othere sensible way to read them. Of course there will always be some very squeaky wheels who get heard to the contrary. In the New Testament the first 5 books are histrical but contain much doctrine and some prophecy. The next 21 books are primarily doctrinal with historical background and little prophecy. The last, Revelation is 100% prophecy (mostly yet to be fulfilled)and again it uses typical prophetic literary devices. I hope this helps.
Looks like every atheist and agnostic is an expert on Christianity. Come on people, if you're too ignorant to get your facts straight before you share your views, you abuse the priviledge of free speech.
Re: pukeko #23
How to people who follow Christianity know which parts of the Bible are allegorical and which are not? Is it a kind of pick-and-choose system based on your own ethics and logic?
Sorry if I sound facetious - I am genuinely interested.
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Christianity including Catholicism is such a diverse notion based on superstition and some fact. No doubt there was a St Paul and maybe these are his remains. I guess that's very important to believers in the Catholic congregation. As I re-read the First five books of the Bible, I am less inclined to the christian viewpoint. It simply proves to me the indoctrination that many of us are subjected to from early childhood. I recommend that people read those 1st 5 books & think for themselves.