Quote:
Christopher Li wrote:
Hmm, doesn't seem any odder than Christian snake handling as a religious practice - or the huge market for fragments of the "true cross" or the bones of saints that used to be common in Christianity. In the Middle Ages there were even a number of churches who claimed to be in possession of Christ's foreskin - and that it had magical powers.
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Absolutely, I would agree there were some incredulous superstitions perpetuated by Catholicism in the Middle Ages and in some denominations today. However, the tradition of buying sacred relics purported to have efficacious qualities was put to an end through the Reformation in Protestant countries that adopted the religious reforms. The Reformers understood that the Bible was a higher authority than the traditions of the Catholic Church and purged practices that did not conform to Scripture. The Catholicism of the Middle Ages was not true Christianity.
As for the snake handling, the irony of their misguided practice is that the particular part of Scripture they appeal to in defence of their practice is not even considered canonical. The passage comes from Mark 16:18 about handling serpents and drinking deadly poison but the earliest manuscripts of Mark's Gospel do not include chapter 16:9-20, which means most Christians now only recognize Mark 16:1-8 as being canonical. It is widely accepted that verses 9-20 were added later and not originally written by the author of Mark's Gospel.
I don't deny that Christianity has its fair share of misguided practises but these practises when scrutinised by the authority of Scripture are shown to be fraudulent and worthy of rejection.