Most evangelicals are blissfully ignorant of how informed Catholics find biblical support for Catholic distinctives in Scripture: e. g. praying to saints. Purgatory, baptism, the presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements, the use of holy water, the biblical authority of priests to forgive sins, apostolic succession, and the way of salvation. Most evangelicals prefer to bypass the need for honest apologetic engagement and instead slothfully dismiss these distinctives as later man-made Catholic traditions with no biblical support. In doing so, they seek shelter in a nmyopic fundamentalist thought Ghetto anchored to a skewed and biased selection of convenient but misinterpreted prooftexts that blind them to the divine summons to engage fellow believers with different biblical perspectives in honest and open inquiry.
This blindness is especially evident in the widespread evangelical disdain for Catholic holy relics such as the bones of deceased saints and martyrs and, of course, the Shroud of Turin. Surely honesty requires a passionate desire to know whether the precious shed blood of Jesus that redeems us is actually present on the Shroud! To holy relics one might add the healing power of sacred springs such as those at the shrines of Lourdes and the Virgin Mary's house at Ephesus. This thread is intended to focus on such holy relics. So let me begin with this challenge to fundamentalists. What biblical warrant might an informed Catholic cite for the spiritual power of holy relics and healing springs? I eagerly await your answer before continuing the discussion.
This blindness is especially evident in the widespread evangelical disdain for Catholic holy relics such as the bones of deceased saints and martyrs and, of course, the Shroud of Turin. Surely honesty requires a passionate desire to know whether the precious shed blood of Jesus that redeems us is actually present on the Shroud! To holy relics one might add the healing power of sacred springs such as those at the shrines of Lourdes and the Virgin Mary's house at Ephesus. This thread is intended to focus on such holy relics. So let me begin with this challenge to fundamentalists. What biblical warrant might an informed Catholic cite for the spiritual power of holy relics and healing springs? I eagerly await your answer before continuing the discussion.