{"id":1964,"date":"2009-06-29T06:11:44","date_gmt":"2009-06-29T14:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=1964"},"modified":"2009-06-29T06:21:27","modified_gmt":"2009-06-29T14:21:27","slug":"pope-claims-pauls-bones-in-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/church-history\/pope-claims-pauls-bones-in-rome\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Claims Paul&#8217;s Bones In Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/paul.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Statue of &#8220;Paul&#8221; In St. John&#8217;s Lateran, Rome (June 2009)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/cogwriter.htm\">COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Pope is claiming that the bones of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/paul.htm\">Apostle Paul<\/a> may have been identified:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div style=\"margin-right: 0px;\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: large;\">Pope says  tests support saga of St. Paul\u2019s bones<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">Carbon dating indicates remains in Rome  were from 1st or 2nd century<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><strong>Associated Press<\/strong> &#8211; June 28,  2009<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">ROME &#8211; The  first-ever scientific tests on what are believed to be the remains of the  Apostle Paul &#8220;seem to conclude&#8221; that they do indeed belong to the Roman Catholic  saint, Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">Archaeologists recently unearthed and opened the white marble  sarcophagus located under the Basilica of St. Paul&#8217;s Outside the Walls in Rome,  which for almost 2,000 years has been believed by the faithful to be the tomb of  St. Paul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">Benedict  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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">&#8220;This  seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the  mortal remains of the Apostle Paul,&#8221; Benedict said, announcing the findings at a  service in the basilica to mark the end of the Vatican&#8217;s Paoline year, in honor  of the apostle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">Paul and  Peter are the two main figures known for spreading the Christian faith after the  death of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">\u2018Precious\u2019 purple linen found<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">The pope said that when  archaeologists opened the sarcophagus, they discovered alongside the bone  fragments some grains of incense, a &#8220;precious&#8221; piece of purple linen with gold  sequins and a blue fabric with linen filaments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">Vatican archaeologists in 2002  began excavating the 8-foot-long (2.5-meter-long) coffin, which dates from at  least A.D. 390 and was buried under the basilica&#8217;s main altar. The decision to  unearth it was made after pilgrims who came to Rome during the Roman Catholic  Church&#8217;s 2000 Jubilee year expressed disappointment at finding that the saint&#8217;s  tomb \u2014 buried under layers of plaster and further hidden by an iron grate \u2014  could not be visited or touched&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">Monday is  the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a major feast day for the Roman Catholic  Church&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"> <\/span><a title=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/31599704\/ns\/technology_and_science-science\/\" href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/31599704\/ns\/technology_and_science-science\/\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/31599704\/ns\/technology_and_science-science\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>There are at least two problems with this declaration.<\/p>\n<p>The first is if the bones are from the second century (as the Pope suggested that they may be), this would eliminate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/paul.htm\">Apostle Paul <\/a>as even all Catholic sources say he died in the first century.<\/p>\n<p>The second is that this declaration seems to be in contradiction to an 8th century Catholic report that Paul&#8217;s remains were in England:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div style=\"margin-right: 0px;\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">&#8220;<strong>The  letters of the Apostolic Pope<\/strong>&#8230;the following letter was sent back into  <strong>Britain to King Oswy:<\/strong>&#8230;Nevertheless, we have caused the  blessed gifts of the saints, that is, <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">the relics of  the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul<\/span><\/strong>, and of the holy martyrs,  Laurentius, John, and Paul, and Gregory, and Pancratius, to be given to your  servants, the bearers of these our letters,<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong> to be by  them delivered to your Excellency<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-right: 0px;\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><strong>Bede&#8217;s Ecclesiastical History of England<\/strong> Chapter\u00a0XXIX, author: Bede, St. (&#8220;The Venerable,&#8221; c.  673-735) <\/span><a title=\"http:\/\/www.ccel.org\/ccel\/bede\/history.v.iii.xxix.html\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ccel.org\/ccel\/bede\/history.v.iii.xxix.html\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">http:\/\/www.ccel.org\/ccel\/bede\/history.v.iii.xxix.html<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thus, for the Pope to declare this &#8220;<span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the  mortal remains of the Apostle Paul<\/span>&#8221; seems to be in error.\u00a0 The &#8220;tradition&#8221; has been contested.<\/p>\n<p>However, it is certainly possible that some of Paul&#8217;s bones were in Rome and as unlikely as it seems, if they were there, then some could possibly be found.<\/p>\n<p><em>Some articles of possibly related interest may include:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/paul.htm\">The Apostle Paul<\/a> He was a later apostle, but also an early Christian leader.<br \/>\n<a href=\"\/catholic.htm\">Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living Church of God?<\/a> Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions. <a href=\"\/catolica-pt.html\">Portugu\u00eas: Qual \u00e9 fiel: A igreja cat\u00f3lica romana ou a igreja viva do deus?<\/a> Tambien <a href=\"\/catolica-es.htm\">Espa\u00f1ol: Cu\u00e1l es fiel: \u00bfLa iglesia cat\u00f3lica romana o La Iglesia del Dios Viviente?<\/a> Auch: <a href=\"\/katholische.htm\">Deutsch: Welches zuverl\u00e4ssig ist: Die R\u00f6misch-katholische Kirche oder die lebende Kirche von Gott?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/earlychristianity.htm\">The History of Early Christianity<\/a> Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? <strong>Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Statue of &#8220;Paul&#8221; In St. John&#8217;s Lateran, Rome (June 2009) COGwriter The Pope is claiming that the bones of the Apostle Paul may have been identified: Pope says tests support saga of St. Paul\u2019s bones Carbon dating indicates remains in Rome were from 1st or 2nd century Associated Press &#8211; June 28, 2009 ROME &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-history","category-religious-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1964"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1968,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964\/revisions\/1968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}