A priest once told me that if you put together all the splinters of the cross on which Jesus was cruxified you would have a cross two miles high.

Ah. Ethiopia is the leader in “We have relics, no, you cannot see them.” They claim to have the Ark and the true cross of Christ. It’s a matter of national pride that they have them.

All "relics" are fake, many created and fabricated by Constantine's "requests" others like the "sepulcre" site in Israel accepted as fake by all historians but nevertheless still venerated by the brainwashed.

Delusional and desperate.
Sums it all up quite nicely for me.

It's no more crazy than the whole Christian story. Talking snakes and donkeys, living in the body of a whale, an invisible man floating around in the sky.

Despite what these Christians say, or deceive themselves into thinking, they do not rely solely on their "faith."

Things like this give them the "evidence" the rational part of their minds so desperately wants. It is also why faux science creationism abounds and why they see Noah's Ark in images that are clearly only rock formations. They want proof and will grasp onto anything, no matter how ridiculous, in order to justify their beliefs.

I don't know that many of them literally believe in relics. But it does always seem that they pick on the most unlikely parts of the by-babble to celebrate the most. The nativity story is after all most probably one of the most fictional parts of the bible, it does not appear in all the testaments and is thought by many biblical scholars, to be one of the latest additions. So that would put it even longer after the main parts of the story were written, far after the possible dates of the events.

Sounds like the kind of story that should run on April Fool's.

I'm just stunned there aren't 30 or 40 thousand small glass vials with corks in them being peddled as "Jesus's last breath".

Very tempted to try selling a few on eBay and see what happens.

His “manger” was used to feed cows, donkeys and horses hay. The probability, if you happen to believe the whole legend at all, of that feed bin being saved for even the lifetime of one man is as ridiculous as the shroud of Turin being his burial sheet.

Relics and the simonic trade in relics is a hold over from the money making churches of the middle ages, it is frankly the selling good luck charms for the Christian sheep who need something to focus their faith upon.

I saw that. That was pretty hilarious. These days the actual church hierarchy doesn't believe that shit and has made statements to the value of such relics as spiritual reminders, etc. That is the catholic church hierarchy as the f'ing evangelicals still think the Earth is 6k years old.

and a laughable attempt too. Like you say - just in time for xmas

Historic church relics have been a thriving business for millennia. I think every Christian that survived the Crusades and returned from the Middle East brought a relic of Christ with themselves. No wonder nothing is left in the Holy Land. Lol. Snake oil salesman all.

relics were created because pilgrims have a lot of money, and create any "credible" relic would boost the economy of a town. Peaces of cross could be used to build a ship almost XD

You are totally correct. In fact, the crucifixion and resurrection is an attempt to explain why Jesus died. Either they had to give it all up at his death or change directions. If Jesus had lineage trough Joseph to David and other patriarchs he could only have become supernatural and a son of god at his death. We can thank Saul of Tarsus for a lot of this.

Keep in mind that the faithful have always had relics. Constantine's mother had several original nails from the cross. She wanted her son to use them for his protection. (There must have been a lot of nails. LOL) Then we have the bones of Elisha in the OT that actually brought a man back to life. (It is not clear if he had to die again later or not.) We should find those bones and they could be used by modern hospitals. The ever ongoing search for Noah's Ark seems to always crop up into this insanity as if wooden boat relics on a mountain would prove anything.

We have no relic of the Jesus manger or tomb but these and others keep popping up to reinforce that it might be true, or could be true. I view the produced evidence as just the opposite.

I agree, regardless of the efficacy of the religion (0% in my book), resorting to inventing relics takes away from the power of the message. What’s the relevance? Do they think being in the presence of such a relic gets them closer to him? Once folks become steeped in the mythology, things they would reject about other religions become sacred. I wish we could wake them up

Relics, like most religious items, are to make money for the church, attract pilgrims, tourists, donations, etc.
The hope is that the sliver of wood, or whatever it is at the moment will be credited with healing someone, thus attracting huge crowds of sick people eager to give the church money.

The whole story is made up years after his birth to make him sound divine. He was supposed to be born as our savior but no one bothered to worship him until he was a fully grown adult. The star shone over the manger and the three wise men brought gifts, then absolutely nothing happened until he was an adult. Why was his birth important but not his life as a child? Why didn't they keep his first baby teeth?

My favorite catholic saint relics story comes from Portugal via Goa. A man, now the lesser saint Francious, died in the far East and his body transported to Goa, in lime. He did not deteriorate as expected. So they put him under glass and used to bring his body out from time to time. They allowed the wealthy, elite Portugese women to kiss his hands and feet. Now, in some Portugese families they have digits from the saint. Strong teethed women.

I bet there were a few hundred tonnes of it back in the seventh century. Think of it, gullible pope seventh century, as in 700 years after JCs birth. Likelihood a fake.

There are also many fragments of the cross he was crucified on, and as for foreskins, barrow loads.

Well, whatever happened to all they need is faith?

This is a tourist grab by the (Islamic) PLO and the Vatican (catholic) for increase revenue in both Bethlehem and Rome, since most travels to Jerusalem can have a stop over in Rome. This has less to do with religion and more to do with tourism and fleecing the gullible than anything else.