From long, lost relics to statues that come to life here are 8 unsolved religious mysteries.
8.
THE HOLY GRAIL
For centuries, people have been fascinated by stories about the Holy Grail - the cup
or chalice that Jesus is believed to have drunk from during the Last Supper.
It is also rumored to have been used by Joseph of Arimathea to collect the blood of Jesus
during his crucifixion.
It so powerful that it will bring eternal youth and abundant happiness and riches to
whoever possesses it.
The Holy Grail is popular in both legend and pop culture and has inspired many texts, movies,
and books, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Da Vinci Code, and even
the comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
There have also been countless treasure hunts for the relic by scientists, archaeologists,
historians, and other believers, but nobody’s ever found it.
In fact, nobody can say for sure if the Holy Grail really even exists, including the experts,
who’ve had no better luck finding it than anyone else.
People aren’t just unsure where the Holy Grail is, but they also can’t seem to reach
a general consensus on what it looks like.
Hundreds of theories exist and have been put to the test, seemingly to no avail, since
archaeologists and treasure hunters keep walking away empty-handed, time and time again.
In 2014, two historians claimed to have discovered the Holy Grail in the form of a chalice, located
within a church in León in northern Spain.
The chalice has been at the church since the eleventh century, according to researchers.
Leaving no stone unturned, they compiled three years’ worth of data and had scientific
dating performed on the cup, which test results concluded was made sometime between 200 B.C.
and 100 A.D.
Could this cup be the real Holy Grail?
Since it’s impossible to truly determine whether or not Jesus drank from the cup, it
can’t explicitly be ruled out - much like most of the other 200 or so from roughly the
same time period, that people throughout the world have claimed to be the real deal.
7.
INCORRUPTIBILITY
An incorruptible is a body that appears to decay unusually slowly, also known as delayed
decomposition - or, in some cases, very little or not at all, as if they have been perfectly
preserved.
Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox beliefs attribute this phenomenon to divine intervention
and as a sign of a person’s holiness.
Throughout history, the deceased bodies of several prominent religious figures have remained
unaffected or barely affected by decomposition for extended periods of time, even when exposed
to factors that typically cause or even accelerate the process.
A body that is deemed incorruptible under Roman Catholic standards is often elevated
to sainthood status.
Many Eastern Orthodox saints were also found to be incorruptible.
However, the condition is not currently a prerequisite for sainthood according to either
denomination’s standards.
But what causes a body to be incorrupt?
One blogger and relic hunter, Elizabeth Harper, points out that even incorruptible corpses
are maintained to some extent.
In other words, they do start to decompose after a while, and things are done to the
bodies to keep up their seemingly pristine appearances, including chemical cleanings
and the application of wax or makeup to disguise decaying features.
Although such practices are surprisingly common, it doesn’t mean that incorruptibility is
a sham.
Remember, it does not mean that a body never decays.
In most cases, after remaining exceptionally intact for far longer than average - oftentimes,
years - the decomposition process finally starts.
The length of time it takes for most incorruptible bodies to start decaying defies science and
has yet to be fully explained.
6.
STIGMATA
When someone is afflicted with stigmata, it means that they’ve incurred bodily injuries
that correlate with the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ.
The hands, wrists, and feet are a few of the most common places for stigmata-related wounds,
scars, and pain to occur.
There have also been reported cases of stigmata involving injuries to the side, around the
head - as if caused by a crown of thorns, and back wounds.
Stigmata is typically associated with Roman Catholicism.
The first-ever recorded Stigmatic in Christian history was St. Francis of Assisi, who became
afflicted in 1224.
Another well-known stigmatic, St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina of the Order of Friars Minor
Capuchin, reported symptoms for over 50 years.
He suffered mainly from wounds through his hands, which only healed once the entire time
before reappearing.
Oddly, Padre Pio’s wounds never became infected, and the skin surrounding them never showed
signs of damage.
He was studied by numerous 20th-century doctors, some of whom accused him of using carbolic
acid or self-injuring to fake his stigmata.
His mental state was also called into question by one doctor, who accused him of having hysteria;
and another, who outright dismissed the idea that his wounds were supernatural in origin.
Other doctors hesitated to identify a definite cause for the injuries.
An estimated 80 percent or more of stigmatics are women.
The condition is diagnosed primarily according to the perceived religious significance of
the sufferer’s wounds.
Many purported cases of stigmata have been debunked as hoaxes.
Others, like Padre Pio’s, were met with mixed feelings by medical professionals and
other critics.
What do you think about this controversial condition?
Let me know in the comments below!
5.
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
The Dead Sea Scrolls are considered to be one of the most significant archaeological
finds of the twentieth century, if not of all time.
Between 1947 and 1956, a team of archaeologists, accompanied by Bedouin shepherds, discovered
around 900 parchment and papyrus scrolls in a series of twelve caves, known as the Qumran
Caves, which are located in the Judaean Desert along Israel’s West Bank.
The scrolls date between the third century B.C. and the first century A.D. and are written
mostly in Hebrew, along with some Aramaic and Greek.
Some of the earliest-known biblical passages are written on the scrolls, including the
oldest-known copy of the Ten Commandments.
Additionally, the texts contain parts of every book of the Old Testament.
There are also several previously unknown hymns, prayers commentaries, and mystical
formulas.
Israeli archaeologist Yuval Peleg, believes that the scrolls had been hurriedly stuffed
into the caves by a population of Jews fleeing from the Romans.
He also believes that Qumran became a protective fort for Jews from threats to the east and
that it was later converted into a pottery factory.
Other scholars have speculated that Qumran was used as a tannery, a manor house, and
a perfume manufacturing center.
While an abundance of theories surrounds the Dead Sea Scrolls, there’s no general consensus
regarding their origin or who they were written by.
The controversy, which has been referred to as a “powder keg” by scholar Risa Levitt
Cole, has sparked bitter feuds within scientific and religious communities.
For safekeeping, the scrolls are kept in a dark, temperature-controlled room at the Israel
Museum in Jerusalem.
4.
THE SHROUD OF TURIN
This centuries-old linen cloth bears the negative image of a traumatized man who appears to
be Jesus of Nazareth.
Some believe that it was the burial shroud Jesus was wrapped in after he was crucified.
The relic is kept in Turin, Italy, in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist’s Royal
Chapel.
Scientific investigations have failed thus far to determine how the cryptic, Jesus-like
image became imprinted on the cloth, and nobody has successfully replicated the image.
The authenticity of the shroud was first challenged in 1390 when a bishop wrote that a local artist
had confessed to the alleged forgery.
Three radiocarbon dating tests of the cloth conducted in 1988 turned up results consistent
with this time period, the 14th century, thus lending plausibility to the bishop’s claim.
Some researchers have argued that these radiocarbon dating results were reflective of material
that was used to repair the shroud during the Middle Ages.
In 1898, amateur photographer Secondo Pia took pictures of the shroud while it was being
exhibited.
It was at this time that the first negative, black-and-white image rendering of the shroud’s
image was observed, which depicted a much clearer likeness than the sepia-colored imprint
on the cloth.
Despite centuries of investigating, no conclusive explanation exists for the source or method
behind the shroud’s image.
3.
WEEPING STATUES
Since 1953, a plaster statue of the Madonna in Syracuse, Sicily has been continuously
shedding tears.
It’s just one of the dozens of crying statues that have been witnessed and reported around
the world, but it’s the only one that has been recognized by the Catholic Church as
a true miracle.
All other reported sightings of weeping statues either remain unverified or have been proven
to be hoaxes.
The Catholic Church is very thorough in its investigations of alleged miracles, and they’re
not quick to lend validity to a claim.
Instead, the church prefers to let the phenomenon “play out” to see if evidence of a hoax
appears or if it is disproven by science - a process that can last indefinitely.
The statues in question have been known to cry a variety of different liquids, including
human blood, human tears, olive oil, and scented oils.
Some cases, such as that of a crying Padre Pio statue in Sicily in 2002, are quickly
debunked as the deceptive actions of a person placing the “tears” on the statue - in
this case, a woman had used her own blood.
Other instances of crying statues are less clear-cut.
This year, a sculpture of Our Lady of Guadalupe began producing tears of perfumed olive oil
known as chrism, which is considered sacred when blessed, at a church in New Mexico.
At first, even the church’s priest admittedly struggled to believe that the phenomenon was
real.
According to the church’s business manager, however, a thorough review of their security
footage proved that nobody could have done anything to make the statue cry artificially.
Even the famed Madonna of Syracuse statue has essentially been debunked by science.
In 1995, a chemistry researcher at the University of Pavla named Luigi Garlaschelli claimed
to have figured out how a simple plaster statue could be manipulated into “crying” seemingly
on its own.
However, it’s very difficult to gain access to relics for experimental or investigative
purposes, and the Madonna of Syracuse was no exception.
2.
THE ROTHWELL BONE CRYPT
Located in Rothwell, England, the thirteenth-century Holy Trinity Church is both a medieval landmark
and major tourist destination.
From the outset, it looks no different than any other surviving church from that time
period.
However, one feature sets Holy Trinity Church apart from almost any other: an underground
chapel, stacked floor-to-ceiling with human bones.
The “Bone Crypt,” as the room is often called, is filled with the remains of some
1,500 individuals.
Legend has it that the room was sealed off until around 1700, when a gravedigger fell
through the floor.
While the worker supposedly went insane as a result of the disturbing discovery, it instead
piqued the curiosity of others, who organized the bones and placed them on shelves.
To this day, nobody knows the origins of the skeletal remains, but there are three main
theories.
One posits that the individuals were plague victims.
They may have been soldiers that were killed in 1645 in the nearby Battle of Naseby.
Or, they may have simply been the dug-up remains of people who were once buried in the church
courtyard but were awaiting relocation to another burial site.
Carbon dating tests have determined that the skeletal remains date from as early as the
twelfth century to as recent as the nineteenth century.
1.
THE SURVIVAL OF THE WEST END BAPTIST CHURCH CHOIR
On the evening of March 1, 1950, members of the West End Baptist Church Choir in the small
town of Beatrice, Nebraska narrowly avoided almost certain death when seemingly random
circumstances prevented everyone from showing up for practice on time.
Thanks to the uncanny timing of their tardiness, none of the fifteen choir members were inside
the church when an explosion occurred that would have most definitely been fatal.
Three hours earlier, pastor Walter Klempl had turned the heat on, but the church had
instead filled with natural gas.
The choir members were known for their punctuality, and they had even planned to arrive a half
hour early that night.
Still, somehow, none of them had arrived when the explosion occurred at 7:27 PM, five minutes
after practice was scheduled to start.
The pastor and his wife had run late thanks to their daughter spilling food on her dress.
Two other singers couldn’t get their cars to start.
Mundane tasks such as homework, writing letters, and listening to the radio - things that normally
didn’t interfere with getting to practice on time - held others up.
What saved these choir members?
Was it divine intervention, or simply luck?
Either way, talk about being in the right place at the right time!
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