Word: manseau
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...tomb ... Had John the Baptist worn a watch, for example, it would be a second-class relic. (Had Jesus given it to him, it would be a first.) A third-class relic is anything - anything at all - that has touched a first-class relic." As Manseau is quick to point out, such categorization often did more harm than good: "Seen charitably, this means that anyone could aspire to possess one. Seen cynically - and no less historically - the three-classes scheme meant that counterfeiting of the second and third class could be easily performed." (See pictures of spiritual healing around...
...Gist: "This is a book about dismembered toes," Georgetown professor Peter Manseau writes by way of introduction. "But it is not a book about death." From Damascus to Jerusalem to Philadelphia (oddly, one of the relic capitals of the world), Manseau recounts his journey to find religious objects that have captivated the faithful for centuries and his encounters with modern pilgrims along the way. This includes a French mortician who analyzes the charred remains of Joan of Arc; a Sri Lankan tour guide who makes his living at the Temple of the Holy Tooth; a Syrian boy whose playground includes...
...eBay and elsewhere on the Web has led to a rebirth in the relic trade, and, it seems, to a renaissance of relic forgery ... Many of these forgeries are convincing to all but the most seasoned experts in the field, and even a few of them have been fooled," Manseau writes, adding, "The problem of fake relics goes well beyond bones. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was shaken by the exposure of forged documents related to its founding. The counterfeiter responsible for the fakes was a disgruntled Mormon missionary ... He created...
...Manseau's vivid recollections of each trip, combined with personal anecdotes and interesting tidbits (did you know that every Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. has a relic?), provide a fascinating look into an ancient and complex topic. He writes that when he saw the first sonogram of his daughter, his mind immediately wandered back to the relics he had seen and studied the world over. "Perhaps it was a renewed interest in all that is implied by the word miracle," he muses. "Or perhaps it was the experience of seeing the component parts of a human being...
After all, as Manseau concludes, "how can we begin to consider the meaning of whatever is left of Francis, Joan, Ella, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, or anyone dead but not forgotten, unless we acknowledge, with sadness, with wonder, that they began as small and perfect as the rest of us? These bones - fragile, mortal, beautiful - are where belief begins. Faith, at least according to Saint Paul's definition, is trust in things unseen. What, then, to make of relics? The point of them is to be seen, meditated on, keened over. Are they signs of weak faith, or strong? After...