Treatise on Relics

Since the time of early Christianity, objects associated with the names of Christian saints have been worshiped and worshiped. Their number included not only the remains of the bodies of the saints: bones, skulls, skin, hair, etc.; but also the objects that the saints used in their lives (contact relics): clothes, hats, belts, shoes, etc. At the same time as genuine things associated with the names of saints, numerous fake ones were created and stored in churches and monasteries in Christianity relics: both the bodies of the saints themselves, and objects associated with their names. Relics, including counterfeit ones, were briskly traded both in the West and in the East. Wealthy rulers, temples and monasteries gladly bought relics from merchants or accepted as gifts from rulers. The flow of relics sold to the West especially intensified after the Crusades. Local cathedrals have repeatedly spoken out against the sale of counterfeit relics, but these measures did not help much. Relics continued to fake, fakes sold and actively bought; after which the falsified relics were richly decorated with gold, silver, precious stones; and then exhibited in temples and monasteries and became objects of pilgrimage trips and mass worship of believers who considered them to be genuine relics. Over the course of 1,500 years, the number of relics in Christian churches has become enormous, and there was practically no way to distinguish genuine from falsifications, since both of them have been in temples for centuries and have been objects of worship.

The most vivid and well-known critical interpretation of the history and practice of veneration of relics was set forth at the beginning of the 12th century in the theological and didactic essay written by Guibert Nozhansky “On Saints and Their Sureties” ( lat. “De sanctis et pigneribus eorum” ) ^[1] . The reason for this was the argument about the relics at the monastery of Saint-Médard in Soissons . The monks claimed that the Savior’s milk tooth was kept in the monastery; in response, Guibert Nozhansky explained why the Savior, who had risen in the flesh and ascended into heaven, could not leave on earth even a small particle of His Body, neither the umbilical cord, nor the foreskin; however, in the Middle Ages, these items were often venerated. Guibert cites several examples of false shrines, including the skull of John the Baptist , whose presence was simultaneously claimed by Angers and Constantinople . Several chapters of Guibert's work are devoted to enumerating relics, which the author considers undoubtedly false. Guibert's work was handwritten and not widespread. There is speculation that Calvin was familiar with this work.

In his work, Calvin uses quite extensive, but far from complete, information about the relics of Christians. He mentions five cities in Germany, three in Spain, 15 in Italy and 30-40 cities in France.

At the beginning of the work, Calvin says that even in the time of Augustine , fake relics existed and were traded. Over time, over the millennium, this trend only intensified, and by the time Calvin wrote this work with veneration of relics, a very ugly picture was observed. One of the main ideas of the treatise is the idea that worship of relics inevitably leads to superstition and idolatry; instead of veneration of Jesus Christ, in-depth study of the Gospel and imitation of the life of the Savior and saints, people begin to devote all their main attention to relics.

In his work, Calvin lists in sufficient detail with addresses known to him the numerous falsified Christian relics that are stored in temples and monasteries and serve as objects of mass worship, celebrations in the Western Church.

Calvin begins his review with relics associated with Jesus Christ, such relics were the circumcised part of the foreskin of Jesus Christ , which is unclear how it was preserved and for some reason was in two copies: one in Sharra Abbey, in Poitou ; and the other in the Lateran Cathedral , in Rome. Further he says that in many temples and monasteries the blood of Jesus is stored, where a few drops, and where the whole cup is in Rome. According to legend, Nicodemus collected this blood in a glove when he was present at the Crucifixion. In addition, there are at least two shrouds in different cities in which the dead Jesus was laid; nurseries in which Christ was laid after birth ; a column from the Temple of Solomon, on which Jesus relied when he was in the Jerusalem temple. In the temples of different cities of Spain, France, Italy, vessels from Cannes were exhibited for worship, in which Christ turned water into wine , vessels were of various shapes and sizes. In Orleans, even with a spoon, pilgrims are given wine that Christ made of water in Cana of Galilee, while they assure that the wine in the bowl never decreases. In the Lateran Cathedral, in Rome, they show the table on which Christ performed the Last Supper, the second, the same table in Spain. In the Austrian Trier - a knife with which Christ cut the Passover Lamb . There is also a cup from which Christ communed the disciples at the Last Supper, in duplicate, in different places; the dish on which the Easter lamb lay, in three copies: in Rome, Genoa and Arles ; the towel with which Christ wiped the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper , in two copies: in Italy and Germany; a piece of bread with which Christ has filled five thousand; one of the branches with which Christ was met at the time of His entry into Jerusalem ; the land on which Christ stood when he raised Lazarus .

According to the writings of historians Theodorite of Cyrus , Sozomen , Socrates Scholastic , the Cross of the Lord was divided into two parts. But for general worship, he still stood entirely in Jerusalem. In many temples and monasteries in the West there were a huge number of large pieces of wood, which gave out as parts of the Holy Cross. Calvin says that their number is so great that if you collect them all, you can make a big ship out of parts. In Toulouse and in Rome they showed whole titles of the Holy Cross ; Calvin counted 14 nails with which Christ was nailed to the Cross instead of four, which were in different churches of Germany, France, Italy (ancient historians: Rufin, Theodorite, Ambrose report that Helen used the nails she found to make a bridle and royal crown). In different churches there were four spears of Longinus . The parts of the crown of thorns were so great that if they were collected, more than four crowns would have been obtained. They were: the third part of the crown at Saint-Chapelle in Paris; three spikes in the Roman Church of the Holy Cross; many thorns in the Roman Church of St. Eustathius ; many spikes in Siena ; one thorn in Vicenza ; five thorns - in Bourges ; in Besancon , in the church of St. John - three; in Mont-Royal ( French Mont-Royal (Sarreinsberg) ) - three; in the cathedral of Oviedo in Spain; in the Cathedral of St. James in Galicia - two; in Albi , three; in Toulouse ; Macon ; in Sharru (Vienne) ( fr. Charroux (Vienne) ) in Poitou ; in the Basilica of Notre Dame de Clery-Saint-Andre ( fr. Basilique Notre-Dame de Cléry-Saint-André ); Saint-Flour (Cantal) ; in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume ( French: Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume ) in Provence ; at l'abbaye de la Salle; at the parish church of Saint Martin in Noyon . In addition, the objects of veneration were: the Savior's robe, the towel with which he wiped himself - all these relics were also in several copies, in different places; a piece of fish that Christ ate after resurrection; footprint of Christ on a stone; tears of Christ.

The cult of veneration of hair and especially the milk of the Virgin was widely spread. The amount of milk of the Virgin Mary was so great in different cities and countries of Europe (it was stored in different vessels and was the object of worship), that if you put it together, then, according to the ironic opinion of Calvin, only a cow could give such a quantity. The objects of worship were a shirt of very large sizes, two combs, a ring, slippers - all these things were considered personal belongings of the Virgin Mary. Relics associated with the name of the Archangel Michael included a very small sword and shield, with which the ethereal Michael defeated the ethereal spirit of the Devil. In the second half of the treatise, Calvin describes the relics of the saints of the New and Old Testament. Here the picture is no less amazing. There are so many parts of the skull of John the Baptist that in the end it turned out that John the Baptist had to be many-headed. According to ancient historians, the body of the Forerunner, or rather, bones, pagans dug up in the IV century and burned; according to Rufin of Aquileia, only a small fraction of the bones were saved from the body; but for worship the whole and unharmed index finger of John's right hand is exposed, and in six copies, in different churches. Even greater oddities are observed with the relics of the saints: the whole body of the same saint, for example, the righteous Lazarus in triplicate; Mary Magdalene , Apostle Matthew, Apostle Thomas, Apostle Bartholomew in two copies. In addition to whole bodies, separate parts of bodies of the same saints mentioned above were also objects of worship. It turned out that the saints had two or three bodies with arms and legs, and even several additional limbs. It is completely incomprehensible to Calvin where the relics of the Magi or Bethlehem infants came from, the stones with which they beat Stephen, the ark of the Covenant, just two of Aaron 's wands. Calvin tells us that disputes and even litigations arose between different churches about the authenticity of the relics, since both churches had the relics of the same saint, and each proved that it was genuine; but such disputes did not lead to anything, since neither side could confirm in any way the authenticity of the relics held by her.

Without exception, Calvin calls rubbish, trash; and their worship of superstition and idolatry. The language of the composition is replete with satirical mockery of relics, sharp and sometimes harsh metaphors, sometimes mockery of veneration of relics.

At the end of his essay, Calvin concludes with a warning to readers:

Criticism of the 20th century fully confirmed Calvin's observations of individual relics. The literary merits of Calvin’s work, according to Professor N. I. Radzig , are very significant: clear and expressive speech, simplicity, wit, logical consistency, consistency of the plan.

The publication of this essay became one of the stages of the Reformation. In the XVI century, the book was a huge success, widespread and was published many times in French, Latin, German, English (with abbreviations) and Dutch. She dealt a significant blow to the cult of relics, as a result of which the Protestants completely refused to venerate the relics. Calvinists removed icons from their temples, Lutherans admit images of saints, but their icons are not objects of veneration. From 1544 to 1611 the book was published 10 times in French; in Latin from 1552 to 1667, the book was published 5 times. In the 19th century, the book was re-published 4 times, including in the original and in English (with the same abbreviations). The book was not translated into Russian. Using Calvin's book and using other sources, in 1821-22, Colleen de Plancy published a book in three volumes: “Dictionnaire critique des reliques et des images miraculeuses” (Critical Dictionary of Relics and Miraculous Images) ^{[6] [7] [8]} . In this work, saints are placed in alphabetical order. Each dictionary entry dedicated to a particular saint tells how many bodies (2-3-4) are in different temples. The articles “Jesus Christ” and “Mary the Virgin” list relics found in various monasteries and temples and associated with the names of Christ and the Virgin (except for the above, hair, umbilical cord of Christ; hair and nails of the Virgin Mary, etc.).

• John Calvin's Treatise on Relics
• A Treatise about relics of Jean Calvin (1543)
• Jean Calvin, Traité des Reliques - Quelques extraits

• Traitté des reliques: ou, advertissement tres-utile du grand profit qui reviendrait a la chrestiente s'il se faisait inventaire de tous les corps saincts & reliques qui sont tant en Italie qu'en France, Alemagne, Espagne & autres royaumes & pays Jean Calvin ("A treatise on relics or a warning very useful about the great benefits that could occur for Christianity, if it were a list of all the holy relics and relics located both in Italy and in France, Germany, Spain and other kingdoms and countries" Jean Calvin) Geneva Edition 1599
• Jean Calvin: Le traite des reliques
• John Calvin's Treatise on Relics.
• A Treatise on Relics - Project Gutenberg