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Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#51

Post by gjsman-1000 »

Grazester wrote: post #17
monero-xmr wrote: post #12

Catholics believe in "incorruptibility" as a sign of potential sainthood. This is where the body does not decompose. You can see the bodies on display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorruptibility Catholics also believe in demonic possession, hell, and exorcism. Not the first things a priest will tell you though :)

Why wouldn't they tell you they believe in hell? It is mentioned in pray it was used to scare me into not misbehaving as a child by my teachers who were priests and nuns. This is not a secret nor did they try to hide it.

> by my teachers who were priests and nuns

The Catholic Church has always believed in Hell. Jesus himself made reference to Gehenna (which was literally a valley of death back when he was alive, the Valley of Hinnom, where the Bible also documents child sacrifice to have occurred), as well as symbolically with the parable of the wedding feast. For this reason, many Catholic saints were themselves quite afraid of it and worked to avoid it.

Common misunderstanding though comes from "how could a good God sentence anyone to hell?" Well, to put it one way, he doesn't. Imagine if your teenage son violently doesn't want to attend your Christmas gathering. Would it be loving of you to force him to attend? Or, more graphically, imagine your son is a drug user who has lost home, family, girlfriend, and yet obstinately resists rehab - and you'd love for him to come, but he'd have to lay off the drugs, and he refuses any effort. Thus, the Catholic understanding is that the souls in Hell are obstinate in their sin and obstinately do not want to be in Heaven, for eternity because they will never change their minds. "The doors of hell are locked on the inside." They will, within Catholic thought, know they are in the wrong, but they would sin immediately again if they were permitted another second on Earth. This obstinacy in sin is mainly caused by refusal to repent for grave sins that have been committed.

This also explains, in a way, the reason why the Catholic Church in particular has very little hope in salvation for those who are atheist or similar.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#52

Post by xorcist »

jansan wrote: post #25
jdthedisciple wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excuse me sir, but now you're making it look like they are ubiquitous. Pretty sure that's not the case either. So I appreciate this post, first time I hear of this.

If you want to see one of these places, I can recommend Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora / Czech Republic. I contains about 50,000 skeletons, which basically make up all the interior decoration. It is interesting how you get used to being surrounded by skeletons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary Edit: They also have a very nice gothic cathedral, a modern art museum and a silver mine that was turned into a mus…

That chandelier is really something extra!

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#53

Post by tablespoon »

fishtacos wrote: post #47
tablespoon wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it uncomfortable because the point is to not just embrace death, but look forward to a better life afterwards. A death cult exposition. Does a child looking forward to adulthood make you uncomfortable, too?

>>Does a child looking forward to adulthood make you uncomfortable, too? Adulthood is a known and documented expectation of childhood. Life after death is not. Not sure what analogy you think you're making here.

> Adulthood is a known and documented expectation of childhood.

> Life after death is not. Not sure what analogy you think you're making here.

Not from the perspective of the people who made this church.

Sci-fi fantasies aside, physical death is a transition everyone's going to make. What's so discomforting about embracing that? It's not like they were committing suicide to get to the afterlife faster.

> To add to your unmentioned editing, since you rewrote it completely:

No, I just made the transition a little more specific, less than a minute after I posted. In any case, I changed it back.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#54

Post by dragonwriter »

monero-xmr wrote: post #12

Catholics believe in "incorruptibility" as a sign of potential sainthood. This is where the body does not decompose. You can see the bodies on display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorruptibility Catholics also believe in demonic possession, hell, and exorcism. Not the first things a priest will tell you though :)

> Catholics also believe in demonic possession, hell, and exorcism. Not the first things a priest will tell you though.

It pretty literally is one of the first things a priest (or a layperson acting on their behalf) will tell you, in that it is a routine part of preparation for the entry into the Church, and, in fact, a (minor) exorcism is performed as part of baptism.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#55

Post by photochemsyn »

A great many people are incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of death, and installations like this, and similar works of art, are a great antidote. Accepting death as the price of life might be a bit difficult for people raised in a culture that worships perpetual youth and which dreams of immortality, perhaps in the form of a digital silicon upload, but it's really a sign of maturity.

Taking a minute or so out of every day to meditate upon the inevitablity of your own death is good for one's mental health - and can be motivating. If there's something you want to do, do it now - tomorrow is not guaranteed!

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#56

Post by peter422 »

VadimPR wrote: post #15

Beautiful place. The crypt includes a quote that really resonates with you - translated to English - "you are what we were; you will be what we are"

“Look alive, see these bones

What you are now, we were once

But just like we are, you'll be dust

And just like we are, permanent”

-Nada Surf “See These Bones”

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#57

Post by Ekaros »

monero-xmr wrote: post #12

Catholics believe in "incorruptibility" as a sign of potential sainthood. This is where the body does not decompose. You can see the bodies on display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorruptibility Catholics also believe in demonic possession, hell, and exorcism. Not the first things a priest will tell you though :)

Would that make Lenin a saint? I mean his body has been around wearing away clothes for good while.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#58

Post by fishtacos »

tablespoon wrote: post #53
fishtacos wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Does a child looking forward to adulthood make you uncomfortable, too? Adulthood is a known and documented expectation of childhood. Life after death is not. Not sure what analogy you think you're making here.

> Adulthood is a known and documented expectation of childhood. > Life after death is not. Not sure what analogy you think you're making here. Not from the perspective of the people who made this church. Sci-fi fantasies aside, physical death is a transition everyone's going to make. What's so discomforting about embracing that? It's not like they were committing suicide to get to the afterlife faster. > To add to yo…

>> Not from the perspective of the people who made this church.

Clearly. That is the position I'm opposing. No evidence = just that.

>>What's so discomforting about embracing that?

Embracing death is discomforting for most people, including myself and everyone I know. You might be an outlier, but it is plenty clear that religion is created as a method of assuaging that fear via fantastical notions.

>>It's not like they were committing suicide to bring it on faster.

It is detrimental in human civilization development. If you haven't figured this out yet, you might live in a cave near Al Qaeda.

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