OT: Pope, scientists claim to have found remains of Paul
Scientists have “confirmed” that they have found the remains of the Apostle Paul inside a tomb in Rome. Truthfully, all they appear to have done is carbon-date the bones to the first or second century, which proves nothing, especially given the documented unreliability of the dating process. Even if the dating is accurate, the bones could belong to anyone. I keep thinking of Paul’s own words to Timothy, where he warned the young preacher to, “avoid the profane and idle babblings” of science (1 Timothy 6:20). It seems very much like “idle babbling” to pronounce “confirmation” on something that doesn’t confirm anything.
However, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence that says this is in fact Paul’s tomb. For 2,000 years it has been the tradition that the Apostle was laid to rest under what is now the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls. Also, outside of the sarcophagus, archaeologists found icons that are believed to be images of Paul. So these may very well be the bones of the great New Testament writer.
