Burning is what the new Christians in Ephesus did with the heaps of occult objects they’d accumulated in their years of paganism. The burning was presumably to completely disavow and disconnect from anything those objects represented. The money they’d invested was irrelevant. They were following the true Lord now! See Acts 19:18, 19—that entire chapter is wow!
In the Old Testament the young-but-strong King Josiah burned all kinds of pagan items when he was made aware of how far God’s people had drifted from God’s ways. Some pagan objects had actually been placed in God’s own temple! The account in 2 Kings 23:6, 11, 15, 16 is a must-read. (And verse 16 refers back to 1 Kings 13:1, 2.)
Legendary expert in the occult, Kurt Koch, spoke of burning pagan items. One example described a house where there were strange occurrences. Christian friends made a search for occult literature and found a very famous occult work. They burned it; the trouble stopped (The Devil’s Alphabet, p 67). I know multiple people who brought home objects from pagan sites—thinking of them merely as tourist souvenirs. Then dark side effects occurred, and the people burned the objects.
Do we unknowingly have such objects lying around today? Do our friends?
Catholic rosaries, holy water containers, relics, and similar items are actually occult objects; that is, objects relating to sorcery, divination, conjuring, magic, manipulating the forces… Yes, really. (I touched on the idea in point #5 of this “What Rome Teaches” handout.)
I’m suggesting that you may want to encourage your former-Catholic friends to be like the Ephesians and actually burn such items!
Is this extreme? Let’s look at a few objects and the practices/beliefs related to them so you can evaluate for yourself.
- Rosary. The user is addressing (and appealing to) a dead person (Mary). Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (and elsewhere) expressly forbids trying to contact the dead.
- Holy water. One Catholic website suggests being “often sprinkled” with “holy water” and saying these words when doing so: “By this holy water and by your precious blood, wash away all my sins, O Lord.”
- Statues of saints. These have been considered objects of power/protection. Looking for power via an object is sorcery. (Also see this post.)
- Relics. One Catholic website said that when Catholics touch a holy relic (the physical remains of a Catholic saint or an object that belonged to or was touched by a saint), “God’s intercession through the object performs the blessing.”
- Blessed rosary. One site recommends that upon receipt of a rosary, the good Catholic should have it blessed by a priest. This “gives it more reverence.” That site showed a sample blessing, which indicated that “the Church has sanctioned” the rosary “for the honor and praise of the Most Holy Trinity.” Also stated was the desire for the rosary to be endowed with power and protect the owner. There’s the expectation of more power when someone important has done the blessing. Consider this quote: “Every now and then, someone will show you their Rosary and tell you who blessed it, ‘Oh, this was blessed by Pope Francis in 2014,’ or something like that.”
- Blessed object. One source said: “To ask the priest to bless an object is to ask him to pray to God, requesting that God give us the gift of interacting with Him (giving us His grace) as we use this object.” The implication, of course, is that trying to interact with the Lord without this thing would be less effective.
- Cross/crucifix. One site gave a sample blessing for a cross/crucifix: “Send down Thy Holy Spirit… upon this cross, that… it may be potent unto bodily salvation…” A blessing by a priest is considered “to be more effective than a layman’s blessing.” Doing your own blessing doesn’t guarantee that “the cross will become holy.” It was interesting that the site admitted, “The Bible does not include any rituals for blessing the cross.” Right. Nor, I might add, is there any evidence that an individual has special powers for transferring “holiness” into an object.
The nature of these items and the examples from Scripture and Christian experts cement my theory that former Catholics should burn their objects. But while researching Catholic websites, something unexpected showed up: instructions on how to dispose of objects that were broken or damaged. Catholic believers are instructed that damaged “holy”/“sacred”/“blessed” items should be disposed of properly, reverently. And guess how?—“by burning or burying”!
Sources said that a blessed cross, for example, loses its blessing “if it is substantially broken.” And so burning (or burying) seems to be considered a way to “return the item to God.” The burning “shows respect to an [item’s] religious past.”
Can’t imagine where Catholic authorities got the idea that burning is respectful. Perhaps they’re thinking of Old Testament offerings and sacrifices? Wonder what’s supposed to befall someone who disposes of these items a non-endorsed way?
In the end, I couldn’t help thinking… When good Catholics burn their damaged sacred objects, as instructed by Rome, they’re inadvertently imitating what the savvy Ephesian Christians did: desecrating items that have been used in pagan ritual/sorcery. I may chuckle at the irony, but that’s good!
But back to my main point: When I see the Lord’s warnings being so blatantly disobeyed, it gets my fires going! How about you?
