What do you do with Holy treasure?

[coazon de oro]

What do you do if you come across old stolen church treasure, such as gold or silver statues? Maybe a large gold gem studded cross? How can Holy artifacts be kept or sold without remorse? I believe I would return them to their nearest church.

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Well now, it depends on your stance on our creator, what he wants respected (if something moreso than another item from another source, etc....).

But your question made me remember a true incident: A guy was detecting a beach near me, and finds a big man's gold ring. It was some sort of a college type class ring, and the college was some sort of theological seminary. The next day, the guy was out plying the same beach, when .... in the distance, he saw a man walking to and fro endlessly back and forth intently eyeing the sand as he walked. When the man saw the guy detecting, he came over to him, and told him "If you happen to find a gold ring with such & such seminary, let me know. I lost it here yesterday I think, but I'm not sure". Turns out, he was a priest who had just graduated from his studies, and taken a post in the city there. Well........ the guy md'ing immediately told the guy he'd found in the day before.

When he told the story later to us, he jokingly said "I was afraid that if I didn't, the ring might be cursed"

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Statues are not Holy.

 

[GopherDaGold]

There are relics and there are artifacts and ne'er the twain shall meet. If the artifacts are from a defunct church and it's impossible to locate an 'owner', you will not be cursed for having them.
However, relics are an entirely different matter altogether. They usually consist of bone fragments, skin tissue, or even cremated ashes of someone who was cannonized a saint and should NEVER NEVER NEVER be sold or bartered.
In fact, last nights episode of Pawn Stars touched on this very topic when someone attempted to sell a relic from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
Thank God they refused to purchase the item.

 

[Swartzie]

I would try to return it. I think too much about the stuff I dig. Especially if it has monetary or religious value. I feel kind of bad for the person who lost it back then. I wonder who dropped it and the circumstance behind it and if they suffered any grief for losing it. I mean if you lost a quarter back in the 1800's then you lost a lot of money.

-Swartzie

 

[itmaiden]

God's word teaches we are not to make images. When people make images, they come to worship the image, rather than the creator. If something was stolen from a church still in existence, then by all means return it. If the church no longer exists then do as you wish. If you sell the item you may want to donate 10% to the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ, since the cross was a representation of how he suffered and died for us for our salvation. I don't fall down and worship the cross necklaces sitting in the acrylic case on the Walmart Jewelry counter, do you ? Cross serve as reminders to us of Christ's death and sacrifice for us, but they in and of themselves are not Holy.

itmaiden

What do you do if you come across old stolen church treasure, such as gold or silver statues? Maybe a large gold gem studded cross? How can Holy artifacts be kept or sold without remorse? I believe I would return them to their nearest church.

 

[bigscoop]

The catch-word here is, "stolen". If it was a recently stolen article I'd be sure to report it, don't need that kind of potential trouble attaching itself to me. On the other hand, if it was a relic from long ago, I'd probably say, "Holy Cow! Holy Heck!" (and one more) and give it a whole new home.

 

[dld]

first, nothing man has made is holy, it may have religious significance or valuable but not Holy

second, if it is stolen you turn it in to the police

 

[Kentucky Kache]

God's word teaches we are not to make images. When people make images, they come to worship the image, rather than the creator. If something was stolen from a church still in existence, then by all means return it. If the church no longer exists then do as you wish. If you sell the item you may want to donate 10% to the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ, since the cross was a representation of how he suffered and died for us for our salvation. I don't fall down and worship the cross necklaces sitting in the acrylic case on the Walmart Jewelry counter, do you ? Cross serve as reminders to us of Christ's death and sacrifice for us, but they in and of themselves are not Holy.

itmaiden

What do you do if you come across old stolen church treasure, such as gold or silver statues? Maybe a large gold gem studded cross? How can Holy artifacts be kept or sold without remorse? I believe I would return them to their nearest church.

 

[gollum]

REALLY ? Have you ever been to the Vatican? Granted, they could use the extra money to help pay down some of those lawsuits, but, the Catholic Church is one of the wealthiest entities on the face of the Earth.

What would they do with those things if you gave them over? Would they sell them and use the money to help the poor? Not likely. They would place them in the Vatican Archives or in some Church and add to the splendour of the Church.

I think they would be better off in my care.

Best-Mike

 

[RGINN]

I like gollum's response, and kinda side with that. However, if I find something I know is stolen, well it's not mine and I don't want it, and I would feel obliged to return it. And remind them how many people that gem studded gold cross could feed if we melted it down. I'm different in that I don't have a lot of respect for the cross items we see. I know what it represents, but in the back of my mind I think 'Is this the first thing Jesus would want to see when he comes back?'. No disrespect to anybody's religion intended.

 

[gollum]

Don't get me wrong. If it were a modern theft recovery, then by all means, return it to its' owner (individual or Church), but if we are talking about something 200-300 years old, then "finders keepers".

I don't personally have a problem with ANY religion. My problem is with EVERY religion. HAHAHA If Catholicism or Hare Krishna or Voodoo helps you get through life a better person, then more power to you.

Best-Mike

 

[bill-USA]

ITmaiden said it all for me.

 

[Smudge]

Well, you'd have to also consider that cross was probably manufactured from gold taken from the Native Americans by the Conquistadors, often with some serious blood letting. Or it came from a mine where they used the Indians as slave labor, who life span was measured in days, not even weeks.

So under those circumstances, unless I knew specifically where it was stolen from, I don't have a problem keeping the item.

Now personally, I made God a promise (sorry, don't mean to get overly religious here). Any religious items I find, gold crosses for jewelry, etc., I cash in and give that money to the poor and the needy.

So in your scenario, my big payday would go right in and out of my hands immediately.

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

Kind of a vague question. If the items were stolen and you know they are the stolen items then contact the police. That is assuming the theft was recent and not something that was stolen a hundred years ago.


The police would handle it and that will be the end of the story.

If a stage coach robbery took place a hundred years ago and a strong box full of gold was stolen and you found it, would you turn it over to the owners?

You are on vacation and doing some free diving. A glint in the sand on the bottom catches your eye. You dive down and find a small gold bar. It has its origin in South America. Apparently stolen by the Spanish from the local indians there, do you return it to South America or to the Spanish who lost it because their shipt sank off the coast where you happen to be diving while on vacation.

Lots of question could be raised to apply to your posted question. I think it comes down to common sense and making a judgement call depending on the situation.

If the items were recently stolen and you know where they came from, the police should be contacted to handle the situation.


Ray S ECenFL

 

[Frankn]

Several things apply here. One, does it have a name on it? example: I was driving down the road with my 5 kids and we spotted several hundred dollars in cash floating around in the road. We got out and grabbed it. We were totaling it up when my son said " I even found the wallet". I said let me see it. It had full ID including the guys kids pictures. I collected the money and wallet and we drove over and returned it. This is a true example.
Example 2: This is fiction! Detecting in the desert and get a loud signal. Uncover very old gold cross and other gold items with jewels. What woud I do? Actually there's no question there. I would carefully pick out the jewels and melt the gold down to small 1 oz. bars. I would then take an extended trip around the USA stopping in many jewerly stores and selling it off one piece at a time and vastly enjoying the trip. LOL
Religion does not enter into this equasion!

Sorry, spell check is out of order!

​

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

Several things apply here. One, does it have a name on it? example: I was driving down the road with my 5 kids and we spotted several hundred dollars in cash floating around in the road. We got out and grabbed it. We were totaling it up when my son said " I even found the wallet". I said let me see it. It had full ID including the guys kids pictures. I collected the money and wallet and we drove over and returned it. This is a true example.
Example 2: This is fiction! Detecting in the desert and get a loud signal. Uncover very old gold cross and other gold items with jewels. What woud I do? Actually there's no question there. I would carefully pick out the jewels and melt the gold down to small 1 oz. bars. I would then take an extended trip around the USA stopping in many jewerly stores and selling it off one piece at a time and vastly enjoying the trip. LOL
Religion does not enter into this equasion!

Sorry, spell check is out of order!

​

Very good examples.