The Origin of Christian Saints 

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Throughout Russian Orthodox history, there was a popular folk belief that the bodies of saints would not decay and were incorruptible. When the Soviet's came to power, they initiated an anti-relic campaign which was intended to convince the public that the church had been deceiving them. While bones were found in many of the saint's tombs, some contained mummified bodies which reportedly astonished many locals. Some of the remains of the saints were taken to museums to be displayed as artifacts, but there were faithful Christians who continued to visit and pray before them. A very interesting part of Russian religious history.

You're a legend RFB!

Wow, I am so early that Paul is still attacking the early apostles...

I imagine church services in literal underground catacombs to be the most surreal experience lol

My aunt (R.I.P.) was actually blessed by a saint! In the 1950s, she lived in Italy where she visited the famous stigmatic Padre Pio, who took her confession. She later went on to become a Catholic nun in the Carmelite order in the US. Padre Pio died in 1968 and was later canonized. More recently, other family members visited Saint Pio's shrine and returned with some holy oil, which was shared around for anointing, especially for those with injuries.

A interesting occurrence is also that when a Christian church replaced or took over a pagan temple, many times there is overlap in the sphere of influence of the hero and the saint that replaced him/her. Example, as shrine with a hero that was thought to say protect babies and pregnant mothers, the saint that replaced the hero will also be someone with some connection to babies and mothers. Not always, but enough times it isn't just random either.

Fun fact, Polycarp was a student of John the Apostle

An interesting continuation for this video would be analyzing the cult of the Virgin Mary.

Hi, I just wanted to say that I love this channel. Religious history is one of my favorite aspects of history, so it's sad that it's often overlooked. I blame History Channel for the common perception that history's just about warfare. Thank you and the team behind RFB for making this area of history much more accessible!

Great video as someone raised Catholic it’s fascinating to learn about different religions and practices. Even today Catholics study saints and choose a saint name. Mine was Joan of Arc when I was confirmed.

"I just love this salad dressing! What's your secret?" "Promise you won't tell anyone?... The oil was poured over the bones of Saint Olivia of Palermo!" "Oh, um.... That's nice... You know, I just realized I'm full."

Interesting! Although one note. There are actually three classes of relics! First is the body of the saint, second is something the saint owned or used while alive and third are items that have touched first or second class relics.

Watches Religion for Breakfast at dinner time, like a boss 😎

Will you ever do a video discovering Eastern Catholic Churches like the Maronites for example? I find them extremely underrated with a deep history worthy of discussing.

You’re a fantastic creator. Learned so much! Thanks for these!!!!

Orthodox Christian here. Just one clarification to this amazing video. For the Orthodox a saint is *anyone* who is in heaven, which is one reason why we say we don’t know all their names. Canonized saints are the ones who we feel confident are in heaven and whose lives we should imitate (and this is the reason martyrs were the first saints), but we consider anyone who enters the Kingdom to be a saint- not just the very special dead.

As a Greek myself it must be noted that even do the pagan beliefs were cut dawn, their traditions survived and evolved in the Orthodox Byzantine church until today. In Ancient and Hellenistic Greece, when the boys got to their 15 birthday, their hair was cut dawn and the practice was keeped by the Byzantine orthodox church until now. When a Byzantine city was on siege, the reliques of the patron saint were moved to the city to help in the defense just like in Classical/Hellenistic Greece. Our Byzantine saints are clones of the ancient Greek heroes that each city had as patron just that they were christians, they both could make miracles, they both were warrios and from humble beginnings ect. Just like in Classical and Hellenistic Greece, a statue of a god wasen't divine until it was consacrated. The same applies for our Byzantine icons that weren't divine until consacrated. The most famous classical Greek heroes were replaced by our most famous Byzantine saints ho were practically their clones in a christian fashion for example: Demetrios and Theodore tooked the place of Herakles and Asclepius and the prayers that were made to this Demi-gods remained the same for the Byzantines just that now the names would be changed by that of Theodore and Demetrios. Our orthodox tradition is a christian-Hellenic one since its very beginnings.

Why is this channel not at 1M subscribers yet with this quality of video and information? I don't understand.

Religions are a cool way of seeing what the regional culture/s were like at that period of time. Like with Christianity being able to see how the religion changed as it met new cultures or as it changed through the centuries to meet the new cultural norms.

As a Catholic, I have exactly the same sort of thing in the introduction. A friend gave me Oil of Saint Charbel, which is a small amount of pure olive oil mixed with a tiny amount of oil that was in contact with the bones of the Maronite monk Saitn Charbel Makhlouf. Same principle: oil touches his relics, oil has his powers to intercede to God and work miracles, power diffuses into the larger batch of olive oil for wider distribution.

M a g i c b o n e o i l

This is fascinating. Thanks, once again. At this point probably my favorite YT channel.

Sure hope he does a video on the Cult of the Blue Oyster.

Interesting. I’d love to see your take on Santa Muerte.

Can't blame people for keeping Saint Corpses. I heard they give you something called a "Stand".

That was great! Would love to see more videos about saints, I find them fascinating!

It has just occurred to me that an official characteristic of a recognised saint is to have displayed *heroic* virtue.

Thank you for this very interesting video. I am orthodox and where I'm from pilgrimages to the remains of saints are widely practiced - even during the pandemic hundreds of people would go and kiss the box containing the remains. It always baffled me, but at the same time I figured this type of behavior won't dissappear very soon because it must be very deeply imbedded in the collective mentality and it must be rooted in a very old practice. I just didn't know what that practice was. I can't believe I didn't make the corelation with the ancient greek hero cults. Again, thank you for this!

Comparative Religion: In traditional Judaism, there are people who are believed to be a "Maaleh Yotzer", that is, Gd will listen to prayers said "in their merit". It is not that one asks them to intercede, but that their memory will intercede. While their are no relics, the gravesites are important places of prayer: The Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank doubles as a synagogue and mosque for that reason. Their is also Rachel's Tomb outside Bethlehem, and David's tomb just west of the Old City of Jerusalem. Often, post-biblical Maaleh Yotzers will have a day that attracts pilgrims, often their Yortzeit, or anniversary of there deaths. For example, many flock to Meron in the Galilee on Log B'omer, since Rabbi Shimon B. Yochai is buried their and Log B'omer is his yortzeit. In the Ukraine, Rosh Hashanah attracts many to the tomb of Rabbi Nachman Breslover in the town of Uman, even though it is not his yortzeit, since proceeding his death he asked that Rosh Hashanah be the pilgramage day, not his yortzeit. There is even a major shrine of Rabbi MM Scheerson in Queens, New York, outside of the cemetery he is buried in. Even outside their tombs' environs, a Maaleh Yotzer can have prayers said "in their merit". For example, their is a segulah, a kind of "charm" for finding lost objects that consists of calling upon Gd as the "Gd of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNeis.

In Greece every city has its poliouchos saint poliouchos meaning city protector

You never disappoint! Thank you for your consistency and hard work 💖

The difference between the Hellenistic hero cult and the Christian veneration of saints follows, arguably the difference between *'apotheosis'* - _man becoming an immortal demi-god, like Achilles and Alexander_ - and an *'apostolic life' or 'discipleship'* - _participating in, or accompanying the suffering of God when becoming man, like the martyrs who confessed the truth of the Christian faith against repression_ - which transforms or 'transfigures' the human body towards resurrection (as martyrdom is not a natural, but supernatural act, an act towards the 'deification of the world' or 'theosis'). There's also the aspect of 'historicity' and *'succession'* within the veneration of saints - as with the unbroken succession of priests, ordained by the apostles - which converted a Manichean like Augustine of Hippo, despite struggling to grasp a seemingly abstract Christian doctrine - and lastly: man cherrishes 'keepsakes' like the lock of hair of a loved one - not as a _symbolic representation_ - but as a form of their _actual presence_ (as the gospels not only teach that the dead are alive, but that *the living are already dead, unless they enter the **_'Kingdom of God'_* ): *"Let the dead bury their own dead* ." (Luke 9:60) "(...) *not the God of the dead but of the living* (...)" (Luke 20:37-38)

lets not forgot the Tribunal cult in Morrowind

What a fantastic video!!! Would you consider doing a similar video focusing on saints and relics in Shia Islam?

You seem to be forgetting that the Gospel of Matthew records that the Jews of the first century venerated and adorned the tombs of the holy dead. Matthew 23:29-33

"The Very Special Dead" *the grateful dead has left the chat*

Like so many of these examples, its more a case of parallel evolution rather than direct copying.

When I saw the Gethsemane Rock, we weren’t invited to touch it.

i am so unfathomably fascinated by your videos. you do such an amazing job with the flow and lead through understanding much appreciation for you hard work!

They say that a Saint's corpse could bring fortune to a country, or even grant supernatural abilities to people.

Similar, but not quite the same, a video about the veneration of the Holy Mother would be very interesting as well. The sites where She is believed to have manifested become sites of pilgrimage with ritual practices and a perceived role as intercessor between people and God very similar to that of saints.

I'm not particularly religious, but..religious history is just fascinating to me. Putting aside deriding beliefs as mere superstition, what amazes me is the sheer scope of human imagination and inventiveness in it all. We're truly remarkable when it comes down to it.

Could you do an episode on demi-gods, please?

There is a long drawn-out process for the Vatican to proclaim someone a "saint" but the Bible says all Christians are saints. Just means you're saved.

Such an informative video, I always wondered why Catholics held the saints in such a high regard. The holy oil thing was very interesting. I'm gonna need some of that when I go fight Dracula.

Great video! A related topic that could be addressed in a future video is the medieval cult of relics as descibed by John Calvin.

The book referenced, The Second Church, sounds absolutely fascinating. It would make an interesting video in its own right, the difference between the elite Christians and the everyday Christians in early Christianity.

I was looking forward to this one!

So quick question... Did stylites just heed the calls of nature over the edge of their columns? Or did they come down? The former seems most logical, which makes the clay amulets made from the dirt around the stylites pillars a little yucky

The word in Italian for Worship service is "culto"

The more I learn about early Christianity, the weirder it sounds lol

Awesome topic! I read Peter Brown’s The Cult of the Saints, at university and have been fave been fascinated ever since. Keep up the outstanding work.

And here I thought it was the Greek gods that became Roman that became saints that became movie stars that became smartphone apps.

I like your "building blocks" analogy - that works for holidays too

The preferred term nowadays is "living-challenged" instead of "dead". Thank you for your cooperation.

"Have fellowship with his holy flesh" They ate him, right?

When did "going to church" become a thing?

That part about monks living atop pillars made me think of the phrase we use about "putting someone up on a pedestal." I wonder if there's a connection?

Could you make a video about the history of Limbo?

You break it down so well, thank you! I always learn so much from your videos.

Im surprised you left out the rise/role of the maccabean martyrs both in Judaism and Christianity, especially as a patristic model that was used again and again early on in the formation and conceptualize of the cult of the saints. Josephus already discusses a 'hero cult like' memorial for Judah maccabbee and we know the antiochan jews built a shrine for him and both jews and Christians prayed there. Jewish martyrs were not seen as intercessors at that point but there deaths were both personally and communally (or globally) redemptive/atoned for sins or could bring merit. Another set of building blocks (+ the stone reliquaries would also be well known to second temple Judaism as they are nearly identical to the stone boxes used for reinterment of bones a year after burial).

10:44 One history teacher of mine used to say that if you gathered all of the fragments of the true cross commercialized during the middle ages, you would have enough wood to build a caravel, maybe more

What about the confucianism videos? It was really interesting.

Fascinating glimpse at the early church

Wait, but isn't the Hero cult just another version of the Ancestor cult? Relevant relative A has died, therefore they are now supernatural and can look over person B. Their grave is a somehow special place and they may not be related to a civic identity, but a family identity. It seems like another level in an "evolutionary" gradation.

Thank you so much for doing these videos. I have learned so much and always look forward to new videos.

It doesn’t surprise me that Greek hero cults got absorbed into early Christianity. Something similar clearly happened later when Northern Europe was Christianized. Sigurd the Dragon Slayer became St. George, and the crucified Christ started to look a lot like Balder the Beautiful.

Most of my favorite channels are science and engineering related. This is one of my favorite channels.

I've always thought that the statues of saints that Italians carry through the streets on their feast days are actually just renamed heros and deities. They've been carrying those statues up the side of the mountain for 4,000 tears, only changing the name they use for it and adding details to the stories and rituals.

As an art historian who teaches but does not specialize in sacred art of late antiquity and the middle ages, I am going to freely admit that the seemingly endless list of saints is something i have found, at times, quite frustrating. As if the iconography if Christianity were not complicated enough!

The intercession of the saints did not click for me until I understood the eschatological dimension of the Church, in other words, "what is the Kingdom of God?". I realize you have not touched upon this "third rail" of theology, but, it might be of help to review: 1. All of the Apostolic Churches (those whose origins are pre-reformation) hold to the intercession of the saints. 2. All of the Apostolic Churches hold to Realized Millenialism in thier eschatology (called "Amillenialism" by 'low church' Protestants, who mostly hold pre-millenial views, though many 'high church' Protestants still mostly adhere to Realized Millenialism). 3. Realized Millenialism states that (1) Jesus is presently and at this very moment reigning from Heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, (2) that before the ascension, all authority in Heaven and on Earth had already been given to Christ, and that (3) There is no 'literal, physical specific 1,000 years of rule with Christ upon his return", for "His Kingdom shall have no end", in other words, that Kingdom is now, it has been "realized". 4. Orthodoxy (and from what I understand, all the Apostolic churches) hold that the dead in Christ know what is happening on earth. In Revelation 6:9-11, they clamour impatiently for judgment to be poured out on their oppressors. 5. The concept of "soul sleep", temporary abeyance, or "limbo" for the dead in Christ is not found in Orthodox thought. 6. Christ states "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living." 7. Orthodox theology holds that the transfiguration shows that although Moses had died and Elijah had been taken up to heaven centuries before, they now live in the presence of God, and that the same return to life applies to all who face death and have faith in Christ. They were and are alive - so much so that the Apostles asked if they could build Moses and Elijah tents to stay in for the night. 8. Those in heaven are “like the angels,” Christ says. Those in heaven surround us as a “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1). 9. In Luke 16:19-31, the rich man shows concern for his family on earth, even though he is dead. If a person such as the rich man has such concern for those still alive after being dead, those who have passed away in Christ are certainly also able to be concerned for the living. But can they do anything about their concerns? Are those that are dead in Christ denied or silent? 10. The Kingdom of God is available to us right now, right here, if we choose to access it. Those that are dead in Christ are already a part of the Kingdom of God. It is one Kingdom; we are connected to those that are dead in Christ through Christ himself. "Too often modern Christians forget that the Church is not just an institution, but the Kingdom of God that is here but is still to come. The Church is described as the Bride of Christ. We are betrothed to Christ. The second coming is the wedding day and the final consummation. Therefore, we live this present life in two dimensions: as saved and yet hoping for salvation; as betrothed to Christ and yet in anticipation and anxiety for the consummation of the marriage; as joyful and yet penitent; as having everything and yet possessing nothing; as living in this world and yet “having here no continuing city”; as in the world yet not of the world; as being members of Christ’s Church, receiving the new life of baptism and eternal life in the Eucharist; and yet as striving to be made worthy of the Kingdom to come. This double character of Christian life is absolutely essential" - Fr. Vassilios Papavassiliou

Catholicism is metal

If people have been kissing statues for a millenium you can't make them stop, all you can really do is change the statues...

It's really interesting to think how the cult of saints intertwined with the local traditions of mesoamerican people, and how they still continue to this day

Great video! So dope. My family have their own patron saints that are revered in their small town they came from. Always wondered how that even became a thing

An additional difference between Greek hero cults and saints is that the Greek heroes typically didn't do anything particularly religious to get the title. Some, like those listed in the video, were legendary great men. But most cities also had a cult to their founder - who was a common man who didn't do anything more (or less) than lead the initial settlers to the new site after being instructed to do so by the mother city. Some successful generals (such as Pausanias) also had cults; the later deification of Hellenistic kings can be seen as a continuation of this practice on steroids. In all these cases, hero cults are much of a civic institution than a spiritual one, like much of Greco-Roman religion incidentally. This is very different to saints, who all became saints because of particularly holy or divine acts.

I am somewhat disappointed that despite the excellent references to how the larger Greco-Roman culture contributed to the cult of the saints, there was very little mention of the Jewish influence besides the bible. As you know Judaism at the time was not a monolith, but there were significant adherents then and now to the idea of a Tzadok or Tzaddik, a righteous man. A title gained, and in some Jewish tradition the tomb of a Tzaddikim is venerated as an intercessor not disimilar to Christianity. A recent example in the news was the Sheik Jerrah neighbourhood where evictions were the source of conflict once again in Israel. This neighbourhood is also where the tomb of Simeon HaTzadok or Simeon the Just reisdes, and where Jews historically have come to ask for his intercession even before Christianity. The Zohar even explicitly states that intercession is needed in this life. Then there is also the tomb of the Patriarchs, which likewise is a source for Jewish pilgrimage and includes intercessory prayer. Today you even have something similar to icons like using the image of Yeshayah Steiner to ward of mice.

Such good information for my post reform. Mind and explanation for all i saw in Greece.

Dr. Andrew, I've heard people saying that the cult of heroes as semi-divine humans in the Greek culture not only laid the groundwork for the cult of saints, but was also fundamental for the concept of Jesus as the son of God; an idea completely alien to the traditional Yahwehist culture. What are your thoughts on that?

Peter Brown - great historian! You should also note how the Donatists really amped up the celebration of the dead, and this spilled over to the regular church as well.

So early Christians would graffiti -gang- fish signs on walls, and early Christians would hang out in cemeteries & tombs. Without context, these guys sound like a bunch of anti-establishment punks! xD

In French, the word for cult still is synonymous to acts of adoration.

Sounds like an ancient version of the “27 Club” .

"Nothing is more frequent in Paul than the name of saints given to all Christians (Romans 1 : 7, 8 : 27, 12 : 13, 15 : 25; 31, 16 : 2). In this acceptation it continued during the early ages of Christianity; nor was it applied to individuals declared to be saints by any other act of the church than admission to its membership, till various corruptions had depraved the primitive principles." - ATS Bible Dictionary And, as usual, Dr Henry explained those "corruptions" admirably. 👍

This is a video about the origins of the cult of saints what is also interesting is how saints go in and out of fashion. I did my doctoral research on St Rose of Lima (the first American born saint) and there definitely "fashions" in saints. For example there was no cult of St Joseph in the west before about the 15th century and the "local hoy woman" started with Clare of Assisi and by the 17th century you were not a "proper" place unless you had one. The Italian city states started it but it spread to Spain (Teresa of Avila) and thence to Latin America (St Rosa). Maybe an idea for a future video.

this is a very well done video.

The word μάρτυρας=martyr doesn't mean witness in all counts, also means someone that had a tortured death μαρτυρικός θάνατος, μαρτύριο=martyrdom.The word has many meanings in Greek literature and poetry.

Wow never thought about this topic before

Roman Catholicism: “We must formulates a systematic methodology for the canonization of saints”. - Greek Orthodoxy: “Eeeh...let God judge”.

I like how you change from shirt and suit to T-shirt in the informal (sponsored) section 😁

Polycarp... the ancient saint of many gold fish

This is so interesting, Andrew. Your channel is awesome!

I'd love to go visit those catacombs and explore! Even as an apostate! lol

In our culture, Greek, the human remains of an prominent person that dies for faith or country were sacred. We have that from the very early age of history. We have on Parthenon the remains of one of the first kings, Erechtheas, on whose honour Erechtheum was erected. The body of Achilles. The body of Hecotor. More prominent the body of Alexander the Great for whom all the Epigons fought to take, as it was thought to be sacred. It was not a Christian thing. It was a habit that was inherited to Christianity.

It's very interesting and you explain in a way that is easy 2 understand

This is a truly fascinating theory... and just as fascinating is the brief mention of a cult of Iphigenia--that was unexpected!

After resurrected Christ he appeared many times to his followers 1st& 2nd century they were honouring martyred early Christians

Catholicism is functionally polytheistic, but Christians tend to become furious when you suggest that they worship saints. The more educated Christians give the flimsy excuse that they pray to the saints intermediaries to God, but the excuse is sophistry at best. It's clear to anyone looking in from outside the religion that the saints are minor deities, especially when you look at how they are worshipped in Hispanic Catholic countries.

Got my St Padre Pio card with relic of piece of fabric that was used to wrap his stigmata. Found it on a walk.