aying that the disciples had stolen the body of our
Lord? I shall conclude with a convincing proof of the audacity of the
Papists. Wherever the holy sudary is exhibited, they show a large sheet
with the full-length likeness of a human body on it. Now, St John's
Gospel, chapter nineteenth, says that Christ was buried according to the
manner of the Jews; and what was their custom? This may be known by their
present custom on such occasions, as well as from their books, which
describe the ancient ceremony of interment, which was to wrap the body in
a sheet, to the shoulders, and to cover the head with a separate cloth.
This is precisely how the evangelist described it, saying, that St Peter
saw on one side the clothes with which the body had been wrapped, and on
the other the napkin from about his head. In short, either St John is a
liar, or all those who boast of possessing the holy sudary are convicted
of falsehood and deceit.(135)

In the Church of St John of the Lateran at Rome, they show the reed which
the soldiers, mocking Christ in the house of Pilate, placed in his hand,
and with which they afterwards smote him on the head. In the Church of the
Holy Cross at Rome they show the sponge which was filled with vinegar, and
given him to drink during his passion. Now, I would ask, how were these
things obtained? They must have been formerly in the hands of infidels.
Could they have delivered them up to the apostles to be made relics of? or
did they preserve them themselves for future times?

What a sacrilege to make use of the name of Jesus Christ in order to
invent such absurd fables!

And what can we think of the pieces of silver received by Judas for
betraying our Saviour? The Gospel says that he returned this money to the
chief priests, who bought with it the potter's field for a burial-place
for strangers.

By what means were these pieces of silver obtained from the seller of that
field? It would be too absurd to maintain that this was done by the
disciples of Jesus Christ; and if we are told that they were found a long
time afterwards, it will be still less probable, as this money must have
passed through many hands. It is therefore necessary to prove, that either
the person who sold his field did so for the purpose of obtaining the
silver pieces in order to make relics of them; or that he afterwards sold
them to the faithful. Nothing of this kind has ever been mentioned by the
primitive church.(136) To the same