Posted on 04/04/2015 5:53:44 PM PDT by Steelfish
What Does The Shroud of Turin Prove About Easter? History Channel's The Real Face of Jesus? by MYRA ADAMS April 4, 2015
Christians around the globe will begin their annual celebration of Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, commemorating what they consider to be the greatest event in human history. The basis for the world’s largest religion is the belief that, in Jerusalem around a.d. 33, an itinerant Jewish rabbi died as a result of crucifixion and after three days rose from the dead, fulfilling his own and numerous other ancient Messianic prophecies found in the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament.
Sounding too much like science fiction, this tale is easily dismissed by non-believers. However, millions of Christians firmly believe that material scientific proof of the Christ’s resurrection actually exists today, and that evidence is called the Shroud of Turin.
The Shroud, alleged to be the burial cloth of Jesus, is the most studied, tested, and analyzed religious relic the world has ever known. It is preserved in an underground vault in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. Beginning April 19, the Shroud will be on a rare public display, through June 24. Pope Francis is scheduled to pray in front of the Shroud on June 21, and his visit to Turin will generate enormous global media attention.
The Shroud’s public exposition, highlighted by the pope’s visit, naturally will also generate a debate about the Shroud’s authenticity. If you have read this far, but are laughing at the idea that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus and proof of his resurrection, you should know certain numerous indisputable scientific facts. In fact, they are far too many for this space, but here are some highlights.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Whatever it is, it is certainly fascinating. Those who would simply dismiss it as a fraud or a painting are not paying attention to the scientific research on it.
I am generally skeptical of such things. I agree that it does not change a person’s faith or beliefs no matter what it is.
I have never really studied it but I remember when the first carbon dating was done at Oxford, it seemed to me that they were about as unscientific about it as they could be. The results were preordained.
There are some really odd things about it and no one has explained what it really is.
Nothing
The shroud is a urban legend.
Absolutely nothing. All the proof I need is contained within the Scriptures and by the witness of the Holy Spirit in my life. A personal relationship with the Resurrected Lord makes any token, real or not, irrelevant
“Then Jesus told him (Thomas), “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.””
I do not need the Shroud to believe. I come by faith that the Word is true. That does not mean that I have no interest in the Shroud. If a Thomas today needs the Shroud to convince belief, so be it.
As a follower of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and as a scientist with an inquiring mind I have always been interested in the Shroud. Science today makes it ever more difficult to refute the validity of the Shroud. I am of the opinion that it could be the burial cloth that ‘clothed’ Jesus in the tomb.
Read this account about the Shroud to the end. It is worth the read.
You mean an urban legend? It is not. I have seen it and it is real. I don’t think it proves anything by its existence, except that it was made by a process we couldn’t duplicate today, unless we had a dead bleeding body to start with.
Obviously, it IS real. It is driving disbelievers crazy.
You all keep missing the point. Of course faith matters. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist all have faith. But Catholicism is founded on both faith and reason. The accounts of the Gospel and the teachings and practices of the early disciples are all part of that reason. The authenticity of the books assembled as part of the canonical text are all part of that reason too through historical scholarship and practice. While the Shroud is NOT necessary to affirm that belief because of the other historical sources, it does scientifically validate the belief. Now, isn’t that marvelous. Just as we know historically that the story of the Crucifixtion is historically a valid event.
Read the article?
Is that a new rule?
Heck, I’m dealing with friends the last few days, who I guess are Christian but, get so many facts wrong about Christ, the Bible and other provable historical facts, I’m reading up The Gospels again, to gain some peace of mind, as I have no clue what these people are talking about.
First of all I’m not RC. Second the shroud proves nothing. It can add nothing to my faith. But if eventually proven a forgery it could prove shattering to the faith of those who rely on signs and man made traditions to validate their faith. The shroud is an interesting curiosity, and someday we will know the truth about it, but meantime we should not let sideshows detract from the Truth.
Kay ...thanks .
But if all that you need is contained in the scriptures, that won’t do. Because you must know what it teaches, and this is why Christ gave a Great Commission to his Peter and his apostles to Go forth and Teach. This is to teach ONE truth. Not what you, or I, or Rev Wright, or Joel Ostend, or Jim Jones thinks they can decipher from scripture. That leads to many “truths.”
For us RCs, there is only ONE truth and for this Christ established ONE Church, and the Shroud scientifically affirms our belief in the risen Lord. Affirmation by science is not needed, but then again a blind faith is what other religions claim too. Reason without faith is limited to the horizons of our intellect. Faith without reason is a myth.
We need truth. If science can contribute to this truth why not accept it. if it turns out to be a fake, nothing lost, there are several other sources for verification of Christ’s Resurrection.
Simple test:
1. Put color on your face. Paint. Sweat. Tea. Whatever.
2. Cover your face and head with a towel, rag, cloth. Whatever.
3. Remove the cloth.
4. Look at it.
5. It doesn’t look like a face.
6. Paintings are a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional object from a fixed point.
7. Your experiement produces a two-dimensional representation of a three dimensional object from an infinite number of points, where each point on the cloth matches a distinct point on your head.
8. The shroud matches #6.
9. Your test cloth matches #7.
The shroud is a painting.
There’s no pigment on the cloth, no brush strokes on it either, and you have no examples of medieval paintings that are photographic negatives, as the Shroud is. One thing it isn’t, is a painting.
Wow! Maybe they should hire you as part of the International Test Team. Did you read the links in the article itsel?
As they discuss, the image on the shroud is not all that great as a “painting”. It is out of proportion, etc. However, it has 3D code within it, so they can create a 3D image from it.
They then tired to figure out how the image might have been created. The washcloth over the face didn't do it. A single point of light (like a flash photography) didn't do it. It turned out that a regular copier machine scanner with a flat edge of light taken of a 3D image would create the image shown on the shroud.
Some nuclear physicist on the show was also saying how this image is also on the backside of the person, but the image is not compressed by the weight of the body. So the body and fabric all the way around was suspended in air.
She likened it to a mini “Big Bang” of light and energy - a “singularity event” or something. Way above my knowledge, but I did find the theory interesting, as Christ did talk about a “new Creation”. Maybe that mini “Big Bang” was the start of the new Creation, and based on the same design as the original Creation.
“Why would I need proof?”
It’s not about proof. No true Christian “needs” the shroud for proof. However it is wonderful to contemplate the Lord’s awesome power and glory and miraculous capabilities far beyond our mere human endeavors. It is about wonder and awe and gratitude and LOVE in the sense of adding to the sense of adoration for the Lord’s efforts for us sinners.
The shroud proves that some get so dependent on physical things that they forget that it is by faith alone that we are saved. It has been “shrouded” in mystery because it has not been proven as authentic and I would hazard that it never will be - to me, it has as much relevance as a visage of the Virgin Mary appearing on a piece of burnt toast.
Sorry, but you’re IGNORANT. It has been proven NOT to be “a painting.”
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