500 eyewitnesses is pretty good direct evidence.
Zero evidence that the Shroud of Turin was over Jesus in the tomb. Zip, nadda, squatro...Just “believed” to be.
It’s certainly enigmatic, but after reading the Byzantine history of the Mandylion, which many believe was the shroud, I believe the prototype was a piece of statuary that lay concealed for five centuries, covered with the cloth. Ionizing radiation from radioactive elements within the statuary, over time, caused the changes in the cloth that we see as the image.
That was my take-a-way from the lecture.
The Shroud does not prove Jesus rose from the dead. As Jesus said “Blessed is he has not seen and believes.”
The visible image is very faint and hard to discern. The negative image is very detailed. How and why would a medieval forger create such a faint image that would expose great detail on the reverse. Pop Photography years ago demonstrated the how, using medieval tech, but did not address the why. In any event proof is irrelevant. Enough to know the scars of torture and crucifixion shown are so like those suffered by Christ for us all.
Further adding to the physical evidence is the Sudarium of Oviedo (https://www.shroud.com/guscin.htm) whose known history is better documented, and centuries older, than that of the Shroud.
Chemical, biological, physical, and botanical examinations of the Sudarium offer support for the Crucifixion, and as an aside, for the authenticity of the Shroud itself.
Sorry, not real and a serious mark of faithlessness to feel such an artifact is necessary.
Christ is Risen.
Don’t need a painted sheet to know that.
I have heard arguments pro and con about the authenticity of the Shroud. I’ve decided it has no impact whatsoever on my faith. If it’s a true image of the buried Christ, how awesome. If it isn’t, I don’t care. My faith is tied to a cross, not a cloth.
bttt