"The Passion" too violent? The "Shroud of Turin" shows it happened!

The Diocese of Charleston ^ | March 21, 2002 | Dr. William E. Rabil

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Shroud of Turin history presented in Upstate
Retired surgeon relays his nearly 40 years of research on the Shroud of Turin

By SHEILA OJENDYK

GREENVILLE — Dr. William E. Rabil has no doubt that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. Rabil, a retired general surgeon from Winston-Salem, N.C., began studying the shroud in the late 1950s and has been lecturing about it for nearly 40 years. He made two slide presentations to parishioners at St. Mary Church on March 6.

Rabil began with a brief history of the shroud. After the crucifixion, the shroud was originally hidden in Jerusalem and was thought to have been moved to Edessa (Urfa, Turkey) after Jerusalem fell to the Romans in A.D. 70. In 944, the Byzantine Imperial Army invaded Edessa to recover the shroud and brought it to Constantinople (now Istanbul). Raiders from the Fourth Crusade invaded Istanbul in 1294 and took the shroud to Europe. It is believed to have been hidden by the Knights Templar until Geoffrey DeCharney exhibited it in Liren, France, in 1353. From that point forward, its history is fully documented. The shroud was moved to Turin, Italy, in 1578 and has remained there ever since. It is kept in a silver reliquary behind bullet-proof glass inside the Chapel of the Shroud.

The shroud was first photographed in 1898 by Italian photographer Secondo Pia. His first shot was a misfire, but his second shot caused him to fall to his knees. On the negative was the "positive image of Jesus Christ." The markings on the shroud are negative images, and it took the photographic reversal of light and dark to reveal the positive image of a man's body.

While the evidence cannot prove conclusively that the image on the shroud is Jesus, it is definitely the image of man between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet tall who weighed approximately 175 pounds. Forensic medical investigation confirms that the man died from crucifixion.

The body in the shroud was unclothed. All four books of the Gospel tell of Roman soldiers casting lots for Jesus' garments.

The shroud was not wrapped around the body, as one might expect. The body was placed on top of the shroud with the feet at one end. The other end of the shroud was brought over the head and spread on top of the body, ending at the feet.

Jesus' torture and crucifixion were much bloodier than most paintings have ever depicted. The back of the body in the shroud shows multiple scourge marks from the nape of the neck to the feet. The Romans used a flagrum for scourging. A flagrum was a whip with bone or metal-tipped leather thongs that was specifically designed to tear flesh. One-hundred twenty scourge marks were counted on the body.

Blood had not been washed from the body in the shroud. The Sabbath was fast approaching when Jesus was taken down from the cross, and he had to be buried before sundown. The doctor emphasized that Jesus' body would have gone into rigor mortis almost immediately after death because of the trauma of crucifixion, which would have made washing very difficult. Jewish burial practices also precluded washing blood that was flowing at the time of death.

The face shows bruising on the nose; Jesus was struck on the nose by a high priest. The body had a mustache and beard, and there is evidence that facial hair had been plucked.

There were no broken bones, but some bones were displaced. There is evidence of spike wounds to both wrists and the feet. Forensic investigators have proved that the spikes were not pounded into Jesus' palms because the weight of an adult would have torn completely through all tissues, and he would have fallen off the cross. The spikes were pounded into his wrists, and the bones separated. One foot was nailed over the other.

According to Dr. John Heller in his book, Report on the Shroud of Turin (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1983), "There is a swelling of both shoulders, with abrasions indicating something heavy and rough had been carried across the man's shoulders within hours of death."

There is no pigment on the linen cloth of the shroud. If paint had been used, the wound pattern would have become obliterated. The blood stains on the back of the skull demonstrate the unique cohesive properties of blood. No other substance behaves the same way. Scientific testing has confirmed that the stains are blood and body fluids.

The forensic examination shows that the crown of thorns was actually a cap over the entire scalp. A painting done from the shroud image shows a thorn above Jesus' right eye.

Some photos of the shroud show the image of coins placed over both eyes, a Jewish burial custom. The image exactly matches that of a coin minted during the reign of Pontius Pilate between A.D. 29 and 33.

Botanical experts have examined fragments of the shroud and found spores and seeds from 27 plants that are indigenous to Jerusalem. Geological analysis of particles showed limestone indigenous to caves surrounding Jerusalem and suggested that the shroud was placed in a damp tomb or cave.

Jesus died after about three hours on the cross, which was considered fast for a man of his age and physical condition. Medical experts theorize that he was severely weakened by the brutal scourging. Death by crucifixion is very painful. The muscles of the arms, chest, and legs quickly go into spasm, and the victim dies of asphyxiation.

The shroud has been studied and tested carefully by surgeons, forensic scientists, nuclear scientists, radiologists, Biblical scholars, botanists, and historians. Experts have disagreed with each other and challenged each other's theories and tests. Nobody will ever prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Shroud of Turin was the burial cloth of Jesus Christ — but nobody can prove it wasn't either.

[Doctor Stochastic]

No. If you do the computations, fire contamination would not lead to a big date change (unless several times the weight of the shroud were added in soot.)

[Dataman]

One-hundred twenty scourge marks were counted on the body.

[Dataman]

You're fake.

[hosepipe]

The Shroud of Turin is real ONLY if Jesus is NOT the Christ(messiah), IMO

Cause I believe (a real)God is not so lame and incompetent as to allow an article such as this to remain to muddy up the statement he made by his death which takes the onus OFF the statement he made and puts it on minutia...

Anyone that believes wouldn't need it and whoever needs it to believe DON'T. Course an idolater would receive much benefit from it as would a Judas who promply committed sucide after viewing obvious evidence of what faith requires.. Wheres the suicides ?.. The shroud violates the message.. and is only needed by salvation tourists on a discounted excursion.

ONE SACRIFICE, ONCE FOR ALL... tickets punched by faith.

[Bigg Red]

Thank you for posting this. I have not seen the movie yet, but your testament brought me to tears.

[Dataman]

I don't know why Christians want so much to find the "Holy Zinger of Proof" to smack the heathens. Maybe it's easier than showing love?

You scoffers accuse Christians of needing no proof, only faith.

Then you contradict yourself by saying we need proof.

Schizophrenics are so hard to please.

[Bigg Red]

Carbon dating shows the shroud to be from 1350-ish, just before it was discovered.

***
That finding was later disputed by another scientist who maintains that tests were done on parts of the Shroud contaminated during that time period.

[BipolarBob]

Amen, the real proof of Jesus is a holy life. That is so much more important than a turin or any other material thing Christians may wish to argue about. Jesus gave two commandments LOVE GOD and LOVE thy fellow man.

[anonymous_user]

Christians shouldn't need proof, which was the whole point of my post.

Check your reading comprehension before throwing around ad hominem attacks.

[netmilsmom]

As I remember, the Vatican gave permission for a small part of the Shroud to be examined. There was a mix of secular and religious scientists. In the end, it was agreed that the proof was more towards real than not.

But push come to shove, they could have found a hair and cloned Jesus. The mainstream press would have never reported it. It is only through fine work like yours that we know anything about it. I looked into it a while ago and I was convinced it was real.

[smith288]

Calm down...I didnt have your name in the "To" box so chill.

[RightOnline]

It's not 'fake', friend.

Read and heed: Shroud of Turin -- Presentation Update -- Right Online

In fact, Dr. D'Muhala is doing his presentation on this again here in Raleigh on March 28th. The first thread I did on this back when (what, four years ago?) garnered an incredible response, and many requests for video of the event. This time.......it's being professionally recorded and will be available afterward (DVD?).

I am not familiar with the gentleman who made the presentation discussed in this thread, but Dr. Tom D'Muhala was the leader of the original STURP team and remained active in Shroud research internationally ever since. To my mind, THE definitive authority on the subject, one hell of a physicist / scientist, and one of the nicest guys you'd ever have the honor of getting to know.

[happydogdesign]

It never fails to amaze me that so many of those who consider themselves "faithful" will cling to shoddy hoaxes or Jesus shaped rust stains on a grain silo to bolster their faith. Manufacturing religious relics was a thriving industry in the middle ages, and every wide spot in the road had pieces of the true cross, bones of assorted saints, and a variety of gruesome souvenirs supposedly of divine origin.

Historically, the Shroud of Turin is one of some forty reputed burial cloths of Jesus, although it is the only one to bear the apparent imprints and bloodstains of a crucified man. Religious critics have long noted that the Turin shroud is incompatible with the bible, which describes multiple burial wrappings, including a separate “napkin” that covered Jesus’ face (John 20:5–7).

The Turin cloth first appeared in north-central France in the mid-fourteenth century. At that time the local bishop uncovered an artist who confessed he had “cunningly painted” the image. Subsequently, in 1389, Pope Clement VII officially declared the shroud to be only a painted “representation.”

Years later, this finding was conveniently forgotten by the granddaughter of the original owner. She sold it to the House of Savoy, which later became the Italian monarchy. Eventually the cloth was transferred to Turin. In 1983 Italy’s exiled king died, bequeathing the shroud to the Vatican.

The shroud’s modern history has confirmed the assessment of the skeptical bishop and Pope Clement. Forensic tests of the “blood” — which has remained suspiciously bright red — were consistently negative, and in 1980 renowned microanalyst Walter C. McCrone determined that the image was composed of red ocher and vermilion tempera paint.

Finally in 1988 the cloth was radiocarbon dated by three independent labs using accelerator mass spectrometry. The resulting age span of circa 1260–1390 was given added credibility by correct dates obtained from a variety of control swatches, including Cleopatra’s mummy wrapping.

These findings are mutually supportive. The tempera paint indicates the image is the work of an artist, which in turn is supported by the bishop’s claim that an artist confessed, as well as by the prior lack of historical record. The radiocarbon date is consistent with the time of the reported artist’s confession. And so on.

http://www.csicop.org/articles/shroud/index2.html

[RightOnline]

"Carbon dating shows the shroud to be from 1350-ish, just before it was discovered."

Wholly incorrect. Sorry.

[orionblamblam]

> That finding was later disputed by another scientist who maintains that tests were done on parts of the Shroud contaminated during that time period.

Numerous tests, from carbon dating to microscopic analysis, show the shroud to be from ca. 1350, plus or minus. For the "bioplastic coating" hypothesis to work, the coatign woudl need to mass *three* *times* the shroud itself. If the shroud had three times its own weight in gunk on it... you wouldn't be able to see it.

[Ichneumon]

Check your reading comprehension before throwing around ad hominem attacks.

I've been telling him that for a looong time. May you have better luck than I.

[RightOnline]

"The Shroud of Turin is real ONLY if Jesus is NOT the Christ(messiah), IMO"

A patently ridiculous statement. Also.........dead wrong.

[Ichneumon]

["Carbon dating shows the shroud to be from 1350-ish, just before it was discovered."]

Wholly incorrect. Sorry.

He's wholly correct. Sorry. Denying the evidence doesn't magically make it not true.

[RightOnline]

No........no...........YOU don't know the facts. I do. Go read the link above. Take the time. I did. He's wrong, as are you. Eschew laziness and expend a bit of effort before coming back to me on this one.

[hosepipe]

[ A patently ridiculous statement. Also.........dead wrong. ]

Prove it..