Posted on 12/24/2009 10:28:07 AM PST by Salman
From a long-sealed cave tomb, archaeologists have excavated the only known Jesus-era burial shroud in Jerusalem, a new study says.
The discovery adds to evidence that the controversial Shroud of Turin did not wrap the body of Christ, researchers say.
[ snip ]
The weave of the Tomb of the Shroud fabric, the new study says, casts further doubt on the Shroud of Turin as Jesus' burial cloth.
The newfound shroud was something of a patchwork of simply woven linen and wool textiles, the study found. The Shroud of Turin, by contrast, is made of a single textile woven in a complex twill pattern, a type of cloth not known to have been available in the region until medieval times, Gibson said.
Both the tomb's location and the textile offer evidence for the apparently elite status of the corpse, he added. The way the wool in the shroud was spun indicates it had been imported from elsewhere in the Mediterranean—something a wealthy Jerusalem family from this period would likely have done.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
The Shroud of Turin discussion has always been an argument without a controversy. People may believe it 'is or isn't.' I confess to fantasizing about how fun it would be to prove that it is. Of course, no one could ever prove that.
Whether it is or isn't has zip to do with the central facts of the life of Jesus. The 'I am the way the truth and the life' part and the 'God-man/man-God' part and the resurrection part still remain matters of faith as is the 'greatest commandment' part. Quite simply, there isn't a single translated word of any part of the New Testament that is altered a single degree by the Shroud of Turin being an 'is' or an 'isn't.'
Faith is both a destination and a gift. I struggle toward it day after day. Some days I think I'm there. Then the next day I think I'm a million miles away. The Shroud of Turin can't change that.
More smoke blowing. Nat. Geographic is very good at that.
Why does it matter to you that minds change?
One word, "Fatwa".
As the Documenting Photographer for the project, I felt a responsibility to complete what I began, and make available some of the 2700 photographs and other materials I collected during the four years of the project. And finally tell the story of what took place in my own words and from my perspective. Frankly, I am still Jewish, yet I believe the Shroud of Turin is the cloth that wrapped the man Jesus after he was crucified. That is not meant as a religious statement, but one based on my privileged position of direct involvement with many of the serious Shroud researchers in the world, and a thorough knowledge of the scientific data, unclouded by media exaggeration and hype.
Does no one recall that the Roman soldiers cast lots for Jesus” Robe and that it was considered valuable as it was made from a single piece of cloth?
A wealthy man made his tomb available for Jesus. Is it not reasonable that his burial shroud was of good quality?
I have no opinion on the shroud of Turin, my best guess is that it is not that of Jesus but this is hardly evidence.
Really? Let's see. Twill plaids have been found in tombs of Celts in China from 2000 B.C. Meanwhile, the Holy Land was the trading capital of the world in Jesus' time, as it had generally been for a millennium or two, thanks to the Phoenicians. No, I'm sure the primitive, ignorant, unlettered Jews (who wrote the Scriptures) couldn't weave worth a darn, and furthermore, had no access to trade, and therefore had no way of wrapping their wealthy dead in anything nicer than burlap or cheesecloth. If they tell me they found a man as rich as Joseph of Aramathea buried in a tuna-can, maybe I'll pay attention.
The problem with academic Marxists (such as the National Geographic Society) is that they measure the value of their research by how much more worldly and cynical it shows them to be than their embarrassing grandparents. The scientific method, starting with asking some dumb-obvious questions, seems to take a back seat to this ambition. I don't know how they can get this adolescent drool published.
This story reminds me of other ignorant things that have been said, especially among some Shroud researchers, because they didn't think to bring in a textile expert when researching the origin of a textile product. It was a textile expert—a woman, and not a Ph.D.—who finally pointed out, after the "medieval" carbon date came out some years ago, that the sample had been taken from an outer part of the Shroud that plainly had been grafted onto the central part later. They hadn't tested the part of the Shroud that had the image on it. Duh.
One! Just one? 1 shroud out of approximately 1,000 tombs and they're ready to claim that the shroud of Turin is not Jesus's because one.... just "1" single shroud that exists is different? One shroud? Like everybody had to use identical shrouds. Oh please!
Well, come to think of it, the science we get today is, make it up as you go along and see how many people you can fool with it type science.
Right on the nose.. this is a lame assertion that is not at all logical.
The better use would be to compare the carbon dating of both shrouds which would have some scientific meaning. That is assuming that Carbon dating hadn't been used to establish that this new shroud came from the 0CE era.
The shroud of Turin would have been provided by Nicodemus and as a rich man he would have used his best. Maybe it wasn’t made as a burial shroud at all? This prove zip. Even if the Shroud was proven 100% wrong-—it says nothing about the life and eternal message of Jesus Christ. Don’t listen to neo-Pagans as they try to denounce with a little voice of doubt the greatest story ever told. Merry Christmas.
National Geographic’s yearly treatment of the “Jesus Myth”.
Thank you, brother. I'm a believer and have been all along. I love the Shroud of Turin.
Merry Christmas La Enchiladita (((((Hugs)))))
Christianity is laughed at as a religion of myth worshippers, hypocrites and worse. But still it goes on with the simple premise that we believe Jesus Christ died to somehow make us right with the Lord, he rose from the dead and that we were put on this earth by God in order to try to live our lives in harmony with his teachings...... and that God knowing what weak stuff we are made of has found it in his grace to forgive our sins if we only truly repent and give ourselves up to him.
I sure hope that God is a forgiving and patient master. I'm going to need all the help I can get.
Merry Christmas.... Jesus is born.
Because it is the world's first photograph ca 1500. Read "Turin Shroud" by Picknett and Clive.
The image is "hinged", i.e. no top of the head shown so it's no wrap-around shroud. A few other minor items like the head is proportionally too small (head added on in another exposure) and the back image is larger than the front by about two inches. Still a marvel, but not a religious one.
I’ve been reading about it for several years off and on ... it is interesting .... spooking kinda ....
I’ve been reading about it for several years off and on ... it is interesting .... spooky kinda ....
Excellent points.
That's the only organized advocacy group which gets excited about publishing any story that puts Christian churches, generally, in a bad light; doubt, confusion, chaos, whatever.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.