THE RAPE OF THE TURIN SHROUD by William Meacham exposes that some of the Vatican/Turin Church are not friends of the SHROUD.
MY BELIEF: the Shroud of Tourin allows truthful credibility to two authority sources for faith: tradition & reason.
BASIS:
Protestantism is a form of Christianity that originating within the 16th-century Reformation. Sources of faith believe in “Sola scriptura”, meaning by scripture alone
Ephesians 2:8 confirms that faith is ultimately a gift of God. “The gift of God” in the original Greek refers back to both grace and faith earlier in the verse. Grace and faith are divine gifts. we have faith only because of the work of the Holy Spirit, then we can truly give God all the glory for our salvation. We are not to look at ourselves as better than others because we believe the gospel; rather, we are to be profoundly grateful that God has chosen to grant us faith even though we are undeserving sinners.
Sinners intellectually are able to understand the basic content of the gospel, but lack the moral ability to believe the gospel. Because, they are unwilling to turn from their sin and rest in Christ alone until the Spirit changes their hearts and enables them to heed the preaching of the gospel of God (Acts 13:13–52). Believing in Christ is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8; Acts 13:48) and NOT a reason for us to boast (1 Corinthians 4:7), as if we are better or smarter than others (1 Corinthians 1:26).
Coram Deo captures this essence of the Christian life: referencing what takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. Then, living Coram Deo is to OUR life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God. If we indeed have faith in Jesus it is because God has GIVEN us the faith to believe.
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral categorizes 4 authority sources for faith: 1) Scripture, (2) tradition, (3) reason, and (4) experience. Scripture is the PRIMARY source and standard for Christian doctrine. Tradition is experience and witness of development and growth of the faith through the past centuries in many nations and cultures. Experience is the personal understanding and use of faith in each of our own life. Reason is when the individual Christian brings discernment on the Christian faith discerning and cognizant awareness and thought.
“The Rape of the Shroud: How Christianity’s most precious relic was wrongly condemned and violated.” Meacham obviously speaks his mind, has a fascinating story to tell and does it with passion. His presence at a recent Shroud conference had the organizers so concerned, security was hired to be on hand. But he is far from being a rogue investigator. In 1983, he authored the most comprehensive study of the Shroud ever published in a peer-reviewed academic journal (Current
Anthropology).
REFERENCING: “The Rape of the Turin Shroud” By William Meacham
-critiques events surrounding the controversial 1988 carbon dating the Shroud of Turin and subsequent events.
https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/meacham%20book%20review.pdf