Posted on 08/03/2002 6:33:43 AM PDT by NYer
The Shroud of Turin is a centuries old linen cloth that bears the image of a crucified man. A man that millions believe to be Jesus of Nazareth. Is it really the cloth that wrapped his crucified body, or is it simply a medieval forgery, a hoax perpetrated by some clever artist? Modern, twentieth century science has completed hundreds of thousands of hours of detailed study and intense research on the Shroud. It is, in fact, the single most studied artifact in human history, and we know more about it today than we ever have before. And yet, the controversy still rages.
Arguments against the Shroud's authenticity are prima facia, supported by carbon 14 dating and a prevailing view of the way things are in the world. On the other hand, the case for authenticity is a compelling preponderance of scientific and historic evidence. So daunting is the evidence that we can only wonder if, as postmodernists suggest, "no such thing as objective truth exists, that historic reality is an inherently enigmatic and endlessly negotiable bundle of free-floating perceptions."1 The alternative is to consider, as C. S. Lewis contends: rare exceptions to nature are possible.
On this hot and sultry day in August, I decided to post this thread for those who enjoy mystery, adventure and the thrill of discovery. There are many web sites devoted to this topic. I suggest you begin here:
Feast of the Holy Shroud, May 4
This feast is mainly celebrated in Europe since 1506
An Office and Mass "de Sancta Sindone" was formally approved by Julius II in the Bull "Romanus Pontifex" of 25 April, 1506, in the course of which the pope speaks of "that most famous shroud in which our Saviour was wrapped when He lay in the tomb and which is now honourably and devoutly preserved in a silver casket". (Older Catholic Encyclopedia)
Recent Historical Investigations on the Sudarium of Oveido," published by Mark Guscin, a member of the multi-disciplined Investigation Team of the Centro Español de Sindonología and the British Society for the Turin Shroud, summarized the forensic findings to date. Here are some highlights of that report:
"It seems to be a funeral cloth that was probably placed over the head of the corpse of an adult male of normal constitution. The man whose face the Sudarium covered had a beard, moustache and long hair, tied up at the nape of his neck into a ponytail."
"The man was dead. The mechanism that formed the stains is incompatible with any kind of breathing movement."
"the man was wounded before death with something that made his scalp bleed and produced wounds on his neck, shoulders and upper part of the back."
"The man suffered a pulmonary oedema as a consequence of the terminal process. The main stains are one part blood and six parts fluid from the pulmonary oedema."
"the only position compatible with the formation of the stains on the Oviedo cloth is both arms outstretched above the head and the feet in such a position as to make breathing very difficult, i.e. a position totally compatible with crucifixion. We can say that the man was wounded first (blood on the head, shoulders and back) and then 'crucified.'"
"on reaching the destination, the body was placed face up and for unknown reasons, the cloth was taken off the head."
Using an electron microscope, they found that they could make out the letters "UCAI" on the coins(called leptons); the letters "UCAI" were part of a roman word that was only inscribed on coins issued by--get this--Pontius Pilate in upper Palestine between 29-31 A.D.
Correct, it is a piece of cloth bearing the image of a man who was subjected to the same persecution and crucifixion as Christ.
Have you visited the link? What observations are you willing to share with the other posters on this thread. If you are only going to make abject statements, then it would be the equivalent of me saying: RMrattlesnake is not real.
Though the lepta (plural of lepton) minted in Palestine were Roman produced coins, the inscription of Tiberius Caesar would have been written in Greek as TIBERIOU KAISAROS. Was the C, where a K was expected, a misspelling? This was a problem that seemed to preclude positive identification until an actual lituus lepton was found with the aberrant spelling. Several have since been found.
There will always be skeptics ... St. Thomas was the first. Thank you, HumanaeVitae, for the information on the book. I have not read it but will pick up a copy.
Wow! I've kept up with the Shroud over the years, but this piece of info is news to me... incredible discovery! Thanks for the name of the book "The Ressurection of the Shroud" - I just put it in my Amazon.com shopping basket.
The discovery of the figures in the Guadalupe Virgin's irises is incredible as well. Both the Shroud of Turin and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe are gifts from God, IMHO.
I believe the Lord had short hair as was the style of the day. back them.
Apparent Shroud-inspired images of Christ are noticeable on coins struck in 692 CE during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian II. The distinctive front-facing appearance of Jesus on the Shroud is also found on numerous icons, mosaics and frescos from the sixth century on. The most startling example is the Christ Pantocrator icon at Saint Catherine's Monastery, reliably dated to 550 CE.
"Using our Polarized Image Overlay Technique, we have examined hundreds of depictions of Jesus in every type of artistic medium from one-fourth-inch-high faces on coins to gigantic mosaics covering the ceilings of great cathedrals from the sixth century on, and we have been able to show that the Mandylion/Shroud face was used as the prototype for almost all of these images."
Mary and Alan Whanger from their book, The Shroud of Turin: An Adventure in Discovery
It is not Jesus
John 4: 48. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
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