Posted on 07/28/2019 6:02:04 AM PDT by Kaslin
In an imaginary “ranking” of Christian topics that elicit the most fervent discussions, Jesus Christ is No. 1. But near the top is the Shroud of Turin — believed by millions of Christians to be the authentic burial cloth of Jesus. This “ranking” was inspired by you — Townhall readers who wrote over 500 impassioned comments in response to my July 21 piece, “Shroud of Turin: New Test Concludes 1988 ‘Medieval Hoax’ Dating Was a Fraud.”
I purposely read all your comments to gain insight into my role as an adviser and fundraiser for a groundbreaking exhibition about the Shroud of Turin at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. This spectacular museum, among the largest and highest rated in the city, is located only three blocks from the Capitol. And just prior to the January 20, 2021, presidential inauguration is when this high-tech Shroud exhibit is scheduled to open.
Threaded throughout hundreds of your responses about all aspects of the Shroud was one overarching theme summarized by these three comments:
“Anyone who requires physical evidence to underpin their faith doesn’t understand the concept of faith.”
“JESUS CHRIST died for all. HE is what is important. Making such a fuss about this piece of cloth is a distraction from HIS work of SALVATION.”
“I respectfully submit that the only ‘relic’ which really matters is the one which was left us on that first Easter morning: The tomb is empty! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Of course, “He is Risen” is also the foundation of my Christian faith, (made slightly more complicated by having been born Jewish). But I feel compelled to discuss and explore the comment that reads in part, “…such a fuss about this piece of cloth...”
And my response is simple: The Shroud of Turin exists because HE exists. An answer that echoes what God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14).
Thus, the existence of the Shroud of Turin raises two questions that I will attempt to address: First, what exactly is the Shroud? And second, a deeper dive into “Why does the cloth exist?”
The Shroud of Turin is a 14.5-by-3.5-foot linen cloth with a linear front to back mirror image of a crucified man. The Shroud has the distinction of being the most studied artifact in the world, yet the cloth’s numerous mysteries remained unexplained by modern science.
At this moment the Shroud lies in a fireproof box in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, as it has continuously since 1578. (But secretly relocated between 1939 and 1946 when Italian authorities feared Hitler was seeking possession.)
Dating the Shroud has been controversial and the subject of my July 21 piece.
Among Shroud historians, there is no dispute that in 1352, over 200 years before the Shroud was housed in Turin, Geoffrey DeCharney displayed the cloth in Lirey, France marking the beginning of the Shroud’s documented "modern" dating.
There is also much circumstantial Shroud evidence through art, artifacts, and coins that pre-dates 1352. Moreover, scientifically verified botanical evidence found on the cloth in the form of pollen, dust, flowers, and even the weave and type of linen traces the Shroud back to first-century Jerusalem.
The cloth with its mysterious properties has survived wars, invasions and the ravages of time including numerous fires — most recently in 1997 at its home cathedral in Turin.
Most harrowing was the 1532 fire in Chambéry, France. Miraculously the entire cloth was not destroyed but left those distinctive linear markings along both sides of the Shroud that we see today. Hard to imagine, but the linen cloth was stored in a silver box, folded in 48 layers, when drops of molten silver burned through the cloth’s outer folded edges.
The point is, against all the odds, the Shroud exists. And, as stated earlier, because He exists. There is also a significant Bible-based reason found in the Gospel of John known as “Doubting Thomas” (John 20:24-31).
But first, a “guest” who will explain this passage needs a proper introduction:
It turns out that the many Townhall readers who commented about not needing the Shroud’s “physical evidence to underpin their faith,” represent a large swath of Christian believers. I learned this when asking Russ Breault— my fellow Shroud exhibit team colleague, and a world-renowned Shroud expert and speaker — if he had experienced similar attitudes after over 30 years of hosting his popular “Shroud Encounters” to sell-out crowds.
Breault replied:
“I get that statement all the time! When someone says, ‘I don't need the Shroud for my faith,’ I usually say, ‘That is fantastic! But that doesn't mean the Shroud was not meant for someone else.’ ”
Breault continued: “In the Doubting Thomas story, Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who ‘believe yet have not seen,’ but Jesus did not condemn Thomas for his unbelief. In fact, a week after the Resurrection, Jesus appeared a second time, and the first person he spoke to was Thomas, who was not there to witness Jesus’ first appearance. Jesus then quotes Thomas' words back to him, ‘Thomas, thrust your hand into my side and place your fingers into my nail wounds and be not faithless but believe.’
At this point, Thomas — forever known as "Doubting Thomas" — makes the strongest profession of faith in the New Testament saying, "My Lord and my God." Then Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who can believe without seeing. So we are blessed if we can believe without seeing, but we are not cursed if we can't get there without some additional evidence.
Therefore, perhaps the Shroud is a silent witness to the world offering all of humanity the same opportunity Jesus gave to Thomas. In some proverbial sense by looking at the Shroud, we too can thrust our hand into His side and place our fingers into His nail wound and find our faith in the process.”
Thank you, Russ! And now my final thoughts for Townhall commenters.
If blessed with great faith, you are free to ignore or downplay the image on the Shroud showing Christ’s great suffering and victory over death. Yet, take comfort in knowing that the Shroud is there to supplement or reinforce the faith of others while potentially witnessing to the ever-increasing number of Doubting Thomases found throughout the world.
In the end, I believe that the Shroud exists as proof of God’s greatest gift to mankind —the Lord Jesus Christ — who lives and reigns forever and ever. Alleluia!
(Now, let the comments begin!)
That's the rub. "Doctrinally necessary for Salvation" perhaps.
(Some would then tangle over how much of "implicitly" gets into private interpretaions or translation issues, e.g. the filioque division between Catholic/Orthodox; or the doctrine of the Trinity, not stated explicitly as such in Scripture but expounded upon at length by Aquinas).
Most of the loudest arguments come from Cathlolics sharing or recommending things as very helpful to the Spiritual life, and Protestants regarding them as idolatry or heresy due to Sola Scriptura, as though Catholics had insisted hey were mandatory (e.g. the Rosary). Or, differing interpretations of Scripture ("confess your sins one to another" or "You are Peter, and on this rock...")
The heresy part being kinda odd, because the definition of heresy was too important to be left to the purview of any individual believer. ("Tell them Martin Luther will have it so." -- to *exclude* books from the canon.)
Faith without works is dead.
Does that imply faith can die?
...and therefore, catch a flu which turns into pneumonia?
See also 2 Tim 2:18 “upsetting the faith of some” and 2Tim 4:7 “I have *kept* the faith”...
*snort* *guffaw*
So close, and yet so far.
Counterexample 1:Lucifer (mis)quoting Scripture to Jesus.
Would’ve been harmful, too, but Jesus didn’t fall for it.
Counterexample 2:
2 Peter 3:16 “In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”
That second example ties on to the analogy about medicines.
read the post Iwas replying to first
Then read mine. In addition I said those that NEED relics. Again, the shroud may be authentic or not. It simply has no bearing on my faith either way. If one needs the shroud to believe the Resurrection they are spiritually immature and open to all kinds of deception
Nobody said that artifacts, priests, rituals, or the Pope are necessary for salvation. St. Dismas on the cross next to Jesus (feast day celebrated March 25) was saved --- for that matter, Moses and Elijah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were saved --- without even the Bible as we know it, let alone the other artifacts, practices and persons you mention.
I suppose one could say,for instance, "I could be saved without Deuteronomy, Leviticus and Numbers!" Yet on the other hand, we know we need each other, all the members of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:21 - -- The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!")
But especially when Christ Our Lord provides artifacts, writings, practices, evangelists, preachers, godly parents, faithful bishops and other persons, to be, in God's hands, the means and ministers of our salvation, we ought not to outright reject them.
That would be most unwise: rejecting the instruments Our Lord has so wisely chosen to help convey to us the saving truths of His lordship, He Who alone is Lord.
I didn’t think my believing in Christ was based on my accepting of questionable relics as the guide. When he returns is when I was taught that we will see the face The Son Of God.
You are demonstrating the mistake I explained.
Something helpful, does not mean a necessary pre-condition.
Think of it like playing tag as a kid.
If you’re touching the base, you’re safe and can’t be tagged.
But if you’re touching the base, you can reach out and touch someone else, and they’re safe, too, as long as they’re touching you. Back when we played it, that was called “electricity.”
So too with saints and relics.
Of their own they are nothing. But they conduct Grace: not “intrinsically” but because God likes to find more ways to extend Mercy. He *wants* us saved.
Scripture is Pure 100% God Inspired.
It cannot be false and to claim it needs to be interpreted by a “Divinely-Authorized Teacher” (SAY WHAT??!! in my best Chris Rock voice) is nothing short of blasphemy.
We know who the author of confusion is. He confuses people and keeps them confused. With Catholics, that isn’t hard since reading actual Scripture is like a vampire eating garlic, and the attitude that “I need a divinely authorized teacher” to interpret it for me.
Yes, your ‘teacher’ is absolutely divinely authorized - from Hades.
Try reading it for yourself once. Even Napoleon Bonaparte did!
“The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.” Napoleon
Matthew 10:42
"And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will by no means lose your reward."
seriously. Now salvation is like a game of tag. If you are touching someone that’s saved you are saved too I guess by their merit but only as long as you are touching them. I used to think some Catholics were Christians. That is getting harder and harder to believe.
But that's not to say that's the only time.
There are those alive, even now, who have seen His face. According to what I've heard, He seems to be showing His face to Muslims all over the world, lots of them, right now.
And there are those who lived with Him for 2 1/2 years, and saw His face every day, and yet did not believe.
even though everyone had agreed in advance to about creating there.
Then (just like AGW researchers) refused to make raw data available.
I didn’t say that at all.
Why do you insist on lying to yourself about it?
It’s when Scripture becomes subservient to those other things that it’s a problem.
When Tradition is used as an excuse to ignore the clear, plain teaching of Scripture.
It’s when submission to the magisterium or other governing church body takes precedence over obeying Scripture.
It’s when practices are unscriptural and violate God’s clear commands that don’t need *interpretation*, that it’s a problem.
It’s saying that Catholicism gave us the Bible and we should thank the church for it, therefore the church has authority over Scripture instead of submitting to it, that it’s a problem.
Christ also said that his generation would only be given “the sign of Jonah...who was in the belly of the fish for 3 days and nights, so shall would be with the son of man who would be in the heart of the Earth for 3 days and 3 nights”
The shroud may very well be the embodiment of that sign since it would show the very image Resurrected and living Christ just as his statement predicted.....
Or it’s a great fake, amongst many such fakes that that period produced. The science thus far used to examine the shroud argues against any known forms of fakery known from that period that might have been used to produce that shroud. Some folks have had their faith strengthened from viewing the shroud or pictures of it. Satan doesn’t like divisions in his kingdom so if the shroud has been faked, the revelation of the fakery must come soon, lest too many come to strong faith in God. If the shroud is not a fake, then Satan will try to besmirch the shroud, will try to have it declared as fakery when it is not or if that fails, will try the age old trick of trying to get people to worship it.
If the shroud is real, then there be in that shroud a physical proof of the “Sign of Jonah!”.
No. It means that saving faith did not exist.
mere intellectual assent, which demons have, does not equate to the trusting and receiving kind of faith Scripture talks about.
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