Question: Why so important to believe in things vs. just trusting in the Word? Does it matter if the shroud is authentic or not? If so, why does it matter. Why should it matter? How can one prove its authenticity? How does it affect the incredible gift of the Blood of the Lamb?
There are many scientific types who rebuff references to the Word and don’t believe in the Blood of Jesus. But they look at the Shroud and come across a number of things science can’t explain or explain away. And so those who rejected faith and the Word of a God have started journeys leading to belief. No one HAS to believe the Shroud is authentic but it can be a seed that leads to conversion.
Perfectly good questions. But you leave out one more perfectly good question. The shroud is there. What do you make of it?
Why put one truth against another? If the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus then we should accept the truth of it. Nor does this mean that my faith is based upon it. There are items of my deceased parents that I cherish just because they were theirs. Just so, I do not have faith because of the Shroud but cherish the Shroud because I have faith.
Question: When archaeologists find physical confirmation of events that occurred in the Bible, to the consternation of atheists and non-Christians, is it a good thing, a bad thing, or are you indifferent? Is the only valid source of belief for you that which is unaided by objective facts?