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Shroud of Turin, a religious relic or the greatest hoax
in the history of art? Topics covered: is Shroud of Turin Christ's burial
cloth?, image theories, Carbon
14 dating, religious relics, art history, unexplained objects, strange artefacts, bible mysteries... |
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The section of the shroud showing the face reveals dramatic
features
Here is an artistic impression of what the face
This frontal image (above) shows the forearms, wrist, and hands. There appears to be a large puncture wound on the wrist. This is significant because if nails were placed through the palms of the hand, this would not provide sufficient support to hold the body to the cross and tearing of the hands would occur. Only if the nails were placed through the wrists would this provide sufficient support to hold the body fixed to the cross. We can also see a large blood stain and elliptical wound on the person's right side (remember, in a negative imprint left and right are reversed). From studying the size and shape of this wound and historical records, we can deduce that this wound could have been caused by a Roman Lancea. This lance is pictured in Slide 13. In addition, by measuring the angle of dried blood on the wrist, one can reconstruct the angle at which this person hung from the cross. He mainly hung from a position 65 degrees from the horizontal. But there is another angle of dried blood at 55 degrees. This shows that this person tried to lift himself up by 10 degrees. Why? Medical studies show that if a person just hangs from a position of 65 degrees in would start to suffocate very quickly. Only if he could lift himself up by about 10 degrees would he be able to breathe. Thus he would have to raise himself up by this 10 degrees by pushing down on his feet which would have to have been fixed to the cross. He would then become exhausted and fall down again to the 65 degree position. Thus, he would continue to shift from these two agonizing positions throughout crucifixion. That is why the executioners of crucifixion would break the legs of their victims to speed up death. If they could not lift themselves up to breathe, they would suffocate very quickly.
The following image shows the
most likely position in which Jesus died. This body
Image Formation Theories© Dr. John DeSalvo
The Painting TheoryOne theory is simply that the Shroud is a painting . It has been proposed that it was painted using iron oxide in an animal protein binder. The STURP scientists have concluded from their studies that no paints, pigments, dyes or stains have been found to make up the visible image. Small amounts of iron oxide have been found on the Shroud but the iron oxide is evenly distributed all over the Shroud. If it were painted using iron oxide you would expect its concentration to be greater in the image areas verses the non-image areas. This is not the case but the iron oxide is evenly distributed all over the Shroud. Thus it is probably a containment caused by the presence of the Shroud in artists studios throughout history who were copying it. It is also possible that the copies may have been touched to the Shroud to transfer its sacredness and this contaminated the Shroud with iron oxide. Also no painter has been able to reproduce all the different qualities and characteristics of the Shroud. That is, its negativity, 3D effect, no brush strokes or directionality, perfect anatomical details from blood stains, scourging, etc. and the image is a surface phenomena, that is the image only penetrates about 1/500 of an inch into the cloth. It was shown that the blood went on first and than image. Try doing that and then painting the body image. Thus up to now no one has been able to reproduce the Shroud in all its characteristics. Most scientists reject the painting theory.
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| Pick one! One is true, the other is
false. It is either the Shroud of Turin is a fraud and Carbon 14 is an accurate time-measuring instrument.....or, the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ and Carbon 14 is NOT an accurate time-measuring device. |
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Everything about the Shroud rings true: It is the material used for burial shrouds 2000 years ago in the area of the Holy Land. There is a wound indicated in the chest area. There is the exact number of lashes from a whipping on the back as stated in the Bible. Religious portraits of stigmata are not accurate when they show wounds in the palm of the hands. Nails, creating the wounds in the palms, could not hold the body on the cross. Tests on cadavers prove that bones in the hand are not strong enough to sustain a body's weight. Nails rip through hand bones and the body falls. On the Shroud, the wounds are at the wrist which can sustain the weight of a body. A religious forger, making a fraudulent Shroud would have placed the wounds in the palms...not at the wrists. The crown of thorns was not a round wreath as we also see in religious portrayals, but a hat of thorns. The trails of blood on Turin's burial cloth are sensible; they conform to the flow of gravity. Also...why is there blood at all when the body was cleaned, then wrapped and the fact that no blood flows from a corpse?
The most amazing evidence to the reality of the Shroud is that it
is a PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE.
Secondo Pia was the Shroud's first photographer. The Italian
photographed this
faint image on a light-colored material. To his great surprise, when
Pia examined his negatives, there was a positive image! By
photographing the negative, you have created a positive. The faint
image became a light image on a black background. Details emerged
that astounded viewers and enlarged the Shroud's controversy.
What could have formed this negative? It certainly was not a 1000 year old artist faking a holy relic. Some say the image captures the moment of Christ's resurrection. Others say that the image was a scorching emanating out due to RADIATION. There were reports that after the Hiroshima blast, pieces of glass were found with negative images of people's faces. These were people who had their faces near windows when the atomic bomb exploded. Radiation does cause negative imprinting.
What is it that tells scientists that the Shroud of TURIN is a fake? Answer: Carbon 14. Are you so sure that Carbon 14 is accurate? Science needs an UNDER-estimate for many ancient mysteries that baffle us and do not fit the traditional picture. In the same way, Science needs a Rosetta Stone (which also is untrue)...so they can think they understand something that is not understandable. Mysterious artifacts are much older than what Carbon 14 indicates. Traditional scientists say there was a smooth progression of knowledge and technology; in the past, it was primitive and in modern times...it is advanced. Anything that disturbs this narrow (flat-Earth) view is not accepted. Carbon 14 is perfect for this agenda.
The truth is the mysterious relics of the past are even more mysterious. The truth is you have to take the date Carbon 14 gives you and multiply it by at least a factor of 3.
[This writer knew this back in the 1970s. When I heard that they were going to date the Shroud with Carbon 14, I thought to myself: NO! My sources told me exactly what is stated in the above paragraph.]
The Shroud was tested with Carbon 14 and the rest is history. Now, the scientific world does not believe in the Turin relic because their holy measuring device said it was only 6-700 years old. Scientists are supposed to be open-minded, not stuck to a canon of unchanging principles. Maybe there are some things that we have to take on a little bit of faith.
© 2002 - D.Y.
NOTE: Doug Yurchey is a writer, artist and inventor. He has studied ancient mysteries for 30 years and was married to a trans-channel. He has lectured at Carnegie Mellon University and California State at Northridge. For two years a background artist with the Simpsons TV Show, Doug Yurchey now promotes his unique theories.
An Interview with Doug Yurchey
News Articles
Tests Show Shroud Of Turin Much Older Than Carbon-14 Date
October 6, 2000 - Sightings - Oviedo, Spain
Scientists and forensic specialists gathered in Oviedo, Spain,
this week to examine an obscure relic that many have claimed
authenticates the Shroud of Turin - believed by many to be the
burial cloth of Jesus Christ.
The Sudarium of Oviedo is reportedly the other linen cloth found in
the tomb of Christ, as described in the Gospel of John.
The relic, whose dramatic history is intertwined with the Knights
Templar, Moors, El Cid, saints and bishops, has been in Spain since
631 A.D.
Meanwhile, in Turin, Italy, the last pilgrims of the Jubilee Year
are winding their way past the Shroud of Turin before the exhibit
closes on October 23.
Verses 5-8 of the 20th chapter of "The Gospel According to St.
John" records, "... he went into the tomb and saw the
burial cloths there and the cloth that had covered his head, not
with the burial cloths, but rolled up in a separate place."
This head cloth, the sudarium, has become the focus of increasing
debates over the validity of the carbon-14 tests on the Shroud of
Turin.
The carbon-dating tests set the age of the shroud in the 13th
century, which would make the Shroud of Turin a pious icon at best,
a clever fraud at worst.
However, the scientific community is divided over the shroud dates
because -- with the exception of the carbon dating tests -- medical,
artistic, forensic and botanical evidence favors the authenticity of
the shroud of Turin as the burial cloth of Jesus.
One example of microscopic testing that supports the Shroud as
authentic is the 1978 sample of dirt taken from the foot region of
the burial linen. The dirt was analyzed at the Hercules Aerospace
Laboratory in Salt Lake, Utah, where experts identified crystals of
travertine argonite, a relatively rare form of calcite found near
the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem.
It is a stretch, say researchers, that a 13th century forger would
have known to take the trouble to impregnate the linen with marble
dust found near Golgotha in order to fool scientists six hundred
years later.
The debate over the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin is elevated
by the new discoveries resulting from the studies on the Sudarium of
Oviedo.
Unlike the Shroud, the Sudarium, which covered the face of Christ
for a short time before the body was wrapped in the longer burial
cloth, does not carry an image of a man. Instead, the cloth, held
against a face of a man who had been beaten about the head, shows a
distinct facial impression and pattern of stains.
The cloth is impregnated with blood and lymph stains that match the
blood type on the Shroud of Turin. The pattern and measurements of
stains indicate the placement of the cloth over the face.
These patterns have been extensively mapped to enable researchers to
compare the markings and measurements with those of the Shroud of
Turin.
These measurements and calculations, digitized videos and other
forensic evidence indicate that the Sudarium of Oviedo covered the
same head whose image is found on the Shroud of Turin.
Part of Jewish burial custom was to cover the face of the dead,
sparing the family further distress. The sudarium, from the Latin
for "face cloth," would have been wrapped over the head of
the crucified Christ awaiting permission from Pontius Pilate to
remove the body.
Stains made at that time indicate a vertical position with the head
at an angle. There are stains from deep puncture wounds on the
portion of the cloth covering the back of the head, consistent with
those puncture marks found on the Shroud of Turin, theoretically
made by the caplet of thorns
A separate set of stains, superimposed upon the first set, was made
when the crucified man was laid horizontally and lymph flowed out
from the nostrils.
The composition of the stains, say the Investigation Team from the
Spanish Centre for Sindology, who began the first sudarium studies
in 1989, is one part blood -- type AB -- and six parts pulmonary
oedema fluid.
This fluid is significant, say researchers, because it indicates
that the man died from asphyxiation, the cause of death for victims
of crucifixion.
Recently, Dr. Alan Whanger, professor emeritus of Duke University,
employed his Polarized Image Overlay Technique to study correlations
between the Shroud and the Sudarium. Dr. Whanger found 70 points of
correlation on the front of the sudarium and 50 on the back.
"The only reasonable conclusion," says Mark Guscin, author
of "The Oviedo Cloth," "is that the Sudarium of
Oviedo covered the same head as that found on the Shroud of
Turin." Guscin, a British scholar whose study is the only
English language book on the Sudarium, told WorldNetDaily,
"This can be uncomfortable for scientists with a predetermined
viewpoint; I mean, the evidence grows that this cloth and the Shroud
covered the same tortured man."
Guscin also points to pollen studies done by Max Frei of
Switzerland.
Specific pollens from Palestine are found in both relics, while the
Sudarium has pollen from Egypt and Spain that is not found on the
Shroud.
Conversely, pollen grains from plant species indigenous to Turkey
are imbedded in the Shroud, but not the Sudarium, supporting the
theory of their different histories after leaving Jerusalem.
The significance of the Sudarium to the Shroud, in addition to the
forensic evidence, is that the history of the Sudarium is
undisputed. While the history of the Shroud is veiled in the mists
of the Middle Ages, the Sudarium was a revered relic preserved from
the days of the crucifixion.
A simple cloth of little value, other than that it contained the
Blood of Christ, the Sudarium accompanied a presbyter named Philip
and other Christians fleeing Palestine in 616 A.D. ahead of the
Persian invasion.
Passing through Alexandria, Egypt, and into Spain at Cartegena, the
oak chest containing the Sudarium was entrusted to Leandro, bishop
of Seville. In 657 it was moved to Toledo, then in 718 on to
northern Spain to escape the advancing Moors.
The Sudarium was hidden in the mountains of Asturias in a cave known
as Montesacro until king Alfonso II, having battled back the Moors,
built a chapel in Oviedo to house it in 840 AD.
The most riveting date in the Sudarium's history is March 14, 1075.
On this date, King Alfonso VI, his sister and Rodrigo Diaz Vivar (El
Cid) opened the chest after days of fasting. This official act of
the king was recorded and the document is preserved in the Capitular
Archives at the Cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo. The King had
the oak chest covered in silver and an inscription added which
reads, "The Sacred Sudarium of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
Juan Ignacio Moreno, a Spanish magistrate based in Burgos, Spain,
asks the critical question. "The scientific and medical studies
on the Sudarium prove that it was the covering for the same man
whose image is [on] the Shroud of Turin.
We know that the Sudarium has been in Spain since the 600s. How,
then, can the radio carbon dating claiming the Shroud is only from
the 13th century be accurate?"
Pollen traces suggest that Shroud of Turin originated before
eighth century, near Jerusalem
July 3, 1999 - AP
A new analysis of pollen grains and plant images on the Shroud of
Turin places its origin to Jerusalem before the eighth century,
giving a boost to those who believe the shroud is the burial cloth
of Jesus and refuting a 1988 examination by scientists that
concluded the shroud was made between 1260 and 1390.
The earlier study also indicated the shroud came from Europe rather
than the Holy Land.
"We have identified by images and by pollen grains species on
the shroud restricted to the vicinity of Jerusalem," botany
professor Avinoam Danin of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem said
Monday during the International Botanical Congress here. "The
sayings that the shroud is from European origin can't hold."
More than 4,000 scientists from 100 countries are taking part in the
botanical conference, which focuses on a wide range of issues
related to plants.
The shroud contains pollen grains and the image of a crucified man,
as well as faint images of plants.
Analysis of the floral images, and a separate analysis of the pollen
grains by another botanist, Uri Baruch, identified a combination of
plant species that could be found only in March and April in the
region of Jerusalem, Danin said.
Danin identified a high density of pollen of the tumbleweed Gundelia
tournefortii. The analysis also found the bean caper Zygophyllum
dumosum. The two species coexist in a limited area, Danin said.
"This combination of flowers can be found in only one region of
the world," he said. "The evidence clearly points to a
floral grouping from the area surrounding Jerusalem."
An image of the Gundelia tournefortii can be seen near the image of
the man's shoulder. Some experts have suggested that the plant was
used for the "crown of thorns."
Two pollen grains of the species were also found on the Sudarium of
Oviedo, believed to be the burial face cloth of Jesus.
Danin, who has done extensive study on plants in Jerusalem, said the
pollen grains are native to the Gaza Strip.
Since the Sudarium of Oviedo has resided in the Cathedral of Oviedo
in Spain since the 8th century, Danin said that the matchup of
pollen grains pushes the shroud's date to a similar age. Both cloths
also carry type AB blood stains in similar patterns, Danin said.
"The pollen association and the similarities in the blood
stains in the two cloths provide clear evidence that the shroud
originated before the 8th Century," Danin said.
The location of the Sudarium of Oviedo has been documented since the
first century. If it is found that the two cloths are linked, then
the shroud could date back even further, Danin said.
The 1988 study used carbon-14 dating tests. Danin noted that the
earlier study looked at only a single sample, while he used the
entire piece of fabric.
BOOKS & Video |
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The Blood and the Shroud: New Evidence That the World's Most Sacred Relic Is Real by Ian Wilson |
| Ian Wilson's
well-written and intelligent book gives a balanced view of
evidence for and against the Shroud of Turin's authenticity
(including new finds such as the presence of human blood and
DNA on the Shroud), and along the way, provides a
fascinating discussion of subjects ranging from capital
punishment in first-century Palestine to the chemistry of
radiocarbon dating. For Wilson, the Shroud's ultimate
significance resides in the very fact of Christians'
fascination with it. The Shroud represents the possibility
that the Resurrection actually happened; if there's any
chance the Shroud is authentic, and if that chance excites
you, then historical facts are a crucial aspect of your
faith. Given that, the Shroud of Turin becomes much more
than a curiosity for cranks and crazies. It's a valuable
incitement to introspection for all believers. --Michael
Joseph Gross
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The
Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and
Archeological Evidence
by Mark Antonacci |
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In Resurrection of the Shroud , Mark Antonacci authoritatively and scientifically challenges radiocarbon testing and presents new evidence in determining the Shroud's true age. |
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Jesus
and the Shroud of Turin (1999)
VHS |
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This video is an excellent documentary of the Shroud's history and scientific investigation. It is easy to understand and quite entertaining as it was filmed in many international settings. The Shroud is not a "dead" issue. |
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The
Shroud of Turin : The Most Up-To-Date Analysis of All the Facts Regarding the Church's Controversial Relic
by C. Bernard Ruffin |
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Relic,
Icon or Hoax? : Carbon Dating the Turin Shroud
by H. E. Gove |
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2nd
The
Second Messiah :
by
Christopher Knight, Robert Lomas |
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The the shroud itself is a piece of herringbone
patterned linen in a 3:1 twill weave. This type of cloth
came into use in Europe at the beginning of the 14th
Century. Lomas and Knight accept that it would not be
impossible for this to have been produced in the first
century, however it is unlikely. It is also true, according
to the authors, that of all the pollen deposits found
embedded in the cloth, no pollen from olive trees has been
found, and Israel has always had a high number of these
plants. Radiocarbon dating has shown that the flax plants
which were used to make the shroud had ceased to live
between 1260 and 1390 AD. On the image itself, Lomas and Knight deduced
that the victim whose image the shroud bears was nailed with
his right arm over his head and his left arm out sideways.
This also corresponds with the observation that the right
shoulder on the shroud appears to be dislocated. This
conflicts with the traditional crucifixion in which the arms
are stretched out sideways to promote great difficulties in
breathing. the positioning of the arms on the shroud itself
indicates that the victim was not laying on a flat surface,
but on a soft padded surface when the image was made. With
the head and shoulders raised to assist breathing, and the
body heat that would be needed for the chemical process that
created the image on the shroud, it suggests that the victim
was not only alive, but was intended to recover. in 1307, the Grand Master of the Knights
Templar was a man called Jacques de Molay. In their book,
Lomas and Knight demonstrate that the French king Philip IV
had planned to restore his fractured economy by stealing the
wealth accumilated by the Knights Templar. Prior to Friday
13th October 1307, the Knights Templar had been a holy order
but on this day the Paris Inquisition took 15,000 members,
including de Molay and also took control of the Paris
Temple. William Imbert was ordered by king Philip to extract
a confession from de Molay by whatever means necessary but
under no cicumstances was he to kill him.. Lomas and Knight
produce evidence to show that one Templar, John of Foligny,
confessed to the inquisition that there was a 'secret place'
inside the Temple which Lomas and Knight believe resembeld a
modern Masonic temple, complete with four items within a
wooden chest- a human skull, two thigh bones and a white
burial shroud (which is still used today in the ritual of
the living ressurection just as it was in the Jerusalem
Chuch and by the Knights Templar). According to Lomas and
Knight, de Molay was interrogated in the Paris Temple. Lomas
and Knight believe that Imbert was outraged at the Templars
use of a ressurection ceremony which he felt insulted the
resurrection of Jesus, and as a form of irony intended that
Molay should suffer as Jesus had. They believe thay Molay
was nailed most probably to a large wooden door in the
manner described above. They believe that when his right arm
was raised above his head and the nail driven through the
wrist, that the impact from the nail caused his thumb to
swing violently across his palm and dislocated at the joint.
This concurs with medical examinations of the shroud. This trauma would have produced large amounts
of lactic acid, leading to 'metabolic acidosis' this
produces severe cramps and was not helped by the fact Molay
would not have been able to breathe propperly. This would
have caused 'respiratory acidosis'. It was at this point,
Lomas and Knight believe, that Molay was taken down and
covered with the shroud found within the wooden chest to
show that his "mocking use of a shroud had not gone
unnoticed by the Holy Inquisition". Molay was then
placed into the same bed that he had been dragged from,
supporting the notion that the man on the shroud had been on
a soft surface at the time the image was made. As Molay had
no family in the area to care for him, Lomas and Knight
believe that the family of his right hand man, that of Jean
de Charney was called in to care for him. The Charney family
removed the shroud and nursed him to health, though the
scars never healed and some years later Molay showed papal
representatives the extent of his injuries. The shroud which
was bloodied, but a useful cloth, was washed and put away. The shrouds first display was in a small church in the French town of Lirey in 1357. Interestingly, it was lent to the church by the widow of Geoffrey de Charney, a decendant of the family that Lomas and Knight believe cared for Molay after his tourture. This would explain why this shroud came into their posession.
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Sacred
Blood, Sacred Image : The Sudarium of Oviedo, New Evidence for the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin by Janice Bennett (February 2001) |
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The
Shroud of Turin and the C-14 Dating Fiasco by Thomas Case (June 1996) |
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Relics
: The Shroud of Turin, the True Cross, the Blood of
Januarius... History, Mysticism, and the Catholic Church by Joan Carroll Cruz (October 1984) |
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Not
Made by Hands : The Miraculous Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Shroud of Turin by Thomas Mary Sennott (March 1999) |
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The
Shroud of Turin: An Adventure of Discovery by Mary Whanger, Alan Whanger (March 1998) |
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The
Turin Shroud Is Genuine : The Irrefutable Evidence by Rodney Hoare (March 1999) |
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The
Shroud of Turin : Unraveling the Mystery by Michael Minor (Compiler) (October 2001) (April 2002) Not yet published |
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Turin
Shroud and Science by Leonard W. Konikiewicz |
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The
Shroud of Turin: A Case of Authenticity by Vittorio Guerrera (December 2000) |
OTHER BOOKSThe
Mystery of the Shroud of Turin : | |
| Inquest
on the Shroud of Turin : Latest Scientific Findings by Joe Nickell (March 1999) | |
| The
Jesus Conspiracy : The Turin Shroud and the Truth About the Resurrection by Holger Kersten, Elmar R. Gruber (May 1995) | |
| Judgment
Day for the Shroud of Turin by Walter C. McCrone (March 1999) | |
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