Hey ! I went to a lecture on the Shroud of Turin just last week. The scientist involved in the investigation of the shroud gave the lecture. The evidence I saw and heard is very strong that Jesus was buried in a linen cloth. There is no possibility that an artist painted the shroud or that paint or any other stain material was used to paint the figure and blood in the shroud, so says the latest team of scientists that examined the shroud. If the figure in the shroud is a sham them the technology for making the image has not been invented yet. The blood on the shroud is type AB whichis the same as the blood examined in the Eucharistic host that turned into flesh and blood. A coincidence ? Type AB is very rare and the artist could not possibly have known the type. The probability is that type O+ would have been used if the cloth was a sham since most humans have that type. All of the markers of authenticity are there with the exception of the carbon C-14 test which says the shroud was made in the 1290’s.
on fol There is a latest science report that came out only last month (2/05) that indicates that the carbon test was not a valid test due to the errors made in testing procedure and analysis. Granted there is a controvery here but I have heard both sides and I am myself an engineer and I say there is good reason to doubt the C-14 test that was done. The people that did the C-14 test would not listen to the scientists on how to do the test right but instead did it their way which caused error and the controversy. Of course people that did the C-14 test say the error is not true but many of us in the scientific and engineering community believe there is good reason to doubt the C-14 test. The shroud had been contaminated with other cloths in the 1200’s to patch the original due to the fire that almost ruined the shroud. The entire shroud was also covered in cloth by Nuns in charge of the cloth back then. Not anymore but it was covered then. The scientists told the testers to take 3 samples in an uncontaminated area but they did not. They only took 1 sample in a bad area.
Having said all of this (and there is a lot more to say about the authenticity of the shroud), it may be possible that the linen cloth was covered over by strips of cloth. I don’t know about anyone else, but I think that covering a dead body with just strip of cloth over the aloe just doesn’t make alot of sense; however, covering the large linen cloth over with strips to keep it tight and bundled nice and neat does make sense to me. I have seen this done in other parts of the world even as late as last month. This means that both the linen cloth and the strip cloth theory could both be true and still be in conformance with the Bible. For those of us that have faith in the shroud. Keep the faith everyone, everything scientific points to the shroud being authentic.
I put up my two happy faces against the 1 unhappy face.
…With faith and love, Gil
