- For centuries the Shroud of Turin was
revered as the sacred burial cloth of Jesus Christ by millions of Christian
believers. Then, in 1988, scientific researchers from three prominent universities
in England, Switzerland and America determined the cloth was a relic from
medieval Europe, circa 1260-1390 AD. Carbon dating appeared to trump Christian
claims. Hours of careful analysis and scientific tests seemed to debunk
believers basing their faith on the puzzling image upon a linen banner.
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- Scientists from STURP - Shroud of Turin
Research Project (Ray Rogers was a team member) claimed the figure on the
cloth was NOT painted and represented a scourged (whipped) and crucified
man and that type AB blood had stained the linen in many significant places.
-
 However, lending
weight to the 13th century time-frame, the image did seem to resemble a
tall, bearded European, the sort of iconography found in medieval paintings
of Jesus. Oxford scientist, Edward Hall, who participated in the carbon
14 dating of the Shroud, expressed his views, whole-heartedly agreeing
with the medieval assessment: "We have shown the Shroud to be a fake.
Anyone who disagrees with us ought to belong to the Flat Earth Society."
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- One theory offered by a proponent of
this medieval origin seemed rather far-fetched, to say the least.
-
- "John Dominic Crossan, the famed
Jesus Seminar scholar, proposed that someone in medieval times was crucified
by a crafter of fake relics in order to produce the Shroud. Others proposed
that Leonardo da Vinci created it even though the Shroud was well known
in Europe a century before Leonardo was born," wrote Dan Porter.
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- Still, the haunting image on the cloth
left many perplexing riddles. What was the ultimate truth? How did the
image appear on cloth and was it really a clever artistic forgery? Who
was the man and how was he fatally wounded? Could scientists be wrong
about the shroud? After all, how many prominent citizens (the linen cloth
indicated wealth), were whipped, stabbed and crucified in the late 13th
century? Between 1988 and the present, other prominent researchers, skeptical
of the findings, began to wonder too.
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- "The Shroud of Turin, due to serious
errors in its study and conservation.once the subject of worldwide curiosity
and awe, with its haunting and still unexplained image of Christ, came
to be wrongly dismissed as a medieval fake by the general public,"
wrote William Meacham in his book, The Rape of the Turin Shroud.
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- Upon closer examination, skeptics began
to wonder why only one small fragment from the edge of the cloth was chosen
for Carbon 14 dating. Shouldn't three small pieces been independently studied?
Seventeen years later, in 2005, Raymond Rogers, retired Los Alamos chemical
engineer, editor of the prestigious scientific journal, Thermochimica Acta
and one of the original researcher decided to analyze the fragment of linen
left over from an earlier test in 1988.
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- What is considered science "fact"
today often becomes science fiction tomorrow, and vice versa. Rogers found
that the fragment, snipped from the edge of the linen shroud, contained
cotton threads, possibly from repairs done in the 13-15th century. This
single bit of evidence---basically threads---had skewed the carbon dating
process.
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- Twin Towers & The Shroud
-
- The indelible images of the Shroud of
Turin and the Twin Towers seem to share nothing in common. Yet the iconography
image of each phenomenon imprints itself on the minds of all those who
have seen either. What they share is an image of martyrdom. The tortured
and fallen followed by great befuddlement and a greater mystery.
-
- The absolute certainty of the scientific
community, that the image on the Shroud was somehow faked while the pyroclastic
collapse of the Twin Towers was not, baffled more than a few skeptics.
People who doubted the official "scientific" or government explanation
of either perplexing image were branded conspiracy theorists or religious
nuts.
-
- But the Shroud mystery wouldn't go away
as long as individual research continued. Just before his death, Rogers
published his findings.
-
- "The cotton fibers look like they
have been wiped with fuzzy cherry Jell-O," said Rogers, "And
the linen fibers a little less so. The area is certainly dyed to match
the sepia color of the old (original) cloth. There is ample chemical and
microscopic proof of that."
-
- "The 1988 date was undoubtedly accurate
for the sample (of cloth) supplied. However, there is no question that
the radiocarbon sampling area has a completely different chemical composition
than the main part of the shroud," Rogers said. "The published
date for the sample was not the time at which the cloth was produced."
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- Rogers published his findings in a peer-review,
scientific periodical. This was not some glossy, Popular Mechanics-style
magazine disbursed in high schools around America. Rogers presented his
dissent and the scientific community, rather than obtain three separate
fragments of linen and have three prestigious universities study them under
intense scrutiny, remained unmoved.
-
- Sound familiar?
-
- Those in the 9-11 Truth Movement might
want to keep Ray Rogers' example in mind when continuing their search.
The study of science, since the beginning of recorded history, requires
testing one theory, proving or disproving it, while debunking whatever
"facts" do not respond to the laws of science that have been
proven. And no amount of official sanctions can change scientific truths.
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- Eye-witnesses who saw the image on the
Shroud for the first time a century ago, must have stared with a mixture
of awe, disbelief, skepticism or puzzlement. Exactly as had that Italian
photographer who took the first pictures and stared at his negatives. Exactly
like those millions who saw the towers fall and then listened to the "official"
interpretation. We may not be certain what we saw; we may be excused for
skepticism, astonishment or dissent, but the sight will not soon be forgotten,
nor research into the mystery cheapened or diminished.
-
- Shroud
of Turin Story - A Guide to the Facts 2006
-
- Jesus' Shroud? Recent Findings Renew Authenticity Debate
-
- The Shroud
or Turin
-
-
- Amateur historian and Christian skeptic,
Douglas Herman writes for Rense frequently and is the author of The Guns
of Dallas. Contact him at douglasherman7@yahoo.com
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