The Shroud of Turin Could be Authentic

R1 Rebuttal: I’ll address in chronological order so as the development of the whole history of the Shroud is clear. It will address some of R2 statements, but not all, I'll address later (ran out of characters). Edessa Portrait of Christ In 3rd century Christianity was spreading, Priest and Monks were traveling from church to church in Europe and holy lands recording church histories, acts of saints and miracles. They copied archived manuscripts, each writer adding their own personal flair[1] King Abgar V of Edessa (13-50 AD), supposedly the first Christian king and his letters with Jesus are purported by historians as a fabrication by Abgar VIII (117-212 AD) as a means to gain sacred prestige which would sure up his theo/political power on parallel to Constantine the Great. The 3rd person text with reference of the flood of 201 places the story’s creation during V111’s reign [1,11,14]. The story goes that Abgar VIII dictated it the story to the city’s archivist, which was recopied in the History of the Church, Eusebius of Caesarea 313 AD, Greek version., Syriac version 5thC [1,11]. The Original Story (Greek) Abagar V writes a letter to Jesus acclaiming his healing powers and recognizes him as sent by God. Agar is ailing and asks Jesus to visit for the purpose of healing him. Jesus responds in a letter that it great that he believes in him with without seeing him, but declines the invite because he has Gods’ duties to attend, but will send a disciple in his place. After Christ’s death disciple Thaddeus visits Abgar, lays hands on the king and cures him as well as cures many in the town; Thaddeus then goes to preach to the citizenry [1,2,4,11] (Syriac, Addi & Thadeaus same person) This story adds to the original. Hannan is the king’s emissary of the letters and states Hannan “by virtue of being the king's painter, he took and painted a likeness of Jesus with choice paints” [3] 6th century the Greek Acts of Thaddeaus states Hannan/Ananias was unable to capture the likeness of Christ. “Knowing this, Jesus asked for a towel in which he wiped his face, leaving his image miraculously on the cloth” [4, 5]. (the towel was not 14ft) It wasn’t until the late 6th century when Evagrius Scholasticus, made the description of the cloth as “divinely wrought image, which the hands of men did not form” [5,6] and adds the historical siege of the Persians under King Chosroesin 544, where the portrait magically reappeared from a brick niche from which it was hidden since the death of Abgar V. in 50 AD; it miraculously saved the town from the attach[8,10,13]. The cloth had been hidden away for over 500 years. Since Edessa was prone to flooding [1], a damp environment, how would a cloth survive for so long? The Byzantine era image cult was in full swing which attributes to the sudden reappearance of the image [11,18]. The Acts of the Mari, late 6th century, tells the story, but uses the word linen, but is still called a facial imprint, and the linen is folded in 4. Several other Greek and Syrian historical writings of the period make reference that the portrait is painted on wood, each adding their own embellishments to the original story [5, 9, 15]. But there’s more! In the Bede De Locis Sanctis (Pilgrimage of Arculfus/Bishop Arculf, circa 670/680, Arculf reports that Jesus’ burial cloths are in the Holy Sepulcher which is 8ft long. The shroud is still in the tomb in the 7th C, but also in Edessa at the same time [12]. In 845 with the Chronicle of Patriarch Dionysius of Telmahre makes reference to the portrait painting as being used to pay Edessan taxes, in turn the payee commissions and artist to paint another with dulled paints [7]; so now there are 2 Considering the value of the original contributing to the fable of Abgar which is the city’s identity, and factoring the location was on the pilgrimage route, a copy was essential [1]. In a 10th C script, Hannan’s painting is on a “a square tablet”;Agapius of Mabbug’s Kitab al`Unwan [5]. The Greek Narratio De Imagine Edessena in 944 describes the Edessan cloth’s arrival in Constantinople [5]. It tells the story of Edessa and references the towel that Christ wiped his face. “on the 4th day in the middle week of Lent the Bishop alone was permitted to open the chest where the image was kept. He wiped the icon with an unused sponge that was soaked in water and gave the water that he squeezed out to all the people”Are there water marks on the shroud [17]? …But later in the same document, another story is told how the cloth was imprinted with sweat and blood at Gethsemane [15, 17]. Surely, a 14ft cloth would not be used for this task. There are two different stories in the same document. The 10thC Epistula Abgari also has two different versions of the story; the Christ washes his face version and sweat/blood while on the cross [16]. The 11thC The Gregorious Referandious sermon; “Taking a linen cloth (Jesus) wiped his sweat that was running down his face like drops of blood in his agony,,,he imprinted the refection of his form on the linen. When he (Jesus) came down the mountain from praying he gave it to Thomas. (Gethsemane), again a living Christ. “ your image brought from Edessa. ….A complete form that with various beautiful colors representing the cheeks with the blooming red, it paints a bead with a flowery gold, the encircling of the lips with a blooming red , the eyebrows in a shinning black, the whole eye in beautiful colors, the ears and nose in a different way, overshaddowing the flanks of the imprint with a compound of qualities, and showing the chin and hair.”.. For these are the beauties that have colored the true imprint of Christ, because the form which they dipped was also embellish from drops from his side” [17]. Summary: The Edessa Mandylion story begins with King Abgar V, 50 AD, told by Abgar VIII. The 3rd C script only refers to letter exchanged between the king and Jesus; no mention of a portrait. The 5th C ver. adds Hannan painting a portrait with paints. By the 6th C Hanna can’t capture Christ’s likeness; a Jesus face towel imprint results. But others state that the image was painted on wood. Edessa is damp, yet the cloth survives for 500 years bricked up unseen until 544. In the late 6th C it’s still a facial imprint but folded 4 times. In the 7th C. the Shroud can be found in the Holy Sepulcher. By the 9th C. copies are made after the real one was taken for taxes, but returned later. With a turn in play again in the 10th C, the portrait is reported to be painted on a square tablet. In 944 it travels to Constantinople. The story of Edessa is told but, another tale is added that the cloth was at Gethsemane. (The passion was after Gethsemane. It would have been very troublesome to bring a 14ft burial shroud to wipe a face). Christ is still alive in all tales. Then a Bishop washes the image; is there water damage on the Shroud? In the 11th C there’s a reference to a whole form but only a description of a face with beautiful colors produced by sweat but, painted with blood from his side. Conclusion: The Edessa ledged relates to a Jesus still living, so any image would not be of a dead person; certainly not a burial shroud. A 4 folded cloth does not appear until the 6th C, but even face towels get folded. Machinations of the story until the 10th C state a portrait through the Edessa myth but also adds a scene of prayer and Gethsemane; which is all contradictory to the original King Abgar story [23]. The Shroud and the Mandylion are not the same object. By 944 the Abgar ledged was known throughout the Byzantine world in various forms [8]. The Pray Codex as well as the Shroud is an antimension (holy table cloth) or a representation of one which was commonly used in Orthodox Church ceremonies during the Lenten Easter season which custom began in the 3rd C [4, 19, 20, 21] If you look at the pic you’ll see similarity in cloth weave pattern. Could this be a depiction of the shroud as well? Constantinople Robert de Clari did say he saw a grave cloth in the Bucoleon Palace but what did he actually see (13)? After Constantinople the Mandylion went to King Louis IX Sainte-Chapell Chapel where it remained until its loss during the French Revolution of 1796 [22]. Jerusalem Christ was buried in a burial shroud. But look at John 19:39 & 40, cloths and mention of spices. There was a large quantity used [24]. Have shown up in chemical analysis of the Sshroud? Nope. Also, the Bible does take notice of the burial cloths after resurrection, but who picked them up and took them away? By Jewish custom they would not have due to being an unclean thing. Other Claimants to the Shroud Church of St. Bartholomew degli Armeni, Genoa Vatican Museum when in San Silvestoro, Rome Pope Innocent III had in procession and also claimed to be in the Church of the Apostles Peter & Paul [2] http://goo.gl... http://jaas.org... http://goo.gl... http://www.acheiropoietos.info... http://jaas.org... http://goo.gl... https://goo.gl... http://goo.gl... http://goo.gl... http://goo.gl... http://www.academia.edu... https://archive.org... https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk... http://www.acheiropoietos.info... http://goo.gl... http://goo.gl... https://goo.gl... http://goo.gl... http://goo.gl... http://www.baylor.edu... http://goo.gl... http://www.columbia.edu... http://goo.gl... http://goo.gl...