The Shroud of Turin Could be Authentic

Thank you Geogeer for an informative and compelling opening statement Background: Relic Cult Enshrinement and veneration of relics of gods, individuals or personal property goes back to the ancient Greek as hero cults, and continued with various religions throughout history [3]. As Christianity swept Europe in the 700s churches acquired religious relic to become established and consecrated [2]. The collection of martyr’s, saint’s bones, their possessions along with items associated with Jesus and Biblical stories were common place [2]. No direct worship of the remains or object was permitted, but looked upon as an intermediary of God’s work, a talisman of sorts; played an intercessory role. Miracles were attributed to relics that elevated their monetary and spiritual value. Between the 7th and 14th centuries search, creation and display of such relics reached its apex and developed into a relic cult. The collection and owing religious relics was prestigious. Emperor Charlemagne in the 700s had a large collection of religious relics which others in power and of wealth chose to emulate [1]. As churches were built throughout Europe, the relic business took off. Relic traders and forgers were commonplace. With such high demand, a plethora of “claimed to be religious relics” retuned with knights at the end of 4th crusade in Constantinople [2]. The authenticity and source of relics was dubious at best but, it was the position of the church to turn a blind eye on the matter due to income derived from these objects was on the line [2, 6, 7]. Pilgrimage Dollars Churches that held the best relics became pilgrimage designations which further fueled competition, much like the commercial competition between Disney Land vs. Universal studios, Sea World or Bush Gardens. To become a pilgrimage destination of choice was big business. It not only did it fill the church coffers with donations, but it provided great economic support for the surrounding community through lodging, food and services rendered [2, 5, 6]. It was so profitable, relics were stolen from churches by competing churches to keep attendance and donations rolling [2, 4]; much like a museum turns over its exhibits to keep things fresh to bring in visitors [8]. There was such fierceness in competition for pilgrimage dollars it fueled multiple churches to claim to have the same relic. In the 11th century three churches claimed to have the head of John the Baptist along with several churches claiming to have Jesus’ baby teeth, foreskin from circumcision, wood pieces from the true cross and assorted other items [1, 3, 4, 5]. Donations to the size as much as a pilgrim could bear were encouraged. Stories circulated about those who failed to donate generously meeting with an unfortunate incident or illness. Relics were often displayed in special gold and jeweled crusted containers (reliquaries) which were paid for by wealthy pilgrims [5]. Parades where held when new relics arrived [8]. Procession of relics were performed within churches and towns during religious days of observance and traveled with Monks and priest as a form of fund raisers who extolled their relevance toward famine or the sick. They collecting donations as they went with implied promise that what that ailed them would be relieved. Religious relics were a big money making business [1, 5, 7]. http://goo.gl... https://goo.gl... http://www.ancientworldreview.com... http://goo.gl... http://www.outremer.co.uk... http://hoaxes.org... http://www.pia-journal.co.uk... http://goo.gl... Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin is one of the more famous religious relics. It is believed by some to be the shroud that wrapped Jesus after his crucifixion. A claim of this nature is not possible due to the Jewish burial traditions of the time. As stated in the Bible John 19:40 [9] and Deuteronomy 21:22-23 9 [A]. A Jewish body was washed and applied with spices and aloe, hair trimmed, hand and feet were bound with strips of linen then dressed with cloths feet to neck. A large napkin like cloth (Sudarium)was applied to the head. Burial cloths were considered unclean and would not have been pick up or retrieved when the tomb of Jesus was found empty [10, 11]. 9. http://goo.gl... 10. https://goo.gl... 11. http://goo.gl... , http://goo.gl... A. http://goo.gl... Delared a Fraud It was housed in a chapel in Turin Italy until 1598. Its origins are sketchy. No evidence of providence precedes 1353 [12]. The clergy and owner Geoffroy de Charny of the Lirey chapel, of meager financial means, promoted and displayed the shroud which turned the site into a pilgrimage destination where souvenirs were sold [13].When this became known, area Bishop Henry of Poitiers was sent to investigate. He reported that it was a painting on cloth and the artist was located and confessed to its creation [14]. 12. http://goo.gl... 13. https://goo.gl... 14. http://goo.gl... The Shroud was tucked away for years after this revelation. In 1378 Bishop Pierre d’Arcis stated in a letter to the Pope Urban V1 that Geoffroy “falsely and deceitfully, being consumed with the passion of avarice, and not from any motive of devotion but only of gain, procured for his church a certain cloth cunningly painted,...... “it was quite unlikely that the Holy Evangelists would have omitted to record an imprint on Christ’s burial linens, or that the fact should have remained hidden until the present time” [15]. In 1390, nephew Geoffroi II de Charney made a papal request to show the shroud. Pope Clement VII granted permission provided no claim be made that it were the “True Shroud” and threatened excommunication if this were to occur. Family members paraded the shroud throughout France until it becomes the property of the Dukes of Savoy in 1453-43. In 1471 the Savoy family took the Shroud on tour through European cities propagandizing it as a precious religious relic, and of course made money selling souvenir etchings [16]. The Shroud suffered from fire damage in 1532 and was repaired by nuns. 15. http://goo.gl... 16. http://goo.gl... Testing http://channel.nationalgeographic.com... Multiple scientific tests have been conducted on the Shroud. The most prominent was performed in 1988. The shroud underwent carbon dating by 3 different laboratories with a concurring result of its creation with 95% accuracy dating it between 1260 and 1390 [17] Peer review of the process of collection and techniques utilized has been peer reviewed [18]. The results have been contested with variations on a theme on why the carefully crafted testing procedure was flawed, plausible error hypothesis range from ancient radioactive blast, coronal discharge to earthquakes affecting the results. One being the sample was taken from the shroud area that was repaired in the 1532; this was proven an incorrect assumption [18, 19, 20]. Further scientific test will not be permitted by the Vatican. 17. http://goo.gl... 18. https://journals.uair.arizona.edu... 19. http://shroud.com... 20. http://goo.gl... Causality of Future Doubt Until 2000 comparison to burial other burial shrouds of the 1st century was not possible due to disintegration of textiles from climatic conditions. A 1st century shroud was uncovered in a Jeruselem sealed tomb and its characteristics are very different than the Shroud of Turin. It has a simple 2 way weave in comparison to the complicated herringbone weave of the Turin piece [21] and it was wool layered with linen [22]. It is established that this was a tomb of a family of means. 21. https://goo.gl... 22. http://goo.gl... Even if the Shroud can be proven to be of the 1st century, which is unlikely to occur due to no new samples provided, serious doubt will always remain. The Shroud of Turin as it being the true impression of the Biblical Jesus can never be absolute due to the common place occurrence of crucifixions during the Biblical era. During the 1st century crucifixion was a repeated Roman practice of punishment for non-Romans for assorted crimes and sedition. Often crucified bodies were left to rot on the cross but, permission to remove the body was sometimes given [18,]. Archeological evidence and writings of Philo and Josephus of the 1st century bears this out [A]. Records of crucifixions in the Roman Empire date to the Punic War 218-201 BCE. Skeletons have been found in Greece dated 7BC and 2BC that were attached to wood with nails. 800 Jews were executed in 267 BC by Alexander Jannaeus [19]. Jehohanan ben Hagkol, the crucified (Jewish) from Giv’at Ha-Mivtar (Jerusalem), has been dated to the 1st century [20]. Iron nails used in crucifixions were expensive and were removed from the bodies, which accounts why to date, only one body with a nails still embedded has been found [21]. It is likely and expected if a Jewish family had a crucified love one, they would do whatever they could to obtain the body for a proper Jewish burial; Deuteronomy 21:22–23: “If a man is guilty of a capital offense and is put to death, and you impale him on a stake, you must not let his corpse remain on the stake overnight, but must bury him the same day. For an impaled body is an affront to God: you shall not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.” Between the frequency in which cruxifictions occured and numbers of bodies resulting, the Shroud could be attributed to anyone. Other possibilities on the purpose and rendering of the Shroud of Turin are in play and will be presented in forthcoming rounds. 18. http://goo.gl... 19. http://www.bibleinterp.com... 20. http://goo.gl... 21. http://goo.gl...