The Shroud of Turin Could be Authentic

My thanks to Peepette. Shroud of TurinThis round I will be focusing on the history of the Shroud. I am going to step backwards through time to reveal the shroud's footprints in history.1. Western EuropeHistorical facts that closer to the present are generally easier to confirm than those that are older. As such, the history of the Shroud in Western Europe from 1349, when the Shroud was recorded to be in the possession of Geoffroi de Charny, is undisputed [1].2. ConstantinopleSo how do we know that the shroud existed long before its appearance in Western Europe. The first piece of evidence that I will present is the oldest surviving Hungarian text known as the Pray Codex. The Pray Codex has been reliably dated to between 1192 and 1195 AD [2].Inside the manuscript there are 5 images. I'm going to focus on one of those images along with an image of the shroud: The top pane shows the burial and the bottom pane Easter morning. 5 key points on this sketch:1) The body of Jesus has only 4 visible fingers on each hand, just as on the shroud. 2) We an see that the shroud is long in that it wraps around the neck and shoulders of the man on the upper left. 3) Red crosses remain on the shroud artistically denoting Christ's blood. 4) The herringbone pattern of the cloth matches that of the Shroud.5) L shape burn holes (below the extended arm of the leftmost woman in the bottom panel) consistent with burn marks that predate the larger burn marks created by in a fire in 1532. [3]This is incontrovertible evidence of the existence of the Shroud in the late 12th century. But where was it in this time period?In 1204, Robert de Clari, a French knight of the 4th Crusade, wrote that "the shroud wherein Our Lord was wrapped" [4] was kept in a Church in Constantinople and raised in a ceremony every Friday so that the wounds of the Lord could be seen. Constantinople (now Istanbul) being the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire and seat of Orthodox Christianity had frequent dealings with Hungary as both were fighting off Islamic expansion.Constantinople was sacked later in 1204 by the French and Venetian Crusaders. In 1205 AD Theodore nephew of Emperor Isaac II wrote to Pope Innocent III requested that the Pope have the shroud returned to Constantinople. [5]The Knights Templar was established by 9 French Knights in 1118 AD [6] as a military force to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. They would have been well aware of the existence of the Shroud. In 1287 AD a young Frenchman, Arnaut Sabbatier, described a Templar initiation rite:He was "shown a long piece of linen on which was impressed the figure of a man and told to worship it, kissing the feet three times" [7] This is a veneration similar to what Catholics do at the Good Friday service when they kiss the feet of a crucifix. Veneration is a very Catholic thing to do to pay homage to Jesus, especially to his very burial cloth.Finally in 1307, the Knights Templar were disbanded. Grand Master Jacque Molay (highest ranked Knight) and Sir Knight Geoffrey de Charny (Preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar) were executed together. [8] Geoffroi de Charny (who is known to possess the shroud in 1349) was highly suspected of being a relative of the executed Geffrey de Charny, and inherited the shroud for safe keeping.Thus we have closed the loop from Western Europe back to Constantinople.3. EdessaIn 944 Muslims besieged the town of Edessa. The Emperor of Constantinople exchanged a group of Muslim prisoners for the Image of Edessa - a cloth on which there was an image of Jesus. [9] On August 15, 944 the Image of Edessa arrived in Constantinople. The Eastern Orthodox Feast day of the Image is August 16. The sermon pronounced on the occasion of the arrival of the image has been preserved - which includes:"He imprinted the reflection of His form on the linen" [10]Thus the Image of Edessa was a full body image of the body of Christ.In 787 (Seventh Ecumenical Council), bishops defended the veneration of images by teaching that Christ Himself provided an image for veneration - the Holy Image of Edessa. [11]In the 6th century, the image of Edessa was found buried in the walls above one of the city gates [12]. It was written later in the 6th century that "Edessa was protected by a 'divinely wrought portrait (acheiropoietis) sent by Jesus to Abgar" and in the 730AD, "St. John Damascene - On Holy Images - describes the cloth as a himation, which is translated as an oblong cloth or grave cloth. This may be the first mention, among extant documents, of it being a grave cloth." [12]The Legend of Abgar reports how the shroud came to Edessa:"But when the Edessan Christians wrote their history in the 3rd century, they remembered that the Gospel originally came to them in the 1st century from a Jerusalem disciple named Addai and to a King Abgar V, a known historical figure contemporary with Christ. Eusebius included in his Ecclesiastical History a brief late 3rd century version, reporting a famous letter from Jesus still kept in the Edessan archives (Eusebius 1991: 43-47). But later in the 4th century (or possibly early in the 5th) a Syriac writer penned a much expanded text. Known as The Teaching of Addai (hereafter TA) one small passage has Abgar, who is corresponding with Jesus by way of a messenger Hanan, instructing him to make a picture of Jesus:When Hanan the archivist saw that Jesus had spoken thus to him, he took and painted the portrait of Jesus with choice pigments, since he was the king’s artist, and brought it with him to his lord King Abgar. When King Abgar saw the portrait he received it with great joy and placed it with great honor in one of the buildings of his palaces.Greek text, the anonymous Acts of Thaddaeus described this new way of understanding the picture’s origin. This document is another brief account of the Gospel coming to Edessa in the 1st century in the time of Abgar V. The king’s messenger, Ananais, was unable to paint Jesus, so:And He [Jesus] knew as knowing the heart, and asked to wash Himself; and a towel was given Him; and when He washed Himself, He wiped His face with it. And His image having been imprinted upon the linen, He gave it to Ananias. [13]The Greek words used for this linen were "rakos (piece of cloth) which was a tetradiplon, a word translated as “doubled in four," [13]As you can see, folding the shroud in this manner would leave you an image of the face. Edessa was an early convert to Christianity in first or second century during the Gnostic era. Embedded in the Gnostic Acts of Thomas is the Hymn of the Pearl. This is most often attributed to the Syrian Gnostic Bardaisan (152-222AD) at the royal court of Edessa. Supposedly some elements of it suggest a 1st century oral tradition [14]In the Hymn Jesus speaks:I saw my image on my burial garment like in a mirror.Myself facing outward and myself facing inward. As though divided, yet one likeness. Two images, but one likeness of the King of Kings. [15]Now mirrors in the ancient world were rare being either beaten metal or calm pools of water. However they understood mirror images. A poetic description accurately detailing the shroud written by a man living in Edessa is highly corroborative.Outward and inward facing - dorsal and ventral images on the shroudAnd though divided, yet one likeness - two images of the same personTwo images, but one likeness of the King of Kings - Two images of Jesus Christ.4. JerusalemAll four Gospels mention the linen cloth that Jesus was wrapped in:Matthew 27:59 - "And Joseph taking the body, wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth."Mark 15:46 - "And Joseph buying fine linen, and taking him down, wrapped him up in the fine linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewed out of a rock."Luke 23:53 - "And taking him down, he wrapped him in fine linen, and laid him in a sepulchre that was hewed in stone, wherein never yet any man had been laid."John 19:40 - "They took therefore the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury."The burial linens that wrapped the body were considered important enough to be mentioned by every Gospel writer. Now we can look at where they are next mentioned.Luke 24:12 - "But Peter rising up, ran to the sepulchre, and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths laid by themselves; and went away wondering in himself at that which was come to pass."John 20:4-8 - "And they both ran together, and that other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying; but yet he went not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre, and saw the linen cloths lying, And the napkin that had been about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place. Then that other disciple also went in, who came first to the sepulchre: and he saw, and believed."The other disciple here was John who was, according to records, the author the this Gospel. He saw the linens and believed. Given that burial cloths were ritually unclean to Jews, no more could possibly be said. However, he didn't believe on looking into the empty tomb; he believed when he saw the linens. It is not unreasonable to interpret this as a hidden message within the Gospel.A historical lineage of the shroud from the resurrection onward has been established in this round. And while there is even more historical evidence, there are only 10,000 characters. I look forward to my opponent's opening arguments.References[1] http://tinyurl.com...[2] http://tinyurl.com...[3] http://tinyurl.com...[4] http://tinyurl.com...[5] http://tinyurl.com...[6] http://tinyurl.com...[7] http://tinyurl.com...[8] http://tinyurl.com...[9] http://tinyurl.com...[10] http://tinyurl.com...[11] http://tinyurl.com...[12] http://tinyurl.com...[13] http://tinyurl.com...[14] http://tinyurl.com...[15] http://tinyurl.com...