The Shroud of Turin Wasn’t Faked, Italian Experts Say
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Antonio Calanni/AP Photo
Has the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin finally been proven?
A new study by Italian scientists may not be definitive on its origins, but it does refute the popular notion that it was faked during the Middle Ages.
Experts at Italy’s National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development have concluded in a report that the famed purported burial cloth of Jesus Christ could not have been faked.
According to the Vatican Insider, a project by La Stampa newspaper that closely follows the Catholic church, the experts’ report says, “The double image (front and back) of a scourged and crucified man, barely visible on the linen cloth of the Shroud of Turin has many physical and chemical characteristics that are so particular that the staining which is identical in all its facets, would be impossible to obtain today in a laboratory … This inability to repeat (and therefore falsify) the image on the Shroud makes it impossible to formulate a reliable hypothesis on how the impression was made.”
The centuries-old shroud contains a faint impression of the front and back of a human body, along with blood, dirt and water stains from age.
Many have long questioned the shroud’s authenticity, and others have suggested that it was faked during medieval times.
The Italian researchers, who conducted dozens of hours of tests with X-rays and ultraviolet lights, said that no laser existed to date that could replicate the singular nature of markings on the shroud. They also said that the kind of markings on the cloth could not have come from direct contact of the body with the linen.
Previous investigation has determined the markings could not have come from pigments or dyes.
The Italian scientists said the marks could only have been made by “a short and intense burst of VUV directional radiation.”
Such technology did not exist in the time the skeptics claim the shroud could have been forged.
The scientists haven’t offered an explanation for how they believe the marks were made, but believers have long thought the shroud was miraculously marked when Jesus rose from the dead following his crucifixion.
The mystery of the shroud has long been a subject of debate and serious research.
Just last year, the History Channel aired a special in which it revealed a 3D image of the face of Jesus, constructed from the markings left in the cloth. Artists and scientists studied the Shroud of Turin, and used cutting-edge technology to create a computer-generated image of the face surrounded by the shroud.
The revelation caused mixed reactions around the globe. While some people said the image was “realistic” and what they imagined Christ looked like, others were not as certain.
The shroud is owned by the Vatican, although the Catholic church has never taken an official position on the cloth’s authenticity.
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The shroud is an obvious fake. Think about it. If you wrapped a sheet around a body and then removed it, any image of the body would NOT look like it does on the shroud. Case closed.
Posted by: RalphF | December 21, 2011, 7:31 pm 7:31 pm
the stain was made when christ was resurrected, when his body was transformed into his glorious body.
Posted by: chris | December 21, 2011, 7:53 pm 7:53 pm
This is article is stupid nonsense and I we are all dumber for reading it.
Posted by: Lauren | December 21, 2011, 8:14 pm 8:14 pm
Such a fake, as is the case with thousands of other religious hoaxes.
BUT, even if you’re a devout Christian and you think the image was made as his soul passed through the shroud, here are some interesting questions:
1. Why is there are a stain of what looks like his beard?
2. Why is there a stain of what looks like his hair? As the body rose, the hair would fall back, and it wouldn’t look like that.
3. If he rose up to heaven, why would there be a stain from his back?
4. Why would a soul leave a stain? (Yeah….that’s a good question.)
Personally, I don’t think this was “faked.” I just don’t think it’s Jesus. It was some guy who was completely covered in some crap head to two, wrapped in this shroud for hundreds of years, and it left the stain.
There are plenty of ancient unsolved mysteries. Stonehenge, pyramids, etc. We don’t even know exactly how the ancient Egyptians were able to preserve their mummies so well. But I can tell you this – it wasn’t through a divine process.
Posted by: Uncle Billy | December 21, 2011, 8:29 pm 8:29 pm
Praise Be to God. Praise be to His Holy Name and Face. Let’s see if anybody can dare speak against you when you return as a Judge.
Posted by: Jesse | December 21, 2011, 8:29 pm 8:29 pm
Ralph, in your state of disbelief, you simply don’t understand. No one unwrapped Jesus. He didn’t suddenly sit up and unwrap himself. In a flash, his dead body change alive again and he was no longer present in his shroud. They have also shown where it is just like a photo negative. Besides the bodily fluid stains, the image you see is from the supernatural (GOD) event that took place as Jesus was resurrected.
Posted by: Leslie | December 21, 2011, 8:32 pm 8:32 pm
I can’t imagine Jesus would have wanted a regimented church, with inflexible dogma, oppressing and damning to an eternity of suffering, those that dared to hold a different point of view. I can’t imagine a a church whose emisaries violate their young male subjects and yet are protected from prosecution from the very top down. A church, rich beyond imagination with material wealth, yet does little more than “pray” for the poor. Such utter hypocrac,y is it any wonder people are turning away from organized religion in record numbers?
Posted by: Richard | December 21, 2011, 8:37 pm 8:37 pm
WOE UNTO HIM WHO WOULD DENY,WITHOUT ANY PROOF, THE EXISTENCE OF GOD AND HIS POWER. THIS MIRACLE IS TO CLEAR THE AIR BEFORE GOD’S JUDGEMENT. THESE NAYSAYERS ARE GUILTY OF THE SAME FAILING AS THAT OF THE FALLEN ANGELS, THAT OF PRIDE
IN REJECTING ANYTHING ABOVE THEIRSELVES.
Posted by: Bill Doyle | December 21, 2011, 8:56 pm 8:56 pm
I don’t deny God exists, I know he does, all you have to do is look around and see His limitless wonders. God loves us all, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus Buddhists, Wiccans, Heathens, Athiests, et al. The real God does not have human limits and emotions. He is the God of the universe, not the select few that follow a specific dogma. He has sent us here for a purpose, he knows our hearts, our limitations, our abilities. There is no Hell, there is only growth to eventually merit greatness and progression into an infinite levels of spirituality. Based on what I have seen this level is most likely spiritual Kindergarten.
Posted by: Richard | December 21, 2011, 9:16 pm 9:16 pm
On the third day after Christ was crucified, in a glorious burst of resurrection power, He arose from the dead and left behind something that modern science—with all its wonderful technology—cannot explain nor replicate, the Shroud of Turin. Praise the LORD!
Posted by: AM123 | December 21, 2011, 9:34 pm 9:34 pm
Leslie, how the hell do you know, where you there? I love people who talk about their beliefs as if it is FACT just because THEY believe it. Gimme a break.
Posted by: Mike | December 21, 2011, 9:40 pm 9:40 pm
@Uncle Billy, These “stains” on the shroud are believed to be the result of some type of radiation. According to the article, it was made by a “a short and intense burst of VUV directional radiation.” Something that didn’t exist long ago. Many Christians believe that the radiation that is described was from Jesus’s ressurection. So the radiation caused something similar to a photographic negative onto the cloth. That’s plausible. This explains the image of the beard, hair, etc. Whether or not it was from that event or whether the radiation that was created was from some yet to be discovered modern device is what people are trying to figure out.
Posted by: Ann | December 21, 2011, 9:43 pm 9:43 pm
I think it is Jesus. The face looks like such a good man.
Posted by: Ann | December 21, 2011, 9:43 pm 9:43 pm
Praise be to the Pilsbury Dough Boy. For it was him who made a bisquit and it rose from the yeast on the tray of cooketh, and on the third hour it was removed from the oven. So be it for it is written in the book of cookery and it must be true, even if I didn’t see it, even if someone told me to believe it, I know because it is fact, I believe it so it must be fact. I can’t wait until Santa’s magic sack opens in my house too, and millions of dollars arise up out of it.
All ye people of faith, have a good time enjoying your faith – WITHOUT IMPOSING YOUR FREE WILL INTO OURS. AND WAKE THE HELL UP, YOU HAVE NO IDEA, NO IDEA AT ALL ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED OR NOT THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO IN A SHEET, SO SHUTUP.
Posted by: mARK | December 21, 2011, 9:43 pm 9:43 pm
it’s a fake evah read the Scriptures? i think not
” Then came Shimon Kepha following him, and went into the tomb, and saw the linen cloths lying, And the cloth, that was around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself.” YOCHANAN 20:6,7 RSTNE
/ There are 13,000 “Original-language Scriptures” in Aramaic, Syriac, Coptic and AHlenic (Greek) which 50-75% agree with each other. originalscriptures dot com /
The odds are that this testimony are accurate even in their corrupted anglicized Babylonian published form, to reasonably invalidate the so called catholic shroud claim.
Posted by: Jay | December 21, 2011, 9:44 pm 9:44 pm
Mike, I had a friend who was a very devout Catholic as I am. She has sinced died from cancer. She told me one time,she was praying the Stations of the Cross and she felt Jesus’s arms around her. The next day when I knelt to pray some prayers, I thought, how come she gets that? She must be better than me. (she was a very popular well loved woman). Just after I said that, I felt, coming from behind me and enveloping me the most love I ever felt on earth from anyone, it was PURE love and it lasted just a second! I got my answer. I am so lucky.
Posted by: Ann | December 21, 2011, 9:49 pm 9:49 pm
Assuming Christ was the Son of God, it would easy for Him to leave an image
of Himself on the burial cloth.
He may have done it to prove to future generations that He was real.
The robe on which the Virgin of Guadalupe imprinted an image of herself has also
defied explanation.
Posted by: JohnB | December 21, 2011, 9:50 pm 9:50 pm
its not a fake, its not jesus. jesus was jewish until the day he died. he was much shorter than that guy. its still pretty cool though…
Posted by: sam jack | December 21, 2011, 9:52 pm 9:52 pm
There are a lot of artifacts that cannot be duplicated: Stonehenge, Chartres, the Pyramids, etc. We do not need to postulate a divine origin for something just because we can’t explain how it came about (except for those who need a “sign” from God).
Posted by: txvoltaire | December 21, 2011, 9:53 pm 9:53 pm
Here is how it went down some 2,000 years ago:
At noon on good Friday, Jesus was on the cross and darkness came over the land for 3 hours. This was no eclipse. At midday, God supernaturally suspended the light from the sun upon the earth. This was a byproduct of what was going on in the spiritual world. Jesus was the Passover Lamb, a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. He bore the brunt of God’s punishment for the sins of all mankind. Jesus bore the sins of you and me and everyone else—thank you Jesus!
Then in an epic moment for mankind, at 3:00 on Friday, Jesus said “It is finished!” and gave up His spirit saying “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”! At that moment, the curtain in the Temple split in two from top to bottom, symbolizing that Jesus, in the New Covenant, opened up the way into the Most Holy of Holies for all mankind. There was also an earthquake and the tombs of many people broke open and they were raised to life. So on Friday, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was crucified, died, and was buried in a tomb.
On Saturday, day 2, Jesus physical body lie dead in the tomb, but in the spiritual universe, He was down in the pits of hell in the bowels of the earth bearing the punishment for the sins of mankind—thank you Jesus I will praise you forever and ever!
And then in a dramatic turn of the most momentous kind, in the most glorious event for the Adamic race, on the morning of the 3rd day, Sunday, the boulder in front of the tomb was rolled away by angels and Jesus arose to life in a glorious burst of resurrection power, leaving behind the Shroud of Turin, which modern science—with all its wonderful technology—cannot explain nor replicate. The GOOD NEWS ladies and gentlemen is all can share in this same resurrection power in the age to come and live forever and ever! Hallelujah!
Posted by: AM123 | December 21, 2011, 10:01 pm 10:01 pm
Having this examined by an expert who the Vatican chooses seems like a complete waste. No one knows who this is. It could be anyone. It could be Jesus, but who can say? Believe what you want but don’t be so gullible. The truth is that it’s probably not from him. That’s not to say he never existed or that he wasn’t the son of God, but not everything is a religious relic. Go to Jerusalem if you are looking for something holy.
Posted by: Ohplease | December 21, 2011, 10:01 pm 10:01 pm
Hey atheists, do not be concerned if your mind does not allow it to accept the
existence of God.
Although it would be better if you professed agnosticism, as long as you do good works
and treat everyone with compassion, you will not be condemned.
This is what Christ was trying to teach us.
Posted by: JohnB | December 21, 2011, 10:08 pm 10:08 pm
i would be so much more willing to believe the veracity of these findings had they not been made by a group of italian (read catholic) scientists.
Posted by: justsane | December 21, 2011, 10:17 pm 10:17 pm
JOHNB said “as long as you do good works and treat everyone with compassion, you will not be condemned. This is what Christ was trying to teach us.”
NOT TRUE AT ALL.
God is a holy God and a consuming fire. In God’s holy presence, sin is consumed in the fire. And so on the Day of Judgment, God’s presence will burn up all that are unholy and unrighteous. And everyone of their own accord is unholy and unrighteous. None of us are perfect and righteous and holy. Our “good works” are nothing but filthy rags in the sight of a perfect and holy God (see Isaiah 64:6). Sin separates men from God. So men who rest on their own merits cannot exist in the presence of a holy God without being consumed in the fire of His holy presence on the Day of Judgment. But the GOOD NEWS is this: we have a mediator for us between us and God. His name is Jesus, the High Priest that meets our needs. For all those that accept Jesus, the Lamb of God, as the sacrifice for their sins and makes Him their Lord and Savior, they in effect “put on” the righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ. So when God looks at them, He sees not their own righteous (or lack thereof) or holiness (or lack thereof), but He sees the perfect holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ. And such a person will be able to stand in the presence of God on the Day of Judgment without be burned in the consuming fire.
Posted by: AM123 | December 21, 2011, 10:22 pm 10:22 pm
Here is all God asks of us. Seems pretty reasonable to me.
Micah 6:8 “And what does God require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
“Justly” loosely translated from the Hebrew “Tzedakah”, is charity, but charity is not the true meaning, To do “Justly” is to give of your self financially to insure the well being of others. The rest of the verse should be obvious.
Posted by: RIchard | December 21, 2011, 10:35 pm 10:35 pm
You will only go to heaven if you believe Jesus is God. You want to get scared??? Google someone who saw hell., Sr. Faustina. she is a saint who died in a convent in Poland. God allowed her to see hell and she tells about it. Very scary.
Posted by: Ann | December 21, 2011, 10:42 pm 10:42 pm
@JohnB
You do realize that the majority of Italians aren’t Catholics right? (36% active which is close to the US number) I know its rather misleading since since the Vatican is there.
Posted by: BryanT | December 21, 2011, 10:46 pm 10:46 pm
Ann
I wish you peace and happiness, but I think it’s sad that your religion is based on fear what happens after you die.
Posted by: Richard | December 21, 2011, 11:01 pm 11:01 pm
Why would a god play childish parlor games? turn water into wine. Walk on water. Leave an image on a shroud.
This is supposed to be the creator of the universe. It’s beyond comprehension why the creator of the universe would come to earth and play such absurd little games with small groups of people. It makes no sense.
On the other hand, small groups of people making this stuff up and trying to force their preconceived conclusions on people makes perfect sense.
It is what it is. Deal with it.
Posted by: joe jones | December 21, 2011, 11:18 pm 11:18 pm
There are a lot more details that can be seen in the NG special. They found tiny remains of pollen from a tree that is only found in a certain area of the Mediterranean where Jesus lived. Like any discover there will always be people who believe and those who don’t. People with faith don’t need proof like this, we see it in our own lives. You can’t see the wind but you know it exists..why? Because you can feel it. We Christians can feel the Holy Spirit in our lives and it is something that is difficult to explain to those who have not experienced His amazing power and grace.
Posted by: Anna Lisa | December 21, 2011, 11:29 pm 11:29 pm
The problem is, during the time Christ was purported to live, the inhabitants of that part of the world were moorish –that is to say, black. they did not have modern looking European features. So it’s really unlikely the Shroud of Turin would show a white guy. The shroud shows what we all think Christ looked like based on renaissance paintings. These are not realistic depictions of the people of that time.
It is unlikely anyone named Jesus Chist who was a carpenter and the purported son of God even ever lived. There is no contemporaneous account of such a person –and there were historians and scribes at work in that part of the world at that time. None of them mention this guy names Jesus who can perform miracles.
This belief is no different than a belief an any other form of magic. It is silly.
Posted by: SaintGenesius | December 21, 2011, 11:51 pm 11:51 pm
The proportion is wrong, human eyes are about half-way between the top of our head and the bottom of our jaw. Its a common mistake for students to draw the face too big.
Posted by: Rasio Mal | December 22, 2011, 12:18 am 12:18 am
These wouldn’t be the same “Italian experts” that falsley accused Amanda Knox would they?
Posted by: dan | December 22, 2011, 12:37 am 12:37 am
Say the shroud is genuine and watch the tourists flock to Italy, money in hand. On another note, lots of people were crucified; where are their shrouds?
Posted by: Ed | December 22, 2011, 1:37 am 1:37 am
Let’s see, Jesus of Nazareth is referred to in hundreds, if not thousands, of texts other than the bible. To say that he never existed is, well, ignorant. The church gave him the name Christ, it was not his actual last name. To all the people critiquing little details of the shroud, if you had paid attention while reading the article of watching the History Channel or other shows, you would have read or heard actual, impartial scientists contradicting your claims. Maybe you should try to master spelling and punctuation before showing off your lack of scientific knowledge. And, to the other atheists criticizing religious peoples faith, how about your faith in the THEORIES of science and the universe, yes, THEORIES, which are unproven ideas. How is your atheist FAITH, any different than a religious persons FAITH in God. I’m not even a Christian, I’m just not ignorant enough to close my mind to the fact that I do not know all the secrets of the universe.
Posted by: John | December 22, 2011, 1:56 am 1:56 am
In Islam, Issa, Jesus, was not crucifed. Allah, God, raised him up to heaven prior to being crucified. Another mans face was placed on the body, presumably Judas, and it was he who was put on the cross. God would have never harmed any of his prophets. Therefore it may be someone, but not Jesus.
Posted by: Susan | December 22, 2011, 1:59 am 1:59 am
Most of you are just plain dumb. You believe in fairy tales, the supernatural, superstitious nonsense. Any historian will tell you that Jewish men at that time did not look like that. That man looks to be European and was most likely just some guy wrapped in a shroud. Anyone who believes in burning, talking bushes can’t even think in the same league as me because you lack reason and logic. Two things you need to have to be an intelligent human being. Grow up and get your head out of the clouds you bunch of sheep!
Posted by: CINDY | December 22, 2011, 3:12 am 3:12 am
Ed, I’m an atheist and I believe this MAN existed. He was one of dozens of so-called prophets running around the middle east at the time in an era of uncertainty and fear hoping to bring people hope. That does not make him god, or anything other than a good man. The catholic church needed to make it sound like he was devine so that they could make their unholy government around it. Good man, that was it.
Posted by: Cindy | December 22, 2011, 3:14 am 3:14 am
Why would Jesus leave behind his image and disobey the Ten Commamdments?
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
And why would you pray to statues and pictures and an image of a man on a crross, disobeying the Ten Commandments???
Posted by: tpinch | December 22, 2011, 4:28 am 4:28 am
Odd conclusion. It could not have been faked in the middle ages because the technology didn’t exist. Well the technology also didn’t exist in the time of Christ either. The scientists don’t know how it was done, yet it exists. You can’t draw a conclusion about the time frame if you have no scientific idea how it was done. Pointless article with bs conclusions. Article should read “after extensive testing, Italian scientists still baffled”
Posted by: What? | December 22, 2011, 4:36 am 4:36 am
If Jesus existed, and I’m not here to argue that he did or didn’t, but the Bible is an accurate depiction of his birth, life and death, then Jesus had two fathers and a surrogate mother. You would think the Catholic church would be more accepting of gay couples adopting children in need of a family.
Posted by: Jim | December 22, 2011, 4:52 am 4:52 am
If you believe this you will believe anything. Then again, it’s religious people we’re talking about, who literally will believe anything.
Posted by: John | December 22, 2011, 5:39 am 5:39 am
“Many Christians believe that the radiation that is described was from Jesus’s ressurection. So the radiation caused something similar to a photographic negative onto the cloth. That’s plausible”
LOL, did you really just say that load of nonsense is “plausible”?!?!?!? Has logic and rationality completely left he USA?
Posted by: Tom | December 22, 2011, 5:41 am 5:41 am
It does not fit the description of the burial cloths in the bible. They did not use shrouds, but strips of cloth wrapped around the body. Besides if it was the resurrected glorified body of jesus, it would be perfect right? So why would it retain the destruction caused by roman soldiers, I mean when he appeared to his disciples and lived with them for the 40 days afterwards he supposedly had his glorified body, not a scarred one. So why would the glorified image on the shroud show one? It wouldn’t!!!!!!!
Posted by: richard | December 22, 2011, 6:21 am 6:21 am
People, your comments do show how many people lack “faith”. In short, if the non-believers are right, than it is irrelevant for those believers to have “faith” (no harm done). At least the non-believers will not be able to say “I told you so” after the fact. On the other hand, if the non-believers are wrong, well, we all will just say a prayer for you when you back peddle in front of your maker.
Posted by: Bill | December 22, 2011, 8:29 am 8:29 am
Praise & glory to you Lord Jesus Christ son of the living God!!!
Posted by: Michael | December 22, 2011, 9:18 am 9:18 am
So researchers funded and published by the Vatican ‘prove’ the shroud isn’t a fake.
Shocking.
Posted by: Bud | December 22, 2011, 9:30 am 9:30 am
I am always amazed at how skeptics act like we who believe are just uneducated, gullable dim whitts. I am logical and educated, I have found that logic cannot explain all things. Back before Gallieo, it was “Logical” to believe the earth was flat. You are no more intelligent than I who believe. I could argue that I am MORE logical, because I logically understand that logic does not explain everything, indeed, perhaps not even most things. Fact- the shroud of Turin cannot be reproduced with technology from ANY age including today’s. The shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus and bears the image of his body as it was when he was resurected, the evidence presented by the most researched artifact in the history of mankind (shroud of turin) is more than compelling that it is indeed geniune. I am sorry if that offends your infantile “Logic” but I will leave you to believe that you are a hunk of bio-matter being articulated by a bio-computer, enjoy your shallow existence.
Posted by: Trill | December 22, 2011, 10:05 am 10:05 am
This article is so incomplete. In a documentary on the shroud, a researcher was able to reproduce it by heating a copper statue and placing a fine linen over it. When removed the linen was marked like the shroud.
Posted by: Milo | December 22, 2011, 10:07 am 10:07 am
Why doesn’t the scientific community just do a carbon dating of the shroud and finally settle all this nonsense and prove that it is a fake and that it’s not dated back to the time of Jesus’s death.
Posted by: Ted | December 22, 2011, 11:43 am 11:43 am
for those of you that believe it’s a fake…you should possibly do more research other than reading this article. this shroud has existed for hundreds of years, well into a couple thousand years. This has been studied for decades. up unto the how the image was actually burned into the cloth. Perhaps the italians described it in such a way that may leave room for doubt. but even your ordinary athiest must begin to ask questions. and not questions of real or fake. there is nothing that can really debunk the findings at this point. seeing that it’s dated to be in the area, geographically, given the soil attached to it. and it’s dated to be of around the time. whether you believe or not, evidence is there. stop being stubborn and actually take it for what it is instead of trying to debunk every theory presented to you. you act like republicans
Posted by: really? | December 22, 2011, 12:04 pm 12:04 pm
well said trill. well said.
Posted by: well said trill | December 22, 2011, 12:06 pm 12:06 pm
Leonardo da Vinci made it as a practical joke to fool all the blind sheep of the world.
Put it this way: Some people go to a magic show and believe the magician has magical powers. Some people go and are entertained by the creativity, cunning and skill of the magician.
Karl Marx didn’t think Communism very well, but he got one thing right: Religion is the opiate of the masses.
If you’re religious, ask yourself why the Catholic church (and many other branches of Christianity) are worth billions, yet there is so much pain and poverty in the world. “Oh, because God gives us free will.” Such a cop-out answer.
Posted by: Uncle Billy | December 22, 2011, 12:53 pm 12:53 pm
@Ted: Actually, this shroud was proven to have been from around the 1300 or 1400s. And as Trill said, the same effect can occur from heating a copper statue. Many people believe Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest geniuses of all time, bought an old linen cloth and created this process. The selling of fake shrouds was a big business in those years. Look it up.
All that being said, I do like what you wrote about people acting like Republicans. Ironic, since they’re Christian right party.
Posted by: Smitty | December 22, 2011, 12:56 pm 12:56 pm
I have the same stains on my bed sheets!
BTW they did carbon date this years ago and it turned out to be maybe 500 years old.
Posted by: gofor | December 22, 2011, 1:37 pm 1:37 pm
The carbon dating has been debunked, since the material they used may not have been (and probably wasn’t) from the original shroud material, but something sown onto the shroud in the middle ages to repair it. There is other evidence such as the particular weave of the shroud material, which date it to the 1st Century. I’m not certain where I stand on its authenticity, but there are a lot of questions that have already been answered in that regard, and the more research that is done on it by dispassionate parties leads more in the direction of authenticity than in the direction of a forgery. So is it the actual burial cloth of Jesus Christ? What else would explain it? We have the historical record and we have the particular relic. If it was tied to a non-religious event, who wouldn’t conclude its authenticity? Why should it be any different with an event like the resurrection? It doesn’t prove the resurrection, but it certainly leads to more room for belief that it did in fact occur as stated in the scriptures and other near contemporary sources.
Posted by: Randy | December 22, 2011, 2:46 pm 2:46 pm
JESUS CHRIST is LORD, SON of GOD, CREATOR of all that is seen and unseen. HE loves us all more than we can fathom. If you consider yourself an unbeliever, please search your heart and pray for the HOLY SPIRIT to enter. Continue to pray and HE will give you strength and your faith, a mustard seed perhaps now, will grow beyond what you are able to imagine. You are fearfully and wonderfully made and GOD cherishes you so much that HE suffered and died so you could be with HIM. Home with HIM. Amen.
Posted by: shad | December 22, 2011, 5:16 pm 5:16 pm
The people posting here really think they are smarter than the STURP and Italian scientists? You all have got it all figured out (LOL). Major scientists have spent thousands of hours investigating the shroud (the most studied artifact in human history), and can’t explain how the image was “naturally” made, but you people know how it was done. Congratulations!
Posted by: Jason Thompson | December 23, 2011, 9:19 am 9:19 am
Do you people who say it’s a fake even read the article? I haven’t thought of it in years – but some dude it asking how the soul of Jesus would leave that image when he was leaving the shroud. I don’t think that is the idea here. The idea is his dead body was laying there after 3 days – and the ressurection of that body into his glorified body took place – which caused some release of VUV radiation in all directions, imprinting his front/back/everything onto the cloth around him.
It can’t be confirmed as a hoax until someone can explain how the image on the shroud was produced to be .2 micrometers thick, which VUV can do, but no pigment or dye can – that is problem whether you say it’s from the 1st century or the 14th.
Posted by: Jamie | December 23, 2011, 11:58 am 11:58 am
Their most likely wasn’t even lasers in medieval times!,so who ever came up with that crap,just doesn’t want to believe that Jesus existed before. I think It really is Jesus! And people are going to try to prove it wrong for ages!!!
Posted by: sarah | December 25, 2011, 3:25 am 3:25 am
Five points:
1) I am a doctor, in fact a forensic pathologist
2) I’ve read and seen a lot on the Shroud
3) The obvious conclusion is this: if so many want to disprove it, why have they not
explained how it was made? Ans: they can’t. Twenty-first Century is baffled by a medieval forgery? How can that be? Maybe the real answer is that it’s not a forgery.
4) in reading some of the above comments by others I’m appalled at the lack of education among the masses; they can’t spell, they can’t seem to construct a sentence let alone present an argument,and many seem never to have read a book beyond 8th grade. What a condemnation of our education system!
5) Whether it is fact or forgery is really immaterial; each individual has to answer this question which Jesus puts to all men: “whom do you say I am?”
Posted by: Doc | December 25, 2011, 8:14 pm 8:14 pm
From Skeptic.com, in response to this article. “The bottom line on the Shroud remains the same: the Shroud continues to fail several key practical tests, as discussed by skeptical investigator Joe Nickell in his classic work on the subject, Looking for a Miracle:2
Provenance: there is no sign that this object existed before the 14th century;
Art history: the Shroud fits into art history as part of a genre of artistic depictions and recreations of burial cloths of Christ;
Style: the image upon the shroud looks like a manufactured illustration consistent with 14th century religious iconography, not like a real human being;
Circumstance: a 14th century Catholic bishop determined that the Shroud was a “cunningly painted” fraud—and discovered the artist who confessed to creating it;
Chemistry: the Shroud contains red ochre and other paint pigments;
Radiometric dating: carbon-14 dating tests showed in 1988 that the Shroud was likely created between 1260 and 1390 CE. In 2008, the hypothesis that this date was distorted by carbon monoxide contamination was tested—and results of the original tests confirmed.”
Posted by: tyson | December 28, 2011, 7:45 am 7:45 am
First off, I like how religious people hate science, yet love it when they THINK it benefit them. Second, the idea of god jesus etc is a made up story that spread just like zeus or any idea. I use to believe in global warming recycling until i worked at a plant and learned the inside truth and now i refuse to recycle. Just like global warming or recycling, millions believe it, but recycling is a money making idea that ruins the environment
Posted by: Ken | December 29, 2011, 6:33 pm 6:33 pm
What does global warming & recycling have to do with the Son of Man? And if it is a made up story
it’s a wonderful one. Maybe if more people would love one another as he loved us it would be a better world.
Posted by: nando | December 30, 2011, 2:55 am 2:55 am
I can see that the skeptics that believe it’s a fake either haven’t done their research or are in self denial. The enea research results give a very good explanation of how just a few aspects of the image were created by ultra violet light of incredible energy. The 3d
Information encoded on the shroud image show depth that only the vp8 image analyzer could show. You also have to account for the many other unique aspects of the shroud image like the xray images of the hands and part of the skull. You also have to take into account the matching congruent blood stains on both the shroud and sudarium of Oviedo that match perfectly, plus the determined size of the nose on both cloths that measure exactly 8 centimeters.
The vanillin tests came bgwm negative which itself shows that the shroud is much older than the debunked c-14 tests show. Plus there has never in history to be shown of anyone that was ever crucified with a crown of thorns placed on their head. Remember the size of the ultra violet powered laser to produce this image would need to be the size of a huge building with the energy of 33,000 billion watts. Now I don’t know about you guys but I just done think that anyone in 1st century was hiding a laser with that king of power much less have that technology, heck we don’t even have it today. Any open minded person after researching the shroud exhaustively and fully could only come to one conclusion, that this is the image of Jesus Christ during the resurrection process .
The shroud exposes atheists for what they truely are. Emotionally angry anti God extremists who know that God exists but they don’t want him to exist. In other words atheists become anti scientific when it comes to the shroud. It’s hillarious that it exposes their hypocrisy.
They say they would like even a little evidence and when it’s shown, they reject reason, logic and common sense.
The power of the shroud is exactly this
Posted by: Bippy123 | February 17, 2012, 2:04 am 2:04 am