It may not be an exaggeration to state that the most
compelling and mysterious artifact that has ever
been known to
historians, scientists, and religious scholars is
the Shroud of Turin.
Periodically it comes to the forefront of public
attention, most
recently in the History Channel's program entitled
"The Face of Jesus?"
presented in March 2010. In this well-presented
offering, a brief
history of the Shroud is presented along with the
attending scientific
examinations, concluding dramatically with a
reconstruction of the face
and body providing a view what might have been the
appearance of the man
who was wrapped within.
Was that man Jesus Christ? To be quite honest with
you, I doubt that we will ever know with 100%
certainty, but the
evidence is certainly compelling. We do know that
whoever was once
within the shroud had been horribly brutalized with
over 100 lashes
inflicted with a whip such as that of an ancient
Roman flagrum common to
the time Jesus walked the earth. The wrists and feet
bore pierce marks ,
the head had punctures consistent with having been
encircled with a
crown of thorns. The knees were damaged as if the
victim had fallen
repeatedly, perhaps as he carried the instrument of
his death to its
final destination. Amidst the bloody traces left on
the burial cloth was
one area coming from the man's side, again,
consistent with a deep stab
wound, just as the one Jesus received from a Roman
guard after his
death.
Since there has been much literature and numerous TV
programs concerning all of these aspects, I would
like to offer up some
thoughts about that part of the story to which there
are no clear
answers.
Let's therefore consider the manner in which the
faint image which has
become so familiar to us today somehow came to exist
in the first place
and what its implications might be. What we do know
is that it shows no
pigmentation which would be expected if it was a
cleverly painted
forgery. The image is also not of any other material
foreign to the cloth
as would also be the case in a drawing. Nor is it a
scorch mark in that
is not the result of the cloth itself being
carbonized by heat.
It is the result of a slightly darker
discoloration of the very
topmost (or, to be technically correct, "innermost")
part of the fabric.
Additionally, the closer to the body the cloth was,
the darker the
image. As demonstrated on the History Channel
program, using this
characteristic along with the manner in which the
Shroud conformed to
the body around which it was wrapped, it was
possible to generate a
reasonably accurate rendition of the man within.
At this point, the questions start to outnumber the
answers, but what we do know so far does present
possibilities which may
give us insight into the very Resurrection itself!
But before we
proceed, I would like to remind and caution you that
my point of view is
certainly not the only one possible. Again, as with
any commentary, the
reader is encouraged to study the subject for him or
herself.
To this date, no one has a satisfactory
explanation as to the origin
of the image. From the facts I've seen, it appears
to have been produced
in some fashion by an emanation from the body
itself. Since, as we've
seen, those parts of the body closest to the shroud
bear the greatest
darkening, we find that here we have a consistency
with the manner in
which known electromagnetic radiation (which
includes gamma rays,
x-rays, ultra-violet, visible light, infra-red,
radio waves) behaves
called the Inverse Square Law. In basic terms this
means that if you
double your distance from an EM source, like a light
bulb for example,
it only appears one-fourth as bright. Double it
again, it is only
one-sixteenth as bright to the observer. I believe
it is this very
principle which allowed the two-dimensional image on
the Shroud to
display 3D characteristics when subjected to image
analysis - the darker
parts being "higher" than those which are more
faint.
Another problem we have is that, as far as we know,
this
was a unique event. There are no other "shrouds," no
evidence from the
past or present that any other such image has been
created, though some
experimenters in modern times have tried. Despite
their access to
current technology, none of the results I've seen or
have read from the
literature has come anywhere near to replicating the
complexity and
detail of the shroud image. We are truly faced with
the situation of
trying to find an answer to a 2000 year old mystery
that we can't
explain even with Twenty-first Century technology.
Though science does do a remarkable job describing
the
manner in which the laws of nature work, it will
always be at a loss to
explain events beyond that of the quantifiable.
Since miracles by
definition transcend natural laws and principles,
they will always
remain outside the realm of science's grasp. That
being said, let us
take a look at possibilities not bounded by what we
can see or measure
of how a most extraordinary image could have managed
to be produced on
an otherwise very ordinary piece of linen cloth.
We begin our journey by going back to he year 33
A.D.
Within Joseph of Arimathea's previously unused grave
site lay the
lifeless body of Jesus of Nazareth, hastily entombed
before sunset on
the Day of Preparation which preceded the Sabbath.
To ensure that none
of his disciples would come, steal the body, and
claim that their master
had "risen from the dead," the chief priests and
Pharisees had prevailed
upon Pontius Pilate to seal the tomb entrance and
place guards at the
location. As history would reveal, they had little
reason to be
concerned on that account as the disciples had most
likely returned to
the Upper Room, hiding in understandable fear that
the fate which befell
Jesus might soon descend upon them as well. But what
would happen in the
darkness of that following Sunday morning which
followed would be beyond
anything any of them could possibly imagine.
When the "unimaginable" did occur, one of the things
which we should bear in mind is this:: John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again
unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he
that followeth me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life.
It's just one verse, simple, and yet profound. In
fact
in the Bible there are repeated references to Jesus,
God, and . . .
"light." Yes, there is the symbolic aspect of what
Jesus said about
himself here, and he certainly was the "light" of
truth to the world.
But is there more to it than that?
In Acts, chapter 9, Saul of Tarsus, ardent
persecutor
of Jesus' believers, was temporarily blinded by a
flash of light in
which he heard Jesus' voice. Soon after, he became
known as Paul,
perhaps the greatest evangelist the Gentile world
has ever known.
Again, in John's description of the wondrous
heavenly city
of New Jerusalem we have:
Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the
moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb
is the light thereof.
These are but a few examples of Jesus not only being
"light"
figuratively but also literally! Does the image on
the Shroud likewise
suggest that this might be so? Though we can never
know for certain on
this side of heaven what exactly happened in that
tomb in the chill of
that early Sunday morning, we do know that by the
direct, unexplainable,
and miraculous intervention by God, Jesus' dead body
was made alive once
again. Could this have been accompanied by a burst
of energy which
included some type of light that affected the fibers
of the linen shroud
to produce the image that remains today?
This possibility has been suggested in the History
Channel
presentation as well as others on the subject. One
point that that arose
in the former is that such a burst should have
produced a relatively
uniform darkening on the resulting in a complete
loss of any detail. The
suggestion was made that the image somehow got
"scanned" onto the cloth
line by line in a manner similar to that way a
modern copy machine
functions. Personally, I have to confess that this
explanation seems
tentative at best.
Upon further consideration of this matter, I began
to think
that it might have been caused more like the way in
which a photograph
is produced on film. After all, what we see on the
shroud is in many
ways similar to a photographic negative, so this
seems to me to be a
more reasonable theory. In the case of photography,
unless the aperture
and timing of the shutter are correct the image will
be under or
overdeveloped. In the case of the former, it will be
indistinct with
little or any visible detail. In the latter case,
one will get one big
blur, again lacking in detail. In the case with the
shroud , no lens or
shutter is present. But is there a way to set the
"exposure time?" Once
again, the Bible might have an answer:
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery:
We shall not all
sleep, but we shall be changed. in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye . ." The
term
"moment" is translated from the original Greek "atomos"
which means
something indivisible. In the case of time, it would
refer to an
incredibly brief interval, something momentary. Was
the Resurrection of
Jesus likewise accomplished in a split second of
time just Paul shows
that the future resurrection for those who have
believed in him will
also be at the Rapture? If this is so, this might
have been quick enough
to fix upon the shroud a clear image without it
being "overexposed."
But the wonders do not end here. Consider this from
the time Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead:
John 11:43-44 And when he thus had spoken, he cried
with a
loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was
dead came forth, bound
hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was
bound about with a
napkin. Jesus said unto them, Loose him and let him
go."
"Loose him and let him go," said Jesus, the
implication here
being that the nature of the shrouds in which the
Jews buried their dead
were very restrictive. But when we read John's
account of the empty
tomb, we see no evidence of a struggle by Jesus to
free himself. In
fact, it is quite the opposite:
John 20:6-7 Then cometh Simon Peter following him,
and went
into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
And the napkin,
that was about his head, not lying with the linen
clothes, but wrapped
together in a place by itself.
Again, the Bible may provide the answer to this
mystery as
well in these events which occurred after the
Resurrection:
Luke 24:30-31 And it came to pass, as he sat at
meant with
them, he took bread, and blessed it and brake, and
gave to them. And
their eyes were opened, and they knew him and he
vanished from their
sight.
John 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples
were
within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and
stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
>From these we see Jesus could appear and
disappear at will.
I believe that at the Resurrection he merely
"disappeared" from his
burial clothes, no more bound by them any more than
he was restricted by
time and space. This certainly would explain the
present and relatively
good condition of the 2000 year old shroud and that
of the image which
was formed, as we have seen, very superficially yet
remained intact.
Added to this is the very real consideration that
had the body remained
within for any long length of time and decomposed,
that process would
have most likely have also destroyed the image as
well.
Another fact should be considered deals with
history.
Perhaps the best way for the authorities of almost
2000 years ago to
have refuted the testimonies of the Risen Jesus
would have simply been
to produce his dead body from Joseph's tomb. The
record shows they never
did - and we who believe the Bible know that they
never could because
there was no longer any body for them to bring
forth, despite the fact
that the tomb was originally sealed and guarded.
Now that we have presented evidence which favors the
Shroud
of Turin as being genuine, let's look at the one
finding that has caused
considerable controversy. This is the matter of a
Carbon 14 dating on a
small piece of the cloth which reveals an age of
only around 700 years,
not the 2000 we should expect. The History Channel
show pointed out that
the sample was taken from what is probably the worst
possible place - a
corner which had been handled repeatedly and could
have been
contaminated in the process.
The way this dating method works is this. In nature
most carbon is carbon 12. Trace amounts of
radioactive carbon 14 is
created naturally in the earth's upper atmosphere
from nitrogen 14 which
has been bombarded by neutrons produced by cosmic
radiation. Chemically,
both types of carbon are identical and combine with
oxygen to make
carbon dioxide. Plants breathe the CO2 in and
incorporate carbon into
their cells. Animals eat the plants and some like us
eat both the plants
and animals and end up incorporating the carbon into
their bodies. As
long as something is alive, the ratio between the
carbon 12 and carbon
14 stays the same. Once the plant or animal dies,
the carbon 14 slowly
disintegrates at a fixed rate. By measuring the
ratio between carbon 14
and carbon 12, scientists can figure out how long
something's been dead.
Or, in our case, how old a cloth is which is made of
plant fibers is.
This technique works well unless additional carbon
gets added along the
way, which, as we've seen, may happened to the
Shroud.
There is, of course, the possibility that whatever
caused the image to form may have also upset the
carbon 12 - carbon 14
ratio in some manner beyond our current
understanding.
CONCLUSION
Since so much about the Shroud of Turin does fit so
precisely with the biblical accounts and there is no
satisfactory
explanation as to how the image formed upon it even
with the modern
science of the Twenty-first Century, I believe the
evidence leans in
favor of it being the genuine burial cloth of Jesus.
That being said, I
would like to make it clear that my own faith in no
way depends upon
whether it is or not. Should some resounding and
unarguable evidence
come forth that proves it is not what it appears to
be, I will continue
to believe that the Bible is the true and inspired
written Word of God
and that Jesus is exactly who he and the writers of
the New Testament
say that he is.
As I close this article, I'd like to leave you
with one more thought
that in this time of growing turmoil and darkness in
our world, isn't it
remarkable that the advent of modern technology has
allowed us only now
to peer into the deepest secrets of this mysterious
cloth purported to
be the burial wrapping of Jesus?
But regardless of whether the Shroud is genuine
or not, one thing
for sure is that it has no doubt caused many who
would otherwise not do
so to dust of their Bibles, open them up, and, maybe
deep down for the
first time consider that there just might be a lot
more to reality than
they have ever contemplated before.
I'd like to think that for some of them they
will come to discover
and believe that the very much living Jesus has been
knocking on their
doors and waiting for them to open up for him all
along.
