SHROUD OF TURIN

The Shroud of Turin has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. It has been controversial for many years. If you are not familiar with it, you should Google it and read about it. A quick summary, it is believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus. It appears to be a negative image on a cloth showing the front and back of a man, with injuries and blood spots similar to what Jesus would have had being crucified. Experts have studied the image and it is also a three dimensional image. It would be pristine if it had not been in a church fire many years ago. There was some damage to the shroud then and patches were applied to the cloth and it has some burn marks.

Part of the mystery is that the image is a negative one, like you get when you take a picture with film, the film is a negative image. So if you look at the shroud as that you can easily see the image. The thought is that while Jesus was in the tomb and rose from the dead, his image was burned or applied to the cloth.

Now some Italian scientist has claimed he has found a way to reproduce the shroud. He put a cloth over a volunteer, rubbed some substance on the cloth and baked it. Now, if this is a fake which many others believe it is, this was created back in the 13th or so century. They have done carbon dating on the cloth, supposedly dating it to the 13th, 14th century. I have read that carbon dating is not exact and depending on who performs it can give a wide variety of results. Now, if this is fake, if there was a way to do this back then, would not there be other shrouds of famous people like Popes, or Kings? Would there have been one person or a small group that said, let’s make a shroud in the likeness of Jesus and claim it is his burial cloth. How long would it have taken to do back then what this scientist claims he has done? Would you really be able to keep it a secret back then?

I am not sure if the shroud is real, I think there should be more tests. It is certainly very unique and unusual. The keepers of the shroud are very protective of the shroud and do not want it damaged for testing. It seems like scientists work more to prove biblical things wrong than prove them right. The headlines the news media are putting out all but makes one think this is proving the shroud is fake, that it is a done deal. Many people only read the headlines so they will get the wrong impression.

Is the shroud real? No one may really know until you can ask the maker someday in heaven, then again, will it really matter when you either stand before Jesus and worship him as your savior and you know you will spend eternity there or after getting judgment from God find yourself in fire and brimstone?

Think about it. Let me know your comments.