Arguments
against the Shroud's
authenticity are prima facie, supported by
carbon 14 dating and a prevailing view of
the way things are in the world. On the
other hand, the case for
authenticity is a compelling preponderance
of scientific and historic evidence. So
daunting is the evidence that we can only
wonder if, as postmodernists
suggest, "no such thing as objective
truth exists, that historic reality is an
inherently enigmatic and endlessly
negotiable bundle of free-floating
perceptions"(SEE NOTE BELOW).
The alternative is to consider, as C. S.
Lewis contends: rare exceptions to nature
are possible.
"
My best
understanding is that the Shroud of Turin
is a medieval relic-forgery. I wonder
whether it was done from a crucified dead
body or from a crucified living body. That
is the rather horrible question once you
accept it as a forgery. "
The
quote referring to postmodernism is by
Joseph J. Ellis from his book, Founding
Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.
The quote as used in his book has no
bearing on the Shroud of Turin but serves
as a simple, if not somewhat terse,
definition of postmodernism thinking. A
more hopeful definition for postmodernism
is provided by the Rev. Canon Frank
Harron, II, a former vicar of Washington
National Cathedral and now
scholar-in-residence at Trinity Episcopal
Church - Wall Street in New York City:
"The
postmodern understanding of the way we
determine truth joyfully shares personal
perspectives. Truth is not separate from
the person. Authenticity is a criterion of
validity. Diversity and complexity are
welcomed, indeed required. Truth is now
always from the standpoint of individuals.
The truth we can know is always
approximate, tentative, provisional,
learned from ourselves and from one
another. It is dynamic and can come from
expected and unexpected places."
4
Until 1204 CE, when crusaders sacked
Constantinople, there was in that city, a
picture of Jesus on a piece of cloth. It
had been moved there from the city of
Edessa in 944 where it was discovered in
the city walls in 544. Historians think
that the Edessa Cloth, also known
as the Mandylion, is what we now
call the Shroud of Turin. 
7
Since
the eighth century, there has been in
Oviedo, Spain, an ancient piece of linen
known as the Sudarium. Blood stains and
forensic analysis link it to the Shroud. 
9
Scholars have found an amazing
connection between the Shroud and
depictions of Christ. These depictions
date back as far as the sixth century.
1
The
work of Dr. Avinoam Danin, a botany
professor at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem and Dr. Uri Baruch, a pollen
specialist at the Israel Antiquities
Authority is highly significant. Pollen
grains and flower images show that the
cloth was at one time in the Jerusalem
environs as well as the Anatolia area of
Turkey that includes the cities of
Constantinople and Edessa.
8
11
14
It seems that t
2
The
image is actually a 3D encoded chart of
the front and back of a man that also
happens to have the important
characteristics of a photographic
negative. This unique dual quality may
help theoretical physicists understand how
the image was created.
of 1988 carbon 14 tests that determined
that the Shroud had a medieval origin.
Contrary to popular belief, carbon 14
testing is not always right. Too many
variables, including contamination, could
have skewed the results. 