The Shroud
of Turin was believed to have been wrapped around Jesus Christ as a burial
cloth when HE was taken down from the cross. The shroud is a 14½ foot long and 3½ foot wide linen cloth
bearing the image of a crucified man. The image is widely believed to be that
of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The shroud is the single most studied
religious artifact ever.1
Controversy
rages over this shroud. Many scientists and evangelical Christians dispute the
historical veracity of the shroud. They claim it is a medieval forgery or a
hoax perpetrated by the Church.
Are there reasonable
evidences to indicate that the image of the man in the shroud is that of Christ?
If so, the shroud should be the burial cloth of Christ.
Historicity
Some
detractors of the shroud claim that there is no historical data of the shroud
prior to the 13th century. If this claim is true, the chance that
the shroud was the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth is rather slim.
But Professor
Gary Habermas cites a number of historical references to the shroud prior to
the 13th century:2
1. There
are records of a second century historical citation of the shroud by St.
Braulio of Seville, a sermon about the shroud by a church official, and
painting of Jesus’ face based on the shroud.
2. An early
Christian tradition asserts that a mysterious cloth with the imprint of
Christ’s face was carried by Christ’s disciple Thaddeus to Edessa, the modern
day Turkey, subsequently this cloth was moved to Constantinople and then to
Turin.
3. At least
6 species of pollen was found by Swiss Botanist Max Frei in the cloth which was
limited exclusively to Israel.
4. The
images of coin placed over the eyes of the man in the shroud, a Jewish practice
in the first century, were identified as the lepton (coin) of Pontius Pilate,
minted from AD 29-32.
5. The
linen material and the weave have been dated by the textile experts as being
from the time of Jesus (plus or minus 100 years).
Radiocarbon Dating
The shroud’s
website disputes the claim of the radiocarbon dating in 1988 that declared the
shroud as a fake, “Although substantial
scientific data now exists that indicates the sample chosen for dating was
anomalous and not representative of the main cloth, most of the world and the
media still ignore the massive amount of published science that points to the
Shroud's authenticity and accepts instead that single dating test as proof of
the Shroud's medieval origin. What very few people know about are the events
that occurred behind the scenes that further disqualified the 1988 results. Two
new videos that reveal just that are now available online from David Rolfe and
Francesca Saracino that deal specifically with those issues and we thought they
were important enough to let you know immediately via this Special Update.”3
A video
titled “A Grave Injustice” on the website, www.shroudenigma.com reveals that
the C14 labs (that determined the shroud as fake) were themselves severely
flawed in their dating protocols.
Jewish Burial
Practice & the Gospels
If the
Gospel account of Christ’s burial contradicts that of the shroud, then the
shroud cannot be the actual burial cloth of Jesus. Gary Habermas offers insights
into this aspect to assert the authenticity of the shroud.4
Some object
that the facial image in the shroud could not be that of Jesus since there
would have been a napkin placed flat over the face of Jesus during HIS burial.
Hence, the image of Jesus’ face would be on the napkin and not on the shroud.
But careful
investigation reveals that the napkin was folded up and tied around the head to
keep the jaw closed (cf. John 11:44 & John 20:7). Interestingly, the image
of the man in the shroud reveals that he had a cloth tied around his jaw!
The man in
the shroud was not washed before the burial, hence there were blood stains. Was
not Jesus washed before the burial? If Christ was washed before HIS burial, how
could there be blood stains on the shroud?
The code of
Jewish law states that people killed by the government would not be washed before
burial so to allow the blood to remain on the body as a payment for the person’s
acts against the state. John 19:40 states that Jesus was buried according to
the Jewish burial customs; hence HE could not have been washed.
Furthermore,
the gospels speak of Jesus buried in more than one strip of linen; the gospels
speak of graveclothes in both the singular and the plural. But the shroud is
just one piece of cloth, if so, how could the shroud be that of Christ’s?
Scientific
testing of the shroud indicates that the man buried in the shroud was buried in
at least four strips of linen. Apart from the single piece of shroud cloth, his
head was wrapped around in a napkin as well as having his wrists and ankles
tied together (cf. John 11: 44).
Therefore,
the gospel accounts of Jesus’ burial, the Jewish law and the Mishna do not
contradict with that of the man in the shroud.
Identity of the Man
The image
of the man in the burial cloth reveals amazing data that’s so remarkably similar
to the suffering of Jesus Christ:5
1. The man in
the shroud was beaten severely by the Roman flagrum. There were number of blows
to the face, large bruises on the cheeks, twisted nose, one eye swollen half
shut and a cut upper lip. He suffered more than 120 whipping wounds.
2. The large
rub marks in the shoulder blades of the man in the shroud indicates that he was
forced to carry a heavy object (cross) across his shoulders. There are five
major wounds associated to death by crucifixion – puncture wounds through the
wrist and through the top of both feet, and a pierce wound in the right side of
the chest.
Therefore, we cannot
be absolutely certain that the man in the shroud was Jesus, but we can
reasonably infer that this burial cloth is probably that of Jesus, for there
are many minute points of agreement and the absence of contradictions.
Evidences for Christ’s
Resurrection
The shroud
provides strong evidences for resurrection, asserts Dr. Gary Habermas, who is an
expert in the study of Christ’s resurrection, “The man buried in the shroud did not remain in it for more than a few
days, since no decomposition is present. Yet the body was not removed or
unwrapped because, among other reasons, the blood clots and borders of the
stains are intact. And as a grand climax, there is a probable burst of
radiation from the dead body. What makes all of this data even more exciting is
that it is empirical, scientific evidence that is repeatable.”6
Extent of the Shroud’s
Relevance
Should the
authenticity of the Shroud validate Christianity, the Bible, and Christ’s historical
existence? No!
Alternatively,
if the shroud is authentic, would the Bible be deemed infallible? No!
The Bible
is inspired, inerrant and infallible. However, the authenticity of the shroud is
not a necessary factor to validate the Bible. The Bible and Christ’s existence are validated
by other means. The garments or the vessels that Christ used are neither
the validating factors of the Lord’s existence nor that of the Bible.
Conclusion
The shroud
is a fascinatingly miraculous artifact.
Absolute
certainty is impossible when we contend with historical data. If we need absolute
certainty of any historical event, we ought to take a time-machine, go back in
history to ascertain the validity of that event. But we cannot go back in time.
So we can only be reasonably certain about any historical event with the
evidences at hand.
Was the
shroud Christ’s burial cloth? Given the plethora of evidences why should we not
believe that the shroud belongs to Christ? The shroud is consistent with the
biblical data. It is also highly probable that the man in the shroud is Jesus.
Furthermore, the shroud has been preserved in history as that of Christ’s
burial cloth.
Given the availability
of the evidences, we can be reasonably certain that the shroud was the Lord
Jesus’ burial cloth.
Endnotes:
1https://www.shroud.com/
2http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/J_Evangelical_Theological_Soc/Habermas_JETS_Shroud-of-Turin-and-significance.htm
3 https://www.shroud.com/latebrak.htm
4http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/J_Evangelical_Theological_Soc/Habermas_JETS_Shroud-of-Turin-and-significance.htm
5Ibid.
6Ibid.
1 comment:
Thanks much for the wonderful insight, Ken. Remain blessed.
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