Shroud of Turin a Medieval Fake

By Douglas V. Gibbs

In Italy a scientist has proven the Shroud of Turin to be a fake.

Some members of the Christian Church revere the Shroud of Turin as the burial cloth Jesus Christ was buried in. An image, that looks nearly like it is a photographic image on the shroud has been said to be the image of Christ.

According to Reuters: "To show how the image on the shroud could be faked, Garlaschelli (the Italian scientist) reproduced the full-sized shroud using materials and techniques that were available in the middle ages. He then placed a linen sheet flat over a volunteer and then rubbed it with a pigment containing traces of acid. A mask was used for the face. The pigment was then artificially aged by heating the cloth in an oven and washing it, a process which removed it from the surface but left a fuzzy, half-tone image similar to that on the Shroud. He believes the pigment on the original Shroud faded naturally over the centuries. They then added blood stains, burn holes, scorches and water stains to achieve the final effect."

Carbon dating, a method I don't believe to be very accurate, but is believed to be accurate by the folks administering it, places the shroud to be about 800 years old, rather than two thousand years old.

In my daily life I have been asked about the Shroud of Turin often. Based on biblical text, I have told people numerous times that the shroud is not the genuine article, no matter how many people believe it is. Therefore, the article about the invalid nature of the Shroud of Turin did not surprise me.

To prove my point that the Shroud of Turin is a fake, without needing scientific confirmation (though it is nice to see science once again confirm the inerrant nature of Biblical text), one must only refer to the Holy Bible. Luke 24:12 reads: Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. Note that the linen clothes (wrappings) are in the plural. In John, though in Chapter 19, verse 40 it is indicated Jesus was wrapped in a long linen cloth, the details of the wrappings in John, Chapter 20 becomes more clear. In verse 6 it says: Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there. Once again, the wrappings are in the plural. Verse 7 gives us an even clearer look at the wrappings, and is definitive in its regards of proving the Shroud of Turin to be a fake. Verse 7 reads: While the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Italian scientist reproduces Shroud of Turin - Reuters, Yahoo News, Philip Pullella