Christ Pantocrator, c. 1200 from dome of Church at Cefalu, Sicily. Note U at bridge of nose, triangle on nose, raised right eyebrow, uneven hair, two wisps of hair. This image shows the styles that may have emerged from the Image of Edessa.
Home Page & Introduction:
The Shroud of Turin Story - A Guide to
the Facts 2005
© 2004 Daniel R. Porter, Bronxville, New York
The Shroud of Caiaphas
An amazing forensic science mystery.
Second Face Image What does
an announcement by the Institute of Physics in London mean?
Mozarabic Rite What does a 6th century
rite from the Visigothic Kingdom of Spain have to do with the Shroud of
Turin?
Chemistry What do we know about the
chemical nature of the images?
Carbon 14 Tests They
conclude for a medieval provenance. Are they wrong? It seems so. According to National Geographic News (April 9, 2004) there is now definitive chemical evidence that the test samples were cut from a medieval repair patch.
FAQ Facts and dubious claims.
The arguments on both sides of the authenticity debate are being updated with puzzling information coming out of new discoveries in 2004.
The Shroud of Turin is poignantly contrary to the expectations of believers and skeptics alike. But at the same time it is auspiciously not too fantastic for modern sensibilities.
Valid is emphasized because much that is reported in polemic books and websites—by zealous believers and skeptics alike—is junk science.
If it is a burial cloth, then historical records are sufficient to infer that the Shroud's enigmatic images of a naked, much wounded man are of Jesus of Nazareth.
It is certainly much older than the now discredited radiocarbon date of ca 1260-ca 1390. This is supported by chemical evidence.
It is quite possible that the unusual images were formed by some perfectly natural chemical process. The superficial conjugated carbon bonds—the microscopic chromophores of the images—possibly result from a Maillard reaction between reactive body amines and residual starch fractions and saccharides in natural soap. We need only turn to Pliny the Elder to see how ancient linen was made and to find supporting evidence.
Science cannot rule out a miracle but it can and does rule out fakery.
If genuine, then the Shroud is unquestionably the oldest historical document pertaining to the life and death of Jesus. If genuine, it is pictorial and forensic evidence that gives credence to the the passion story.
And if genuine, this piece of ancient linen offers new insights in the quest for the historical Jesus and new ways to scrutinize contemporary biblical exegesis.
Is the Shroud evidence of the resurrection? Possibly, but perhaps only indirectly. Clearly, if it is a burial cloth, the body it wrapped was separated from it soon after burial—before decomposition products could have ravaged the cloth. Forensic science, applied to the Shroud, argues against the polemics of swoon theory or a stolen body.
Ray Rogers, a Fellow of the University of California, Los Alamos National Laboratory, a chemist who has scientifically examined the Shroud—in Turin—and studied the object for more than 27 years, wrote:
Perspective: My name is Dan Porter. I am the author of this website.
Biblical scholar and Anglican bishop, John A. T. Robinson wrote in Honest to God: "All I can do is try to be honest, honest to God and about God and to follow the argument wherever it leads." I have tried to make this my guiding principle in exploring the Shroud.
I am a lifelong Episcopalian with one foot firmly planted in liberal theological views and the principles of Progressive Christianity and one foot planted in conservative thought and traditional orthodoxy. I am a member of Trinity Church Wall Street (Episcopal) in New York City.
While I personally believe in the Resurrection of Christ, I claim no opinion about its physical or spiritual nature. I don't interpret the Gospels as literal or linear accounts of the life of Jesus. I believe the Gospels were written to elicit faith and as such are truer than they could be as mere historical narratives. But the accounts, starting with Jesus' arrest and ending with the discovery of the empty tomb, seems very historical.
If the Shroud is real, as I have come to believe it is, it confirms the Passion story and lavishes new verisimilitude upon the Resurrection. It could be that we have a picture of Jesus.
