The National Geographic Society comes out with a revised special single-issue magazine October 1. I picked up a copy at the checkout of the grocery store. Wal-Mart and CVS have it. So does Amazon for $11.45.
The Shroud of Turin, as expected, is included under a section entitled, “Religion, Myth, and the Supernatural.” Not a bad, short article, considering:
THE SHROUD OF TURIN may be real or it may be a hoax. But it certainly reveals the limits of science in resolving the controversy. The shroud is a long, rectangular flaxen cloth that many believe to be Jesus’ burial wrappings. Faintly visible on the surface (and more evident in photographs) is the image of a naked, bearded man, with wounds like those suffered by Jesus at his death. The shroud is currently held in Turin’s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
The shroud’s validity has been debated since it first to view in the 14th century. In 1988, three independent carbon dating tests put its origins between A.D. 1260 and 1390, long after Jesus’ death. In 2005, a scientist asserted that the tests were performed on patched areas ant that the shroud was much older. this claim in turn was disputed. In 2013, scientists from the University of Padua retested the fibers from 1988 and dated them to between 300 B.C. and A.D. 400, the time of Christ.
On Easter Sunday, 2013, Pope Francis I spoke of the shroud with a mixture of reverence and caution, saying, “The Man of the Shroud invites us to contemplate Jesus of Nazareth.” Whether the cloth is historically valid, not even the pope is prepared to say.
Get this special issue. It is fascinating. It kept me up last night. Want to know what else is under Religion, Myth, and the Supernatural? Go figure:
- The Lost Tribes of Israel
- Garden of Eden
- Noah’s Ark
- Ark of the Covenant
- King Arthur
- A Female Pope
- Prester John
- Holy Grail
- Dracula
- Count of Saint-Germain
- Fountain of Youth
- UFOs
- Roswell
- Bermuda Triangle
The best work to question the validity of the c14 dating was presented in 2008 and concerns the heterogeneity of the samples.
What is needed is an official sample to confirm this work and debate is closed.
Legendary mysteries have always been a popular genre. With the sole exception of the Shroud, a tangible object, the selection listed above lie mainly in the realm of speculation and fancy. Some 20 years ago, Readers’ Digest published a handsome work “Great Mysteries of the Past” with several categories, and well-presented. It seems to have been adapted from a work published in Germany in 1990, “Wie geschah es wirklich?”. My parents then still alive, made me a present of a copy, and I still have it.
I find it compelling evidence for the Shroud’s authenticity that, with all the analytical capabilities afforded to us by modern science, it has not been demonstrated to be a fake or a forgery, and that we also still lack a reasonable explanation for how the image is there in the first place.
This magazine is the worst piece of overpriced crap you can waste your money and time on. Display cost $12.99 US, there are no ads so you are paying for the lack of those ads. The print is large and dbl spaced the take up as much page space as possible with no real content. Whom ever wrote the stories was obviously biased and ill informed. There are no mysteries revealed and little to no factual information on any of the content. Shame on National Geo for ripping me off and dumbing me down. Your magizine 100 greatest mysteries revealed should be re named to we suck and we dont care.