In other news, I just went to a lecture on the Shroud of Turin and, guys, this thing is AMAZING. I took some notes that I’ll share with you all. They’re not very detailed, but there are definitely books and DVDs and other things out there that are full of information on the Shroud.
On the authenticity of the Shroud:
- The burial style is consistent with Jewish burial customs of the time.
- The image is a negative image (which is why the negative looks more life-like) which contains distance information (i.e. how far away the skin was from the cloth when the image was made).
- There are no substances on the cloth to account for the image. Period.
- The image does not penetrate through the cloth (unlike the blood stains and water stains). In fact, the image only penetrates the top 2 microfibers of the threads!
- [ . . . ]
So it’s pretty clear that the Shroud is authentic—but how do we know that it’s Jesus??
- Crown of thorns on his head
- Severe scourging, from neck to ankles
- Crucified (Note: it was uncommon to be scourged and crucified. Usually sentences would be one or the other.)
- Legs of the crucified man were not broken
- [ . . . ]
So… I’m convinced. How about you?