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Proposed Minimally-Invasive, Scientific Testing of the Shroud of Turin Endorsed by Shroud Expert
Monograph Publishing: Longtime Shroud of Turin expert, author Joseph G.Marino, has endorsed a recent Petition to Pope Francis and a proposal by one of the world’s leading authorities on the Shroud, attorney Mark Antonacci, to scientifically test the famous linen cloth long-reputed to be the burial garment of Jesus Christ.
“A new generation of promising research is currently being developed that could resolve the remaining mysteries regarding the Shroud of Turin.”
St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) October 29, 2013
Joseph G. Marino, theologian and Shroud of Turin expert, has had over 35 years of researching the famous cloth purported to be the burial garment of Jesus Christ. He has appeared in numerous media and documentaries, and authored and co-authored (with his late wife, M. Sue Benford, R.N., M.A), several articles including Discrepancies in the Radiocarbon Dating Area of the Turin Shroud, (Chemistry Today, 26.4, (July-August). Marino contends that the Shroud samples removed for carbon dating purposes in 1988 contained threads from a 16th century repair that was invisibly rewoven into the same vicinity as the original fibers. Marino has recently endorsed Mark Antonacci’s proposal and petition to Pope Francis ] to allow further examining of the Shroud of Turin, its blood marks and other samples from the cloth, at the molecular and atomic levels.
In contrast, Antonacci contends that particle radiation emanating from the body wrapped in the Shroud not only explains the cloth’s medieval radiocarbon dating, but many other unparalleled features on the cloth including its unique body images. Antonacci first presented this test proposal and his image-forming hypothesis in his first book The Resurrection of the Shroud, (New York: M. Evans and Co., 2000). He presented an updated test proposal during the keynote address of the international conference held in conjunction with the Shroud’s last exhibition in 2010, Can Contamination Be Detected on the Turin Shroud to Explain its 1988 Dating?, (International Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Archeiropoietos Images, Frascati Italy, May 4-6: 239-247). His image-forming hypothesis, Particle Radiation from the Body Could Explain the Shroud’s Images and its Carbon Dating, can be found at Antonacci, M. (2012), Scientific Research and Essays, Vol. 7(29).
The Shroud’s radiocarbon dating is the only scientific test result among thousands that is inconsistent with the cloth’s authenticity as Jesus’ burial garment. This aberrant result has recently been challenged by scientists at the University of Padua in Italy who obtained an average date of 33 B.C. +/- 250 years using three different methods to date fibers from the Shroud. The provenance of these samples has also been questioned. If molecular and atomic technology were applied to the Shroud, it could determine, once and for all, the source of all dated samples. It could further test all proposed explanations for the Shroud’s radiocarbon dating and its unique images from naturalistic to artistic to miraculous. This technology could independently reveal the Shroud’s actual age, the identity of the man buried within it, if it is a forgery and whether a miraculous event occurred to the dead body wrapped within it.
The Shroud of Turin has only been scientifically examined in a comprehensive manner once, 35 years ago. While this examination revealed extensive, startling information, a new generation of promising research is being developed that could resolve the remaining mysteries regarding this famous cloth.
Antonacci and Marino contend that the world has everything to gain and nothing to lose by testing the Shroud of Turin and its samples at the molecular, atomic and other non-invasive, scientific levels.
Mark Antonacci, President
Resurrection of the Shroud Foundation (RSF)
Cell: 314-704-0537
Office: 636-938-3708
markantonacci(at)testtheshroud(dot)comJoseph G. Marino
(614) 477-1480 or
JMarino240(at)aol(dot)comThe RSF designs, advocates and funds some of the most sophisticated scientific testing of the 21st century. For the last two decades, it has supported a variety of scientific research and information relating to the age, origin and authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.
Monograph Publishing is a multi-dimensional company based in St. Louis, Missouri specializing in high quality publications, design, fine art prints and photography. http://www.monographpublishing.com
“If molecular and atomic technology were applied to the Shroud, it could determine, once and for all, the source of all dated samples. It could further test all proposed explanations for the Shroud’s radiocarbon dating and its unique images from naturalistic to artistic to miraculous. This technology could independently reveal the Shroud’s actual age, the identity of the man buried within it, if it is a forgery and whether a miraculous event occurred to the dead body wrapped within it.”
Really? How about publishing a detailed protocol (here?), listing all these gee-whizz non- invasive techniques? Have they been piloted on textiles, especially ancient or even modern linens? Links?
Any link to the petition itself? I’m curious to its wording.
For the petition, CLICK HERE. As far as I can tell there are about 235 signatures since April over at ipetition.com. Not many names that I recognize.
See: Antonacci Proposing Molecular and Sub-Atomic Testing To Resolve Disputes Regarding the Shroud
And: Speaking of more scientific testing of the shroud
I notice Antonacci has dropped his claim that his article in the Chinese (or is it Nigerian) internet only, Brooklyn Bridge vanity journal was peer reviewed. Try to find a real physical address for the journal. I doubt Antonacci has any substantive support from any scientists in the shroud community. I hate to think what this is about when you see the same organization of his sponsoring the St. Louis conference.
Why is Antonacci’s book publisher putting out this press release?
Marino signed the petition on May 9th. So this press release is stretching the truth a bit. There are about 20 duplicates, as many anonymouses, a few stupid names like Bippy123 and a dozen or more Antonaccis. I trust the pope will not be fooled. We should not be.
Much as it is easy to understand and even agree with petitions to the Pope, ultimately it does seem that Pope Francis will not buy this. He is very intelligent and blunt-spoken, “fired with the spirit of Christ”, as Church of England primate Archbishop of Justin Welby remarked after meeting him for the first time. If he sees the slightest hint of it being a question of Shroud versus Faith, there will be no positive results.
On a closer reading, one finds that Antonacci’s protocol is less about “scientific testing” and more about hunch-confirming, his chief aim being to pick up additional signatures of his hypothesized particle irradiation, over and above that pesky surplus of C-14. (How inconsiderate some might think of the Creator to send a love-letter to the 21st century that was spoiled ,at least for some of us, with its cavalier disregard of accepted grammar as to sow seeds of doubt re authenticity.). What’s more, it’s ideologically-driven hunch-confirming, given Antonacci seems intent on re-starting the Holy Crusades (seriously – just read his own background literature that might be described as Christian-supremacist). OK, this is getting heavy, so I’ll stop here.
What, in the petition, does ‘minimally scientific’ mean? The only meaning I can suggest is that science should be pushed as far to one side as possible. Is this what Mark Antonacci is suggesting? I would caution Joe Marino to keep clear of this one if he does not want his conference to become a bit of a farce.
Seems as though you may suffering from something I get from time to time Charles, called Word Loss Syndrome, It’s a defensive ploy by the brain to make better sense of the world by failing to see certain words, such that what remains makes a great deal more sense. The word your brain filtered out was “invasive”, leaving just “minimally …….. scientific. Don’t fight it. Indeed, there’s an even more sanity-preserving variant of the condition called “Multiple Word Loss Syndrome” to which I feel myself being inexorably drawn…
PS. Seriously though, I now find you are absolutely correct about the adjective being missing from the petition, viz:
We Request That Pope Francis Allow Sophisticated and Minimally Scientific Testing to be Performed on the Shroud of Turin.
Thanks, Colin. Yes, i did double-check with the original before making a fool of myself! It has clearly not prevented people signing up – but it does throw into question this whole enterprise and clearly there should be caution all round.
The only actual test I can find being proposed anywhere is “multispectral imaging,” which is what was carried out in 1978. I dare say it could be done a good deal better with current technology, but to wrap it up in flimflam like “if molecular and atomic technology were applied to the Shroud…” seems disingenuous to me. Or am I missing something?
Have you not heard, Hugh? There’s a gee-whiz technology, a spin-off I believe from the Mars Rover program called PITS. From memory, the letters stand for “Particle Interrogation, Total Scan”. Each atom or molecule, i.e. particle, is called up one at a time and required to give an account of itself – what it does, why it is there etc, that information being extracted autonomously by spectral scanning. For something as large as the Shroud, one needs the full Monty, which is known in some quarters as the absolute PITS.