Andrew Silverman | 10-Oct-2014 | 10:45-11:15 am
Those who postulate that the Shroud image was manufactured have been unable to suggest any manufacturing process which could account for key macroscopic and microscopic features of the image. If it was not manufactured then how did the image form?
There would seem to be two main schools of thought regarding how this could have happened. Some scholars believe that it was an unusual combination of already recognised natural physical processes e.g. the Maillard reaction occurring as a result of putrefaction e.g. Rogers or electrical discharge as a result of seismic activity e.g. De Liso. Others postulate that it might have been a miraculous event occurring as a result of divine intervention and possibly associated with resurrection. In this paper I present a third possibility.
[ . . . ] In this paper I will discuss the possibility that the Shroud image may have been caused by a short intense burst of electromagnetic radiation from the body that was contained in the Shroud and discuss whether this might be consistent with speculations regarding the nature of matter, space and time which have previously been suggested by physicists including those quoted above. [See full abstract including references] Empirical research on Near Death Experiences may support the notion that physical death is not the end of the mind. Since the image on the Shroud appears to have occurred after the death of the man on the Shroud I would suggest that the question of whether consciousness survives physical death does at least have some relevance to Shroud studies.
Could it be that the image on the Shroud might well be the single most important piece of physical evidence to help us discover more about the relationship between mind and matter, the nature of humanity and our relationship to the material universe and to each other?
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