The Turin Tests

Question from Bubsy (submitted in 3 parts):
William Guy gave an outstanding presentation, and while he gave many decent points for proof of the shroud, these six were the best (in my opinion)

1) Joseph Kohlberg, a geologist, actually studied some of the remnants of the shroud and found limestone. Later, it was found that this limestone was common in Israeli tombs, but not just any Israeli tombs, Jerusalem tombs. Therefore, if it was not real, how could the shroud have some remnants from Jerusalem tombs?

2) Guy researched crucifixion history, and found that while the Persians invented it, the Romans perfected it. It can be seen in the shroud itself that there were thorns in this individual’s head, which was never used before in Roman or Persian killings, therefore, it strongly hints it was actually Jesus

3) The shroud accurately depicts the nails going through the wrists of the individual for crucifixion. In many middle aged drawings, Jesus is depicted as having the nails go through hands, and this is scientifically impossible. Therefore, it couldn’t have been a forgery

4) the shroud was measured in cubic units, something they didn’t do in the middle ages, but did in ancient Palestine or Israel

5) plants and pollen examined on it were found to also be native to Palestine/Israel

6) the blood examined on the shroud had some chemical compounds in it that a person’s blood would have under extreme stress, which is what Jesus would have gone through, and a forgery would not have had that.

therefore, it has to be Jesus, how can it not be? The thorns, the Jerusalem limestones, the blood, the plants/pollen

How does it feel to know it is true lads?

…hello again,
did some further research on the Shroud of Turin, and William Guy made an outstanding documentary about the it. He gives proofs for its authenticity, or at least that it wasn’t a forgery including:

he said that crucifiction was invented by persians and perfected by romans. He said at that time, no one wore those thorns on their heads other than Jesus, therefore it proves it was him, and that it couldn’t have been a forgery as real blood was used which had some chemical balance demonstrating the person was suffering. He said a forger wouldn’t have put blood into the shroud, and he said pollen was found there that is native to ancient palestine. The most recent carbon dating seemed to suggest it was from a time period from about 1000 years BC to 1000 years after, so the timeframe could be right.

He also said that one geologist actually studied the shroud and found remnants of tomb stone on it. He tested it, and found that it matched with Jerusalem lime stone in tombs, not even limestone in other parts of Israel.

These seems really hard to refute.

…Did more research and found a link between the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Shroud.

There have been connections with the two including: both have same blood types, both have the same plant and pollen remnants, if you do a face overlay, both faces are equivalent. Blood is found in the same places. Therefore, it seems it was used on the same individual. I just think this proves Jesus existed, and if he didn’t rise from the dead, how could all of these people have reported seeing him? It seems like this may prove Christianity.

Answer by SmartLX:
Sorry for the delay Bubsy, I’ve been sick among other things.

First set of points first, assuming for the sake of argument that the analyses by two theologians (one of which happened to be a geologist) were carried out scientifically:

1) Even if the limestone residue is really proven to be unique to Jerusalem, the shroud can be from Jerusalem and yet not genuine if it was made as a fake in Jerusalem, as were a great many false relics. (For instance there are about 30 “holy” cross nails floating around, so at least 27 must be fake.)

2) Thorns in the head would be an essential element of a fraudulent Jesus shroud. If you had the real shroud of a crucifixion victim to begin with, that’s exactly the detail you’d add to make it look like Jesus.

3) Sadly, there were plenty of people in the Middle Ages who knew exactly what happens when you drive nails through people’s hands. Even if not, that would leave it as a possible forgery from the age when crucifixion still occurred.

4) If the shroud is a round number of cubic units (do you mean cubits?) long, that doesn’t mean it was measured in those units. It may have been longer until it frayed or shrank, or another measurement type may sync up at that length. It’s not like there are marks on it like a ruler.

5) Again, if it was forged in Jerusalem with the other relics, no problem.

6) There’s a long way between the Shroud belonging to a real execution victim and the Shroud belonging to Jesus Christ. A real shroud from a random victim, as I’ve been implying, is the perfect base material for a Jesus shroud.

The documentary covers much of the same material. The farthest all of it gets you is that it may well be the genuine shroud of a man who died horribly in Iron Age Israel, and quite possibly the same man the Sudarium was used on.

Even if it’s Jesus, though, this is no evidence for the resurrection or even his supposed disappearance from the tomb. I think you realise this, because right at the end you switch to an argument about witnesses of the risen Jesus. As I’ve written before, the number of Biblical first-hand accounts of Jesus between the crucifixion and ascension is very small, and the bulk of the supposed many who saw him is accounted for in one line of 1 Corinthians regarding an appearance to 500 people. Accounts of witnesses are not accounts by witnesses.

5 thoughts on “The Turin Tests”

  1. I know you will not appreciate my reply, but, just a suggestion, from a true hard atheist that I am, why wouldn’t you try researching around EVOLUTION, for a change, and leave alone the SHROUD supposedly of your beloved Jesus Christ to non believing in god scientists?!

    They are NOT BIASED, as are the religious, and they USE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, again for a change, not the make believe ‘method’ of religion.

    By the way, I gave your post a chance, but I was yawning all along while reading it. You people bore me and are making this site a joke.

    Pity, because this is your only chance, no other atheist would listen to you NUTS.

    1. please help, he is getting on my nerves dangerously. i may kill him online, cant stand him. i know you will not do what i say but i want you to know how i feel about this little shit who calls himself homo sapiens sapiens. he said scientists play with their little scientific gadget, while scientists save the world from polio and tuberculosis and flu and many others and women dont die giving birth so many as before but he shits and shits in your blog making it a joke…

  2. Hi Niki. You don’t have to worry. If it was Jesus and the image could only have been made due to a long length of time being exposed to a dead body, then Jesus is not risen. But if the image was due to some kind of extreme exposure to some kind of intense radiation that one could expect to have been expended to cause life, much like or similar but in a more intense way, then that would mean that the image was a being that came back to life. As far as I have heard, no one else has had a Shroud with their image flashed upon it.

    1. Hi Gerald. YOU don’t have to worry about ME not having to worry.
      It is because there is no chance of this shroud having ever covered dead or alive body of anyone, not least your Jesus character, because, firstly, he probably never lived, but, secondly, even if he did, he certainly was no god, because there is no god, and thus, he was never risen from dead, because there are no miracles in nature.
      So, even if he did live, and was crucified, he either never died on the cross, or if he did, he never rose from the dead. And he certainly was not covered with this shroud, because there is no way for an image of the dead tied in a shroud being transferred on the shroud so nicely.
      People who believe in this must be of very low IQ.
      In short, you have no idea what SCIENCE is and how firm we atheists are in trusting only it and its SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
      Please read some evolution and the theory of the origin of energy and matter in the Universe. Leave shrouds made of cotton or whatever other plant origin material to textile engineers.

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