Talk:Shroud of Turin/debate and controversy

The origins of the Shroud of Turin and its image are the subject of intense debate and controversy among scientists, theologians, historians and researchers. Some contend that the shroud is the cloth placed on the body of Jesus Christ at the time of his burial, and that the face image is the Holy Face of Jesus. Others contend that the artifact was created in the Middle Ages.

Archaeologist William Meacham states that of all religious relics, the history of the Shroud of Turin has generated the greatest controversy. According to author Brian Haughton it is difficult to imagine a more controversial historical artifact.

Scientific reports and popular books have presented diverse arguments for both authenticity and possible methods of forgery of the Shroud image. Yet, The shroud remains one of the most studied artifacts in human history, and one of the most controversial.

Without delivering a verdict, this article reviews the arguments made regarding the authenticity or forgery of the image on the Shroud.

Authenticity arguments
The likelyhood of the Shroud being authentic rests on more than 25 man years of research by STURP scientists and other researchers who, mainly through the application of scientific principles (observation, hypothesis formulation, Big text fact finding, informed opinion) together with the surveying of historical documents, have gathered together a large body of scientific and historical information.

As with all activity of this sort, there have been many proven hypotheses, as well as disproven hypothesis, and in limited terms, some ongoing yet to be proven / disproven hypotheses. The main article illustrates the scientific debate about creating evidence hypotheses. The following is more of a summary of evidence in support of the main arguements.

* ===Argument 1=== The Shroud of Turin is most likely the burial shroud of Jesus, the Nazarene also know as Jesus Christ. (in process)

The Shroud of Turin when looked at in detail shows a match to the description and events that are protrayed in 1st Century documents (Bible). According to the Bible, Jesus Christ was tortured, crucified and died in his thirties in Jerusalem around the timeframe we know in the Western World as Easter. The Shroud's image and microbiology records many of these: tortures (head cap of thorns, scourging), the crucifiction, the time (Easter), and various events that are found in the 1st Century documentation (references below). We can conclude that the Shroud of Turin is probably the burial cloth of Jesus Christ because the detail in the 1st Century documents matches the Shroud and its physical evidence.

1st Century Document (Bible) Comparison to Shroud Physcial Evidence and Image: There are many items for comparison. A simplified comparison of the evidence follows:

Tests of Authenticity: To be real, the image found in the shroud of Turin must reflect the physical abuse evidence that Jesus would have received in the events leading up to and surrounding the time of his death. Secondly, if the shroud is real, it must reflect microbiolocal evidence that matches the time and location of events.

Summary of 1st Century documents story: The 4 different New Testament Gospels (Bible) recount the story of Jesus being taken prisoner in the Jerusalem area, by the Jewish religious class and tried before priests and judges, known as Sahedren for religious blasphamy. Because he could not be executed by the Jewish under Roman law, Jesus was sent to Pilate, the Roman governor of the area. Pilate, in the face of political pressure, condemned Jesus to scourging, then death by crucifixion. Subsequent to Jesus' death, he was buried in a Jerusalem tomb. According to the same 1st Century documents, he was resurrected on the third day after his death.

Events leading up to the crucifixion:
 * (1.1) Head Cap of thorns:
 * Bible: After Pilate, the Roman Govener passed the death sentence, the Roman solders mocked Jesus as "King of the Jews".  They put on his head some thorns made into a crown. They then hit him on his head with a reed. (ref. Matthew 27:29,30).
 * Shroud: It was noted by a number of scientists, that a cap made of thorns would produce the wounds on the head the same as those seen on the man in the Shroud. There are more than 30 wounds found on the head. (ref.6)
 * (1.2) Roman Scourging:
 * Bible: The Roman Governor ordered Jesus to be scourged (Matthew 27:26).  Scourging by the Roman's was done by a flagrum which is a whip affixed with hardware that cuts the flesh.
 * Shroud: When placed under florescent and ultraviolet light, the image shows more than 100 of scourge or whipping marks in the skin of the man on both his front and back, from just above the ankle to his neck. (ref 11)
 * (1.3) Climb to Golgotha with Cross.
 * Bible: The Bible tells us that Jesus was forced to carry his own cross. (John 19:17).
 * Shroud: The image shows two broad scraped areas across the man's shoulder blades. These scrapes are consistent with abrasions that would be caused by contact between skin and a heavy rough object such as a crossbar of a cross.(ref 14).  The abrasions occurred after the man's scourging because of the distortion of the scourge marks in the area of the abrasion when compared to other areas. (15).  This is consistent with the Biblical sequencing of events.
 * (1.4)Image of man in his 30's / 40's.
 * Bible: According to the 1st Century record, Jesus was in his 30's when he was crucified.
 * Shroud: The image has a man who is in his 30's / 40's.

The Crucifixion
 * (2.1) Crucifixion:
 * Bible: Jesus was crucified on a cross. (Matthew 27).
 * Shroud: According to Dr. Heller,a Yale Medical Professor, "It is evident from the from the physical mathematical, medical, and chemical evidence that there must have been a crucified man in the Shroud.(58).  There is a lot of evidence such as feet and hand area wounds, shape of nails, position of thumbs, position of feet, etc. which supports this conclusion.
 * (2.2) Side wound:
 * Bible: To prevent Jesus' body from remaining on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified broken to cause final death.  As Jesus was already dead, his legs were not broken, rather, a lance pierced his side and immediately blood and water came out. (John 19:31-35.)
 * Shroud: There is a wound in the side of the Shroud man which matches a likely location for intrusion of a spear. The size and shape of this matches the wound that would occur from a Roman leaf shaped lancea.(13)
 * (2.3) Blood and water from side wound after death
 * Bible: Blood and water came out from wound at time of piercing from lance (John 19: 31-35).
 * Shroud: A large blood flow on the Shroud is a result of a postmortem wound from the chest piercing.  This is because the blood appears to have oozed out as a result of gravity, rather than from a beating heart.  In addition, there is no swelling around the side wound so death occurred prior to the wounding.  The stain "very clearly shows a separation of blood from a clear watery material". (Blood and water of the Biblical description).
 * (2.4) Legs NOT broken:
 * Bible: Normally Roman soldiers break the legs of the crucified person.  In the case of Jesus, the Bible says the legs were not broken because Jesus was already dead.  (John 19: 31-35)
 * Shroud: The crucified man in the Shroud has unbroken legs. (ref).

Post Crucifixion
 * (3.1) Jerusalem Tomb - Rare Limestone Ion Microprobe Profile Matches Historical Burial Sites
 * Bible: According to the Bible, Jesus was laid to rest in the tomb of a rich man in Jersalem. (Matthew 27: 57-61)
 * Shroud: On the shroud was found a rare type of limestone which contained a mixture of aragonite (rare limestone), stontium and iron. In 1986, Dr. Ricardo Levi-Setti of the University of Chicago, confirmed that the limestone ion microprobe profile matched the limestone profile of samples that are found in Jerusalem at the sites that are recognized by historians as likely burial sites, the Holy Sepulcher or the Garden Tomb.  Both of these have the same limestone rock shelf.  Other sites within Palistine that had evidence of limestone, did not match to the Shroud's limestone profile. (70)
 * (3.2) Jerusalem Burial Site - Pollen
 * Shroud: Of the 58 types of pollen found on the burial cloth, a vast majority of the non European plants can be found in the Jerusalem area, according to Dr. Fei. Of the 28 flower images found in the cloth, 25 of these are included in Dr. Fei's list of pollen.:
 * (3.4) Shroud Linen Material - Jewish Style Cloth.
 * The Shroud is found to be used within the 1st Century Jewish community. It matches cloth found at Masada, a 1st Century Jewish settlement. (http://www.historicaljesusquest.com/linen-cloth.htm)

Timeframe of the Shroud
 * (4.1) Springtime (Easter): Pollen from Jerusalem.
 * Bible: The crucifixion of Jesus took place on the day of preparation for the Passover. (John 19: 14-15). Thus, the timeframe is springtime in Judea (Israel) when pollen is bountiful and a good physical marker of events. This timeframe is known as Good Friday in Western culture.
 * Shroud: Of the 58 types of pollen found on the Shroud, a vast majority of the non European plants can be found in the Jerusalem area, according to Dr. Fei. Of the 28 flower images found in the cloth, 25 of these are included in Dr. Fei's list of pollen.
 * (4.2) Springtime (Easter): Flower Images from Jerusalem.
 * Bible: The crucifixion of Jesus took place on the day of preparation for the Passover. (John 19: 14-15).
 * Shroud: 27 images of flowers are found in the Jerusalem area.  In addition, the season of blossoming for all these flowers is March and April.  Pollen evidence colaberates.  Only Jersualem has such a concentration of these types of flowers in one place.
 * (4.3) Pontious Pilate Coins Image Evidence - Coins dated Cira AD 30.
 * Bible: The timeframe of Jesus death was during Pilate's reign as governor. (Matthew 27). According to Wikapedia, he was the governor of the Roman Iudaea province from 26 until 36(http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate).
 * Shroud: Partial images of two coins is found, one over each of the eyes of the man in the Shroud. First found by a VP-8 Image Analyzer in 1976, then found in enlargements of the 1931 photographic plates by Francis L. Filas of Loyola University in Chicago.(ref)  Inscriptions found are consistent with Pontius Pilate coins minted after AD 29.
 * (4.4) Death Certificate Imagery
 * Shroud: Death certificate of Jesus of Nazareth found on image.  In November 2009 Vatican scholar Dr. Barbara Frale announced that she had "managed to read the burial certificate of Jesus the Nazarene, or Jesus of Nazareth." imprinted in fragments of Greek, Hebrew and Latin writing, together with the image of a crucified man on the cloth. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6925371.ece]
 * (4.5) Linen - Manufactured in Middle East by Roman Period Loom.
 * Bible: The body of Jesus was wrapped in linen. (John 20: 5-9)
 * Shroud: The linen material of the shroud is flaxed based and has a specialized weave that is traditional to Jewish and Middle East manufacture in the 1st Century.  "According to Flury-Lemberg’s detailed analysis of the Shroud’s fabric, it is an exceptionally fine quality, z-twist, 3-over-1-herringbone patterned linen cloth and is evidence that it was manufactured in the Middle East on a Roman-period Egyptian or Syrian loom." (http://www.historicaljesusquest.com/linen-cloth.htm).
 * (4.6) Carbon Dating
 * Shroud: While initial tests indicated a medieval dating, subsequent review of the testing done has indicated that the test sample was from a medieval "high handling" repair area.  As such the C14 test dated the repair material and the sample was not representative of the cloth's manufactured date.  Complementing this conclusion was the lack of vanilin in the cloth.  According to Rogers, a minimum of 37% vanilin should be present in the cloth if it was manufactured in the medieval timeframe, but the cloth has 0%. This indicates that the cloth was likely manufactured outside of the medieval time period.

Argument Conclusion - Shroud Meets Tests of Authenticity The evidence found in the image and on the Shroud of Turin meet the tests of authenticity because the the image matches the physcial aspects of the crucifition story detail, and (2) physical evidence confirms both timeframe and (3) location. Because these tests are met, it can be stated that the Shroud of Turin is most likely the burial cloth of Jesus.

It should be noted that it is the combination, the multiple pieces of evidence that match the 1st Century Documents that provide the proof that the man in the Shroud of Turin is Jesus Christ. All major pieces of evidence must be disproven in order to disprove this hypothesis.

Argument 2
(in process) The Physical Evidence of the Shroud of Turin complements the historical documentation of both the Image of Edessa and Shroud of Turin. From this, we can surmise the route travelled by the Shroud of Turin from the 1st Century to today. Authenticity does not rely on any Eddesa / Constantinople / France history. Rather these complement the evidence.

One can trace the route of the shroud of Turin by first looking at the microbiology to determine the locations that the Shroud visited before its resting place in Turin. Essentially, the limestone and pollen evidence tell us that the Shroud has been in Jerusalem, in Edessa, Constantinople, France and Italy. Documents are also found that establish that a shroud of Jesus Christ was located in these areas as well. It is very likely, that because of the unique identifier that the Shroud is NOT a painting, that the shroud from Edessa is the same as the shroud of Turin.


 * Jerusalem -
 * Microbiology: A vast majority of pollen types are from the Jerusalem area, 27 flower images are of plants from the Jerusalem area, and the limestone profile matches the limestone profiles of the historically identified likely location of the tomb (2 places are identified, based on description - Holy Sepulchre and Garden Tomb) within the Jerusalem area. From this it can be ascertained that the cloth was in Jerusalem during the springtime and has likely been in the tomb identified as Jesus' burial site.
 * Document: Bible  Primary 1st Century documents are the New Testament of the Bible which tells the story of Jesus and identifies his burial shroud.  Other documents collaberate, such as writings from Josphesus.

A second dimension, and an unique identifier of the shroud of Turin is that it is NOT A PAINTING. According to STURP scientists, the image of the Shroud of Turin "IS NOT A PAINTING". This tag helps us to zero in on certain documents that suggest that the Shroud of Turin was in Edessa and Constantinople. Because of the difficulty in making a shroud that is NOT A PAINTING, this phrase eliminates any of the shroud copies would have been made by artists of the Church. It aslo establishes authenticity of the shroud within the historical documents.


 * Edessa and Constantinople (Turkey)
 * Microbiology: 3 types of pollen have been found on the shroud that are specific only to the Edessa and Constatinople regions.  This means the cloth was in these areas during its existance.


 * Documents: "NOT A PAINTING" shroud is found in Edessa and Constantinople.

According to manuscripts refered to in the Constantinople sermon of archdeacon and referendarius of Hagia Sophia Cathedral given August 16, 944, the shroud of Jesus was in Edessa during the time of King Adgar and the disciple Thaddeus ref pgh 9(circa AD 50) and Chosroes (sometime during AD 488 to 628, either Chosres I or II. ref pgh 11. In the same sermon, the manuscripts refered to by the archdeacon refer to the shroud as being "NOT A PAINTING", specifically to the one seen by King Adgar, circa 50 and then in Edessa AD 944 and Constantinople circa AD 944. (ref pg 9 and 21 http://www.shroud.com/pdfs/guscin3.pdf).

We also know from the shroud at Constantinople, that it was a burial cloth, not just an image. The sermon identifies the blood and water of the side wound. This is associated with the total body, and not just the face of Jesus (i.e. the image of Edessa). In reality, the image of Edessa (face only) was a method of presentation, wherein the full shroud was folded so as to only expose the face. According to ....., the shroud of Turin has fold creases that demonstrate that for a period of its history, the shroud was folded so that the face only is exposed. (ref). Other documents colaberate more history and the fact the shroud at Constantinople is a full body shroud, not just a face, but for simplicity, only the above documents are presented to illustrate the path.


 * France & Italy
 * Microbilogy: Pollen from France and Italy is found on the shroud. So we know that the shroud has been in these places.


 * Documents(3): Two documents state that the shroud of Turin was taken by French knights from Constantinople in xxxx.  The shroud was display in France on a couple of occassions, but descriptions are not sufficient enough to determine if the shroud is the same as Turin, or another shroud.  Commencing 14xx, the documentation of the shroud of Turin is well established.
 * Other Document(4): Other evidence exists that complements the journey of the shroud from Jerusalem to Turin. It is the intention of the author to highlight only a few to illustrate the route, not to provide an exhastive listing.  Popular authors, in their books, illustrate these.

Edessa / Constantinople (sermon), France (Knights Templar), Italy (Turin) (5.2) Shroud is NOT a Painting.....Constantinople. (5.3) Image of Edessa is a burial cloth....Constantinople. (5.3) Shroud Documents complement movement of Shroud. Edessa / Constantinople. Movement to France. (5.4) Artwork and Coinage in Turkey and Edessa reflect shroud of Turin features......

......

Arguement 3
(in process) The age of the cloth is likely 1st century, because ....

Flowers and pollen
(in process) Only a brief description because the article includes the material anyway. But the debate should go here, not there.

Forgery arguments
Arguements against the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin focus on establishing it to be a forgery.

When scientists were doing their review of the Shroud they looked at obvious fakery methods to see if they could be replicated or eliminated. Because of scientist review of imaging on the cloth, they have established that the image is NOT a painting as chemical analysis has shown that the image does not have paint pigmentation (ref). The method of forgery is, therefore, restristed to "non paint" pigmentation techniques.

Forgery theories for the most part have failed to date, because the method of forgery has focused on painting by an artist. As the Shroud IS NOT A PAINTING, these theories have been disqualified.

To be a real forgery, then,
 * (1) the possible method of forgery, using technologies of the middle ages or earlier on, must be established,
 * (2) it must NOT BE REPLICATION BY PAINTING and
 * (3) other evidence that is found on the cloth supporting its authenticity must be accounted for using known history to establish the reason other evidence existing on the cloth.

To date, no forgery has met all three of the requirements. Only one method has potential as meeting 1 and 2 above, but has yet to establish evidence in support of 3.

Popular forgery / fake theories follow. Those still under review vs. failed are identified. JimfromGTA (talk) 16:17, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Argument 1
Variants to the Biblical detail suggest that while the Shroud is a close match, not all details are the same.

(1) Nail in hands vs. Nails in Wrist. Problem of language.

(2) Crown of thorns vs. thornbush Problem of language

Argument 2
(in process) There were different "shrouds of Jesus" recorded in history. The Shroud of Turin may be a forgery.

(1) different (2) problem of "not a painting". Unique characteristic (3) problem of microbiological evidence.

Arguement 3
(in process) Carbon dating dated the Shroud of Turin to the middle ages. Therefore, the Shroud is likely a forgery.

(1) Carbon dating brief summary (2) Sampling problem. (3) problem of microbiological evidence.

Argument 4
(inprocess) As a result of the C14 dating, a search for potential forgeries was done. These include Da Vinci, de Molay,.....etc.

(1) Not a painting (2) problem of microbiological evidence (3) Superficial analysis of candidates....de Molay, etc. (3)  Problem of no confirming evidence. (unknown man).JimfromGTA (talk) 01:35, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Argument 4
(inprocess) The Shroud may be an image of a crucified man, but that's not prove the man is Jesus.

Unique characteristics of the Bible story vs. image. In archeology, the unique characteristics of the artifact is what helps to determine the identity of the object.