The Shroud of Turin....

I am amending this post today (Monday) thanks to the input of Diana Fulbright, Director of Research at the "Shroud of Turin Center" Richmond VA, USA - her comments and corrections are highlighted in red italics and can be seen in the first comment left on this post.

After the carbon-dating of the Shroud of Turin, which many have wondered as to whether it is the burial shroud of Christ, it seemed that the debate was over and that the shroud had been proved to be a mediaeval forgery. However, recent tests have concluded that the carbon-dating tests were fatally compromised because of the shroud having been contaminated by candle smoke, fungal growth, a fire in 1532 and subsequent patching by nuns.

But last week I discovered that there are even more remarkable discoveries that have been made about the shroud over the last few decades:

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  Some scientists are now reporting that there is no paint on the shroud and that it is not the work of a forger. In 1978, the scientific team allowed to examine the Shroud for five days at that time determined there was no paint of any kind on the cloth. This is not a new discovery,and ALL scientists who have examined the cloth at first hand, in person, agree on the absence of paint.


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  Analysis of the cloth reveals that the size matches a measurement of 8x2 Philetaric cubits—these cubits were the standard measurement in 1st Century Palestine.


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  The style of the cloth is a herringbone twill with a 3:1 weave, probably of 1st Century Syrian design. The cloth would not have been woven in Syria, but rather in Israel, by Jewish weavers. This is supported by the fact that no traces of wool are found on the cloth, in accordance with the Levitical injunction against "mixing of kinds."


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  The cotton is Gossypium herbaceum, a Middle-Eastern species not found in Europe. The fabric of the Shroud is pure linen, not cotton.


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  The shroud contains pollen grains from 58 species of plants. Of these 17 do come from Europe where the shroud has been known of for seven centuries, but the remainder are indigenous, some exclusively, to the Dead Sea area and Turkey.
  
  

Of course, this does not prove the shroud is what many believe it is. The Church has never claimed it is definitely Christ’s shroud, but it would seem that it cannot simply be discounted as the work of a mediaeval forger.