The Wayside Pulpit No.33
The Silent Witness
Everyone
has heard of the Turin Shroud. Throughout this century it has continually been
the source of academic in-fighting, religious bigotry, and intensive research.
Having read widely on this subject, I should like to make a statement of belief
based on what I have learned. I am aware that Evangelicals look askance at the
Shroud simply because it is "A Romish Relic", as they would say, and
they will have no truck with relics of any kind. I am also aware that the Roman
Church looks upon its "relic" with strange duplicity, sometimes
doubting its authenticity, sometimes accepting it, but always ready to
"venerate" it regardless. But I wish to approach this subject ONLY
from the viewpoint of scientific evidence found thus far, and not from any
religious bias. Why should one have a bias anyway, unless it is towards
establishing truth?
What
I should like to do is to present factual information determined by various
scientists, each an expert in his or her own field, information that can be
relied on, and which should form the basis for making a sensible conclusion as
to the origin of the Shroud. It is as follows.
1.
The Shroud is a piece of linen measuring 14 ft 3 inches by 3 ft 7 inches. An
additional side strip just over 3 inches wide has been sewn onto this linen,
but does not run the full length. The linen weave is a "three-to-one
herringbone chevron twill". This type of cloth would have been costly.
Experts have shown that it was available at the time of Christ, but there is no
definitive evidence from the cloth-type as to its age.
2.
From the evidence of the image found on the linen, this cloth was used for
burial. So why should it now be available AT ALL? Surely all such shrouds
should have remained with their bodies. Why should anyone have stolen such a
cloth from a dead body?
3.
The image resembles the scorch marks found on a well-used ironing board cover.
Solid particles, as used by an artist, are entirely absent. The image only
becomes clear and lifelike as a photographic negative. From a careful and
exhaustive examination of the cloth and the image the following facts emerge.
4.
Blood flows present indicate that the body was not washed before being wrapped
in the cloth. The body was laid on the cloth, which was then brought over the
head and down to the feet without any further treatment. Evidence from other
ancient burials suggest that in this case the proceedure was only partially
completed, in a hurry, before being left.
5.
The jaw was brought up from hanging open, as it invariably does after death, by
the use of a cloth (Soudarion) wrapped round the head, in addition to the main
shroud.
6.
The man's image shows that he was 5 ft 11 inches tall, weighing probably 12
stone, of a powerful and well-proportioned physique. His face bears the image
of that of a Sephardic Jew or a noble Arab of the time of Christ, aged between
30 and 40 years.
7.
There are many wound-marks visible.
(a)
Clear evidence of crucifixion. The nail mark found in the wrist is consistent
with what is now known of crucifixion, that only by nailing within the small
bones of the wrist, in the "space of Destot" is a man's weight able
to be supported. If the nail passed through the palm, it would result in the
hand being being torn apart under the weight. The effect of the nailing is to
cause the median nerve to snap, so that the thumb contracts into the
palm. The image shows this to have been the case.The mark of the nail through
the man's foot is also clearly visible, passing through the metatarsal bones at
the base of the foot. The left foot was placed over the right.
(b)
Head wounds. There are 8 separate blood flows from punctures at the back of the
head, and 4 or 5 on the top of the forehead, as from a cap of thorns being
forced on the man's head.
(c)
Over 100 marks on the body, mainly to the back and buttocks, each about 1 1/2
inches long and dumb-bell shaped. These marks were found to be in groups of
three. This is clear evidence that the man had been scourged. The Roman
scourge, the flagrum, consisted of a wooden handle with three leather thongs,
into which were sewn small sharp lead pellets known as plumbatae, that would
tear the flesh. The geography of these marks shows that the man was flogged
repeatly by two soldiers, the one on the right being a little taller than his
companion, and showing a more sadistic tendency to lash the legs as well as the
back. This type of scourge was unknown to any but the Roman culture.
(d)
On the right shoulder there is a quadrangular shading as from abrasion due to
carrying the cross-bar known as the Patibulum, which in Roman times would weigh
about 100 pounds. Further down on the left side, in the scapular region, there
is a rounded area of abrasion. Prisoners were required to carry this cross-beam
over their shoulders, their wrists being tied to it. The upright beam of the
cross, known as the Stipes, was already in place in its socket in the ground.
(e)
Both knees show serious abrasions, which can only be due to the man falling
headlong, and being unable to use his arms to save himself from injury. The
knees would have taken the toll first, and possibly his nose, which shows signs
of being broken.
(f)
Wounds to the face - a swelling of both eyebrows, a torn right eye-lid, a large
swelling below the right eye, a swollen nose, which as mentioned above could
indicate a breakage by falling, a triangular shaped wound on the right cheek, a
swelling to the left cheek and to the left side of the chin. All this is
evidence, not of the crucifixion, but of severe buffeting beforehand.
(g)
A wound to the right side, elliptical in shape, and measuring 1 3/4 inches by
7/16 inch, which would appear to have been made by a Roman lance. It entered
between the 5th and the 6th ribs. From this wound there is evidence of a blood
flow, also a watery plasma. This shows that the man died, not of crucifixion
alone, but of a burst heart, where the blood from the heart flowed into the pericardium
and separated into two parts, the crassamentum (red clots of blood) and the
watery serum.
(h)
The direction of the blood-flows on the man's arms indicate the angle at which
he was suspended from the cross-beam, thereby showing conclusively that he was
crucified on a cross-shaped structure, rather than on a single upright pole.
8.
Pollen grains taken from the shroud have been studied with great care by
experts in this field. The results show the presence of 49 different types,
including a certain species, found only in the region around
9.
The eyes appear to be rounded in the image, giving it a haunting expression.
But this is due to the fact that in burials in ancient times, it was a custom
to place small coins over the closed eyes. Recent careful analysis of the
photographic image shows signs of these coins, and one researcher claims to
have identified, almost positively, the marks of a coin minted during the reign
of Pontius Pilate, over the man's right eye.
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So
much for the evidence. History books tell us that in Roman times thousands of
men were crucified. But there is only one reliable historical record of a
crucifixion which fits all the above facts, namely the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ under Pontius Pilate on
But
more recently, Dr.Garza-Valdes, former professor of microbiology at the
University of Texas, has shown that the linen of the shroud is covered with a
"bioplastic coating" of bacteria and fungi, which, because it is
still living and growing, tend to skew the radiocarbon date, so that it reads
centuries later than expected. Tests carried out on linen shrouds from mummies
confirm this conclusion, because carbon dates from samples WITHIN the mummies
are sometimes a whole millennium earlier than those of their shroud. Scientists
are now awaiting permission to carry out further tests on the
Garza-Valdes
also determined the blood type from the shroud as AB positive, common amongst
Jewish people. Both X and Y chromosomes have been found, showing (if proof was
necessary!!) that the blood belonged to a male.
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My
own conclusion is that the shroud is indeed the actual cloth which Joseph of
Arimathea and Nicodemus used to cover our Lord's body. The subsequent history
of this cloth has been determined by Ian Wilson, and may be read in his
exciting books "The Turin Shroud" (1979) and "The Blood and the
Shroud" (1998). I believe that God has allowed this cloth to be preserved
as a witness to the abominable torture His Son endured to bring us such great
salvation. The words of Mrs C.F.Alexander's famous hymn says, "We may
not know, we cannot tell, what pains He had to bear, But we believe it was for
us He hung and suffered there." The shroud is a silent testimony to just
how awful were the indignities, the abuse, and the physical punishment He
endured for the men and women He had created. It gives us pause each time we
take the Bread and the Wine, to remember, and to say a deeply felt "Thank
you" to our God and Father who "So loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son," and to the Lord Jesus Himself, who endured the cross
that we might have "life in His name."