One of the Great Frauds: Shroud of Turin


I don't recall ever seeing a survey of Christians on the Shroud of Turin, but my guess is millions across the globe believe it is the actual garment the body of Jesus was wrapped in. One can read the long complicated history of the thing in Wikipedia. I was not aware the myth went back to around the 1200's.

Even though a Pope back then declared it to be authentic the Catholic Church has backed off just a bit. Currently, its position is that it neither affirms nor denies its authenticity.

The ruse is called "of Turin because it has been displayed in the City of Turin, Italy, for hundreds of years. Twice it was damage by fires and then repaired. 

The history of evaluations outside of religion is lots of fun. The image is that of an entire body. Someone measured the arms and found them to be impossibly long. Others have done carbon dating and found it to be of the 12-1300's. What appears to be blood has been found to be fruit or vegetable dyes. The type of fabric was not used in the first century. The style of Jewish burial dress at the turn of the century was not that used in the Shroud. 

In the late 1970's a fellow with a science and history background, Joe Nickell, began experimenting with materials available in the 1200's trying to duplicate the fraudulent garment. It took a few tries but he was able to produce a "shroud" most would find indistinguishable from that displayed in Turin.

The Shroud of Turin is a piece of art we should put alongside the many windows broken by baseballs which depict the face of Mary.    

 

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