The Message of the Shroud and the Empty Tomb

I have recently viewed a couple of interesting documentaries on the Shroud of Turin that point to its utter uniqueness out of all the alleged relics that have surfaced. I had discounted it as a forgery like so many other “relics” the medieval church attempted to pass off. There was a carbon 14 test in the 1980s that dated it to the middle Ages so you would think that would be the end of it.

However it has now been demonstrated that the cloth they tested was a patch woven into the shroud from when it was scorched by fire – the original fibers are much older. At a symposium in 2005 it was demonstrated that newer fabric was spliced and woven into the old in the sample taken for the test. The carbon 14 test from the 1980s is now regarded as unreliable.

Another intriguing piece of corroborating evidence is the Sudarium of Oviedo, a bloodstained cloth that is said to be the smaller one that was used under Jesus head. It has been kept separate from the shroud in Spain and is displayed 3 times a year at the Cathedral of San Salvador. The really compelling part is that its blood stains have been examined by forensic scientists and the patterns match the shroud. They are also both the same blood type, AB, which is a common blood type among Middle Eastern people but rare among medieval Europeans.

The image on the Shroud of Turin has not been explained by science and appears to be holographic in nature according to particle physicists who have examined the image. Far from being painted on the cloth , there is no other image like it in the world. Many believe it represents the supernatural resurrection event of Jesus Christ. It appears to be burned into the cloth as in the manner of radiation. I believe the Shroud is getting this attention to send mankind an important message. There is now a lot of evidence pointing to its genuineness.

Here's an excerpt from one of the documentaries. You can watch the entire thing if you want but I am not posting it all as it has 6 parts.



Now this part of my post applies whether the Shroud of Turin is genuine or not. First here are the verses from the Gospel of John that speak of the Shroud and the Sudarium.

"Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself." (Jn 20:3-7)

In my personal study of the Bible I have learned that every word, number, and even minute details can contain cosmic significance. The 66 books written by 40 authors (that scarcely even knew each other) is an integrated message system from outside of our time domain. When one becomes cognizant of that reality- one learns to examine deeper. So I asked myself why the two cloths were folded. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded and was placed at the head of that stony coffin. This means it is important.

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished.

Now if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers and mouth with that napkin and toss it on to the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done." But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, "I'm not finished yet."

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back."

I believe it will be soon…

I've also heard the folded cloth to be a symbol of a trademan like a carpenter. After the hard day's work, the carpenter would fold his cloth to show that "my work is done". In either case, the symbolism is similar. Perhaps it was folded in this manner for more than one meaning. When I first read it, I took the folded cloth to mean, "I am alive, conscious, know where I'm going and what I'm doing". To me, that's an equally important explanation.

Regarding the shroud, I don't need the cloth as personal proof since I'd already obtained mine. If it turns out to be valid and constitutes proof for anyone however, to that I say thank God. If it is merely an art reproduction, at least people are exploring the idea of Christ's visit here.

[edit on 15-12-2008 by saint4God]

They took down the video in my post above as someone had posted without permission.

Here's the trailer - it's a really interesting documentary - the image on the shroud is a hologram. Which was way beyond the abilities of the medieval forgers that are alleged by skeptics. A team of particle physicists has been astonished to confirm the holographic nature of the shroud.

i started a thread in another forum about the shroud - linking to a different video that's not on youtube or Google video

The Fabric of Time

it's potentially mind-blowing....whether you're a GOD person or a science person

it's taken 2,000 years for humanity's science to catch up with GOD's technology

reply to post by queenannie38



I see you put it in science and technology - which is also appropriate- I originally posted in in CIR because of the controversy over the dating and all it has a conspiracy angle as well.

www.youtube.com...

Brother dimond goes into extensive proof on the shroud.

watch parts 4 and 5, only 20 minutes, worth it.

creation and miracles.

peace.

Years ago when I was planning a trip to Turino, I got excited when I realized that this was otherwise known as Turin. I had to look it up and sure enough, that was where the shroud was. I was there at a time when I could not see it but I made a point of getting as close as I could to it and have my picture taken. Whether it is real or not I wanted to check it out and I think it is nice to have added this thing to my only trip I ever made to Europe.
As for the napkin, I was taught that Jesus was a neat person and did not want to leave a mess.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a77633dcc80c.jpg[/atsimg]
This is the front door to the cathedral named for John the Baptist. In the back corner inside, is a way into the chapel of the Palace of the House of Savoy, where the shroud actually is. The corner of the palace and the corner of the cathedral almost meet and are joined together by the chapel which has its own spired roof.
This was taken by a 110 film pocket camera so a higher resolution scan looks pretty much the same. (you can see it in my photo album in video & media) The thing next to my left hand and against my leg, lower down, are two of the wheels of my skateboard I am holding. I have a long beard in this photo and whenever I would turn my back on a group of people, someone would yell, "Jude!". It took me a while to realize they were calling me a Jew. My passport photo would be sure to keep me in security at the airport if I used it today.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/008431c71c51.jpg[/atsimg]
They also made fun of our knee-length shorts because they wore ones that were so small that their asses were showing. They would get into a little chant and say, "New York Knickerbockers".


[edit on 8-4-2009 by jmdewey60]

Here is the peer reviewed scientific journal article that discredits the 1988 carbon dating.

Abstract

In 1988, radiocarbon laboratories at Arizona, Cambridge, and Zurich determined the age of a sample from the Shroud of Turin. They reported that the date of the cloth’s production lay between a.d. 1260 and 1390 with 95% confidence. This came as a surprise in view of the technology used to produce the cloth, its chemical composition, and the lack of vanillin in its lignin. The results prompted questions about the validity of the sample.

Preliminary estimates of the kinetics constants for the loss of vanillin from lignin indicate a much older age for the cloth than the radiocarbon analyses. The radiocarbon sampling area is uniquely coated with a yellow–brown plant gum containing dye lakes. Pyrolysis-mass-spectrometry results from the sample area coupled with microscopic and microchemical observations prove that the radiocarbon sample was not part of the original cloth of the Shroud of Turin. The radiocarbon date was thus not valid for determining the true age of the shroud. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Studies on the radiocarbon sample from the shroud of turin

I just listened to a lecture by Dr Gary Habermas at the EPS apologetics conference, turns out there are paintings of Jesus from the third - tenth centuries that look they copied the face from the shroud. They have the same bruise marks and all. The CSI techs have verified the blood is real and that the body was in a state of rigamortis. I really think this thing is authentic. The holographic nature of the image has never been explained by science, seems like we have physical evidence for the resurrection to me.

There were these researchers on coasttocoastam two nights
ago with some new discoveries about the shroud.
Here's a link to an article they wrote.
www.futurescience.org...
I have part of my Turin trip in an earlier post on this thread
and I could give the comment that it was one of the most
exciting events of my life. Just being close to this thing
gives me a feeling of a special sort of bond to Jesus.
That might seem a little weird but it is just my personal
experience, for what it's worth.