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10 May 09 Print Version The newsletter, The Shroud and the Sacrifice, Volume 4, Issue 1, Jan-Mar 2000, has been updated for 2009 with the latest findings on the Shroud of Turin. It turns out that the scientific community has taken another look and found the 1988 carbon 14 dating is invalid for determining the age of the Shroud. It now appears that it is likely that the Shroud may indeed be of first century origin, and if so, may well be the burial shroud of Jesus. This newsletter contains another article titled "The Sacrifice". This second article traces the importance for our salvation of the atoning blood sacrifice from Genesis chapter 3 and on through the Old Testament to the bloody cross of Jesus. The Bible is clear that there is no atonement for sins without the shedding of blood by a perfect sinless offering. God became man to sacrifice Himself on a bloody cross in our behalf so that we would not have to pay the terrible penalty. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Leviticus 17:11 1988 Carbon 14 Dating Falsified The 1988 carbon 14 dating of the Shroud of Turin has now been confirmed to be in error by studies carried out between 2001 and 2008. The late Dr. Raymond N. Rogers of Los Alamos National Laboratory was originally supportive of the 1988 carbon 14 finding that the Shroud dated between 1260 and 1390AD which meant that the Shroud was only about 700 years old. Because of the persistence of Joseph G. Marino and M. Sue Benford, Dr. Rogers skeptically decided to take another look. Joseph G. Marino and M. Sue Benford, examining photographic and textile evidence, discovered evidence that the corner area of the Shroud cut out for carbon dating was actually a repaired area that was rewoven to repair fire damage to the cloth. The reweaving was accomplished much like the "invisible reweaving" of material we see today. (1) As a member of the S.T.U.R.P. (Shroud of Turin Research Project) team that did the scientific study of the Shroud in 1978, Dr. Rogers had obtained 32 adhesive tape samples from all areas of the Shroud, including the dated area. These samples contained threads. Dr. Rogers microscopically and chemically examined the threads from the area where the dated material was obtained and found that the threads were a mixture of the original cloth and patching threads dyed to the same color as the original cloth. No other parts of the Shroud contain dyed threads. The reweaving and dying was accomplished in such manner that there was no observable hint that a repair had occurred in the area. When the material was then dated, scientists had no clue that they were testing a mixture of younger threads and the original threads of the Shroud. The dating then returned results reflecting this mixture as an average date of ancient and younger material. (2) The Shroud is now considered to be a cloth between 1,300 and 3,000 years old based on a chemical dating method which tests for levels of vanillin. Vanillin is a byproduct of the thermal decomposition of lignin, a chemical compound found in plant material such as flax. Flax is used in the production of linen of which the Shroud is made. If the Shroud of Turin is of medieval origin, then it should have retained about 37% of its vanillin. If the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus (about 2,000 years old, then, vanillin should not be detectable. Vanillin cannot be detected in the lignin on the Shroud of Turin fibers from any location on the Shroud. Dr. Rogers indicates that since vanillin cannot be detected in the lignin on other old linens such as Dead Sea scrolls linen it "indicates that the shroud is quite old." (3) Dr. Rogers published his findings in a peer reviewed journal, Thermochimica Acta in 2005. Many of Dr. Rogers' findings were independently verified by John L. Brown, formerly Principal Research Scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute's Energy and Materials Sciences Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Phillip Ball, former Senior Editor of Nature magazine which published the original results of the 1988 carbon 14 dating said this: "It is, [Rogers] says, between 1,300 and 3,000 years old. Let's call it somewhere around the middle of that range, which puts the age at about 2,000 years. Which can mean only one thing…" (4) Dr. Rogers has suggested that new carbon 14 tests be performed on charred sections of the Shroud that were removed during the restoration in 2002. Testing of the cloth itself may no longer be possible due to the method recently used to preserve the cloth. (5) The Pray Manuscript An illustration in the Pray Manuscript shows preparations for the burial of Christ. This manuscript is located in the Budapest National Library and was known to have been written between 1192 and 1195 (at least 65 years before the earliest carbon 14 date, and at least 165 years before the Shroud shows up in Lirey, France in the 1350s). The burial cloth depicted in the illustration shows a cloth of herringbone weave like the Shroud of Turin and four burn holes in an L-shaped pattern near one of the edges. The Shroud of Turin has identical burn holes in the same location. (6) Coins NASA's VP-8 image analyzer, macro photography, and digitalization of the eye area shows the possibility of "dime" size coins over the eyes of the Shroud image with "lettering consistent with the Lepton (Widow's Mite) minted by Pontius Pilate between 29-32 A.D." The raised letters UCIA have been identified as markings that were on the original coins when minted. (7) New Historical Evidence A problem in confirming the authenticity of the shroud has been the gap in the historical evidence between the years 1204 and 1351 A.D. Newly discovered documents in the Vatican Secret Archives provide new clues in tracing the continuity of the shroud from the first century to when it appeared in 1357 in France. (8) The new evidence is the testimony of Arnaut Sabbatier during the Templar trial which ended in 1314 A.D. His testimony concerned his participation in a Templar initiation rite in 1287 A.D. He testified that he was taken to a secret place where "he was shown a long linen cloth on which was impressed the figure of a man, and was told to kiss the feet of the image three times." This evidence explains why the historical trail of the shroud went cold about 1204 A.D. as it was secreted away by the Knights Templar. (9) (1) Shroud of Turin Facts Check: Carbon 14 Dating Biggest Mistake. | Turin Shroud Older than Thought. (2) Shroud of Turin Facts Check: Carbon 14 Dating Biggest Mistake. | New Chemical Testing Points to Ancient Origin for Burial Shroud of Jesus. | Shroud of Turin - Evidence of Authenticity. (3) Turin Shroud Older than Thought. | Shroud of Turin - Evidence of Authenticity. (4) Shroud of Turin Facts Check: Carbon 14 Dating Biggest Mistake. (5) Shroud of Turin - Evidence of Authenticity. (6) Shroud of Turin - Evidence of Authenticity. | Rethinking the Shroud Objectively. (7) Shroud of Turin - Evidence of Authenticity. (8) Lossella Lorenzi, Discovery News, Shroud of Turin Secretly Hidden. (9) Lossella Lorenzi, Discovery News, Shroud of Turin Secretly Hidden. |