REVIEW: The Chronicles of the Christians - Part III

Part III: The Shroud of Turin

Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec have created a four part documentary about the story of Christians from their rise as a small group of persecuted believers, to the foundational system that created the entire Western Civilization and our modern world. Each episode deals with a different aspect of the tale of Christianity, bringing to light many stories that most modern people simply do not know about.

Virtually everyone today was robbed of their Christian patrimony that they are the rightful owners of. It was stolen from you intentionally because a people who do not know their history is a people that can be conquered easily. It does not matter if you are Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jew, Muslim or unbeliever, you need to watch them. You need to know the history of the civilization that you live in.

In this season of Christmas, which runs until February 2nd & Candlemas (bet you didn’t know that), now is the perfect time to start watching these episodes. This post will discuss Part III: The Shroud of Turin.

The Chronicles of the Christians - Part I: The Rise of Christianity

The Chronicles of the Christians - Part II: The Truth About the Crusades

The Chronicles of the Christians - Part III: The Shroud of Turin

The Chronicles of the Christians - Part IV: Notre Dame

As mentioned in the review of Part I: The Rise of Christianity and Part II: The Truth About the Crusades, so much of what we have been taught was simply false, or such a gross oversimplification and twisting of history, that we are basically unlearned in our actual history. The Shroud of Turin is dismissed out of hand for the silliest of reasons, but also because what it would mean if it is real.

WHAT IS THE SHROUD?

Many people do not even know what the Shroud of Turin is, and Jack and Joshua do a good job giving a brief overview. The Shroud is the burial cloth that covered the Body of Christ after the Crucifixion. It is about fourteen feet long and has the image of both the front and back of Our Lord. The image itself is a faint, heatless burn only on the top layers of the fibers of the Shroud. The fabric itself is not burned and the image is not painted on. It also has Blood stains on the Shroud which correspond to the wounds received by Our Lord during His Passion.

The image itself is a miracle. We today cannot replicate this image because the amount of heatless light needed is beyond even our capability to produce today. The image is a photo negative, and upon being photographed, the image is actually much clearer. It clearly shows the image of a man who has been severely beaten and scourged, and we can see one of the nail marks through His hand. The image was produced by a flash of light without any heat that would burn the Shroud. It was so brilliant that it left this permanent image behind.

The image is also a 3-D image. That means that it is not like a photograph that is 2-D and flat. The image itself contains three dimensions as the parts of the Body nearer to the Shroud are more dense than those further away. This means we can create an image of the Shroud in 3-D that is not possible with 2-D images.

FURTHER INFO ON THE SHROUD

Jack and Joshua do a good job of detailing the recent scientific testing that has been released on the Shroud. They go over the background on the Shroud and the history of the Shroud that we know. One of the main objections to the Shroud is the lack of information on its history prior to the Middle Ages. There’s an interesting moment when they point out that the icons of Our Lord from the very early years of Christianity all have a very similar depiction of Christ. They further point out that these depictions all bear a striking resemblance to the image on the Shroud. It is entirely possible that these early icons were using the Shroud at their model for Our Lord. They also point out a reference from before the Crusades of a French knight who saw a cloth in Constantinople bearing the image of Christ on it. This helps to fill in large sections of the history on the Shroud.

SKEPTICISM OF THE SHROUD

The skepticism about the Shroud mostly stems from carbon dating testing completed on the Shroud that was done in the 1980’s. Those tests said that the Shroud was dated to the Middle Ages. With these tests released in the 80’s, the entire scientific community relegated the Shroud to a forgery and never questioned the accuracy or reliability of this testing. It has since been revealed that the carbon dating testing was only done on a section of the Shroud that had been repaired in the Middle Ages, and not on the original Shroud.

But skeptics have generally ignored this revelation and rely entirely on the technology and accuracy of 1980’s technology. It seems a tad silly to live in the year 2025 and base an opinion solely on scientific testing done in the 80’s. Very few skeptics will even address the newer scientific testing that has been completed on the Shroud, or even consider other facts about the Shroud that are undeniable.

For example, pollen and other microparticles, which were completely unknown in the Middle Ages, have been found on the Shroud corresponding to pollen found in the area of Israel. Microparticles of gold identical to Byzantine gold have been found on the Shroud. Both of these would not be possible for a forgery from Europe in the Middle Ages. Newer testing (through X-Rays and isotopes) released just this year show the fibers to be about two thousand years old and from the areas around Israel.

There is also the problem of the ability to generate this image. Even today with our technology, we cannot replicate the image. Many have claimed to replicate it, but upon examination these attempts at replication are nowhere near close to replicating the type of image on the Shroud. There is no coherent explanation as to how someone using Middle Ages technology could have created such an incredible forgery that still stands up to our modern technological testing.

Skepticism can be a very healthy thing, especially for claims that are astounding. The reality of the Shroud certainly warrants healthy skepticism. But skepticism cannot become an idol in and of itself. Skepticism makes true things shine and false things more evident. Healthy skepticism does not look to tear down everything, no matter how true is appears even through testing.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

So what does all this mean? Why does it matter if the Shroud of Turin is real? Well if it is real, then it truly is the burial Shroud of Christ, which proves His existence and Crucifixion just as testified by the Catholic Church, Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture for two millennia. What is also shows is the image was created from the moment of His glorious Resurrection. It proves that He really did rise from the dead and that He is divine. This means that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is King. Jesus Christ is God.

This concludes Part III of the Christian Chronicles. If you have not watched it, please do take the time and watch it now. You need to know where you came from to even begin to understand where you are going.