If Shroud of Turin was fake, how come no man on earth able to replicate it

In 1988 it was considered that  the Shroud of Turin was a fake. For some the Shroud, in a way is like the Staff of Moses, turned into a serpent since the story of that relic gobbled up whatever fake imitations and challenges all the naysayers, magicians, scientists and lawyers concocted.
Jesus himself is already called a figure of imagination, though historically there is more evidence about him than of many other figures of history .

English: Full_length_negatives_of_the_shroud of Turin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Because the Shroud tells of a story of his crucifixion and resurrection, some people take every effort to get others to believe it is a real tissue with a print of that divine figure.

After doing carbon-14 dating of scraps of the cloth carried out by labs in Oxford, Zurich and Arizona declaring it to be from 1260 to 1390, it seemed a fraud. Later it was find out there was cotton in only the sample taken to be carbon tested and that there was no cotton in the rest of the shroud! As it appeared, the location on the shroud where the sample was taken are later repaired spots, the worst possible place they could have gotten the sample.

Read more about it: >

The Shroud of Turin Really Is The Face of Jesus, The Staff Of Moses Is Real, And Christ is Alive

Related articles

• The Shroud of Turin Really Is The Face of Jesus, The Staff Of Moses Is Real, And Christ is Alive (shoebat.com)
  If I had to someday defend the Bible in a court of law, and at the end of the trial, after all of the evidence has been presented, witnesses and experts questioned here would be my closing arguments:
  Your Honor, Opposing Council, Members of the Jury. To the point when the Opposing Council accused, argued and asked as to how can we believe in all the miracles? How do we prove beyond doubt that Moses tossed his staff and that the magicians challenged him to only have the staff-serpent of Moses gobble up all the fakes?
  May I present the results of one DNA evidence titled “The Shroud of Turin”.
  
• Shroud Of Turin Research Has One Doctor Convinced It's The Real Thing (webpronews.com)
  The Shroud of Turin is one of the most controversial artifacts to have ever been found. The piece of cloth depicts a man’s face, hands and legs that many claim to be the body of Jesus Christ. For some, it’s proof that Jesus lived, died and was resurrected. For others, it’s a dirty piece of cloth that people put too much importance on. While these two sides argue, science continues to search for the truth with one scientist now claiming it’s the real deal.
  The Tampa Tribune reports that Clearwater Beach resident Dr. Wayne Phillips is now convinced that the Shroud of Turin depicts the face of Jesus Christ. While Dr. Phillips is a Catholic, he says that his conclusion comes from hard science instead of faith. To illustrate this, he travels the country giving lectures on the science that proves the shroud is real.
  
• Shroud of Turin: Could Ancient Earthquake Explain Face of Jesus? (livescience.com)
  a study claims neutron emissions from an ancient earthquake that rocked Jerusalem could have created the iconic image, as well as messed up the radiocarbon levels that later suggested the shroud was a medieval forgery. But other scientists say this newly proposed premise leaves some major questions unanswered. The Shroud of Turin, which bears a faint image of a man's face and torso, is said to be the fabric that covered Jesus' body after his crucifixion in A.D. 33. Though the Catholic Church doesn't have an official position on the cloth, the relic is visited by tens of thousands of worshippers at the Turin Cathedral in Italy each year. [Religious Mysteries: 8 Alleged Relics of Jesus]
  
• New research removes 'shroud' of doubt (mobile.wnd.com)
  In 2011, Corsi told WND, “What the Italian scientists are saying is that the image was created on the shroud in a burst of energy that Christian believers would understand as physical proof of the Resurrection.”
  And, in 2010, Corsi had reported in WND that scientists were building the case that the Turin image was created by radiation that emanated from the body itself, a theory remarkably supportive of the traditional resurrection account that is central to Christian theology.
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  An app sanctioned by the Catholic Church called “Shroud 2.0″ will let users see details in the shroud invisible to the naked eye.
  “For the first time in history the most detailed image of the shroud ever achieved becomes available to the whole world, thanks to a streaming system which allows a close-up view of the cloth. Each detail of the cloth can be magnified and visualized in a way which would otherwise not be possible,” said Nosiglia.
  You can also examine the shroud in close detail at shroud.com.
  
  
• Royal Oak exhibit examines mystery, intrigue surrounding the Shroud of Turin (macombdaily.com)
  “There’s a beauty to the shroud and this exhibit,” said Jose Juan Garrigo, CEO of Immersive Planet, distributor of the American leg of the tour. “You can see how the shroud has been revered throughout centuries, and you can see the different leaps that science has taken over the years as the shroud has been examined. At every turn, the shroud has revealed something new, whether it was through carbon dating, blood typing, x-rays, or VP8 three-dimensional imaging. Science has gone as far as it can for now, and the shroud has been able to provide answers.”
• Top 4 Documentaries on The Shroud of Turin Mystery (virtuosochannel.com)
  Amazing documentary about the recreation of the most accurate image of Jesus yet. For more information please visit.
• Shroud of Turin depicts Y-shaped crucifixion (newscientist.com)
  
  They found that the marks on the shroud did correspond to a crucifixion, but only if the arms were placed above the head in a "Y" position, rather than in the classic "T" depiction. "This would have been a very painful position and one which would have created difficulty breathing," says Borrini. Someone crucified in this way may have died from asphyxiation. Borrini presented his results at a meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Seattle in February.
  
  
  Borrini says similar positions were used during medieval torture, but in those cases the victims were suspended from a beam by binding their wrists with rope, rather than using nails.
  The results confirm earlier experiments by Gilbert Lavoie, a Massachusetts-based doctor, that suggested a Y-shaped crucifixion. "The blood-flow is absolutely consistent with what you see on the Shroud," Lavoie says. He described his studies in Unlocking the Secrets of the Shroud.
  "The imprint on the Shroud does not correspond with many traditional artistic images of crucifixion," says Niels Svensson, a doctor in Maribo, Denmark, who has also studied the Shroud.
  But not all artists show Jesus in a T-shaped posture. For instance, the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens repeatedly painted Jesus with his arms above his head on the cross, as did many others.
  Whoever made the Shroud must have been a skilled forger to create the correct blood spatter for a crucifixion. The alternative is that they made the right pattern by chance. "It could be that the artist just decided to draw the rivulets of blood parallel to the arms for artistic reasons," says Borrini.
• Shroud of Turin: New Study Results May Debunk Theory of Cloth's Inauthenticity (webpronews.com)
  According to Carpinteri, the theory that his scientists are banking on is based on the idea that high-frequency pressure waves in the earth’s crust caused by an earthquake that hit Old Jerusalem around the time Jesus is thought to have died and been buried could have produced an overload of neutron emissions.
  Those neutron emissions are exactly what Carpinteri is basing his theory on, saying that they could have had an interaction with nitrogen atoms in the cloth’s fibers that caused a chemical reaction which created the outline of the face.
  
• Shroud Of Turin Couldn't Have Been Faked [Research Findings] (inquisitr.com)
  In a study from 1978-1981 researchers also said that “no chemical or physical methods known” at the time could have produced the image.
  For the time being the Shroud of Turin remains shrouded in mystery and religious lore.
  This most recent study was conducted at Italy’s National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development.
  According to the Montreal Gazette:
  

  [Researchers] conducted 120 hours of X-rays and ultraviolet light tests and concluded that the marks were not made by paints, pigments or dyes and that the image was not “the product of an artist”, but that at the same time it could not be explained by modern science.

• Latest Shroud of Turin News with an Exclusive Message from A Renowned Scientist (pjmedia.com)
  Headlines such as: “Shroud of Turin is not a medieval forgery” were typical of what appeared across all media platforms especially on Good Friday, 2013.
  Now in 2014, Professor Fanti has a new book (only in Italian at this moment) and the title translates into English as, Turin Shroud: First Century A.D.
  According to the book’s press release, “The new dating methods are published in prestigious international journals and no one has yet pointed out methodological errors.”
  This Shroud dating research project costing $75,000 (54,000 Euro) was funded by Padua University. The funding made it possible to “develop alternative methods of dating the Shroud based on mechanical and opto-chemical analyses after obvious calibration.”
  

Eostre, Easter, White god, chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies and metaphorical resurrection

Tomorrow many Christians celebrate Easter Sunday as the day to remember the Resurrection of some one they consider to be also God, though God according to the Holy Scriptures is a  Spirit Who can not die.

The Cross and Resurrection (Photo credit: Luz Adriana Villa A.)

As Easter approaches, many Christians struggle with how to understand the Resurrection. How literally must one take the Gospel story of Jesus’ triumph to be called a Christian? Can one understand the Resurrection as a metaphor — perhaps not even believe it happened at all — and still claim to be a Christian? And what do they want ot understand under being a Christian, because for many it does not exactly mean to be a "follower of Christ" but means more to be a follower of a trinitarian doctrine.

For the Americans who answered to the survey only 2 percent identified it as the most important holiday of their faith. For Christ Jesus 14 Nisan and 15 Nisan were two very important days, but most Christians do not even know what does days are and for what reason Jesus came together where.

Jesus Resurrection 1778 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having a society becoming more religiously diverse, the U.S.A. nation’s population has had to grapple with how to define its holidays and celebrations at the 2010 Barna poll which showed that only 42 percent of Americans said the meaning of Easter was Jesus’ resurrection. The results indicated that most Americans consider Easter to be a religious holiday, but fewer identify the resurrection of Jesus as the underlying meaning. The study also explored the degree to which Americans are likely to invite an unchurched friend or family member to attend worship service on Easter weekend.

“More people have problems with Easter because it requires believing that Jesus rose from the dead,” 

said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of the new book, “Jesus: A Pilgrimage.”

“But believing in the Resurrection is essential. It shows that nothing is impossible with God. In fact, Easter without the Resurrection is utterly meaningless. And the Christian faith without Easter is no faith at all.”

It is strange to hear it from a a reverend who takes Jesus to be God, but than should know that death can not have any grip on God. Jesus who had his “last supper” before the festival of Passover, was taken hostage that night and tortured before he was impaled. On the wooden stake Jesus really died.

Among the Jews crucifixion was an anathema. (See Deuteronomy 21:22–23: “If a man is guilty of a capital offense and is put to death, and you impale him on a stake, you must not let his corpse remain on the stake overnight, but must bury him the same day. For an impaled body is an affront to God: you shall not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.”)

They wanted to humiliate and frighten Jesus and his followers, and by putting Jesus on a stake in front of all to see, he had to be an example for those who thought they could speak against Pharisees and priests and against the ones in charge of the Empire.
Christian iconography usually shows the nails piercing the palms of Jesus’ hands on a horizontal beam. Nailing the palms of the hands is impossible, because the weight of the slumping body would have torn the palms in a very short time. The victim would have fallen from the cross while still alive.

In a 2011/2012 research on sediment disturbances bring in its study of cores and seismic activity near the Dead Sea (International Geology Review + Discovery News suggested: * + ** ) scientific data relating to the event described in Matthew 27. Those sediment disturbances can be combined with Biblical, astronomical and calendrical information to give a precise date of the crucifixion: Friday, April 3rd, 33 C.E.

Geologists Jefferson B. Williams, Markus J. Schwab and A. Brauer examined disturbances in sediment depositions to identify two earthquakes: one large earthquake in 31 B.C.E., and another, smaller quake between 26 and 36 C.E. In the abstract of their paper, the authors write,

“Plausible candidates include the earthquake reported in the Gospel of Matthew, an earthquake that occurred sometime before or after the crucifixion and was in effect ‘borrowed’ by the author of the Gospel of Matthew, and a local earthquake between 26 and 36 AD that was sufficiently energetic to deform the sediments at Ein Gedi but not energetic enough to produce a still extant and extra-biblical historical record. If the last possibility is true, this would mean that the report of an earthquake in the Gospel of Matthew is a type of allegory.”

This quake, occurring during Jesus’ crucifixion, would have been too minor to be described by non-Biblical histories, but major enough to terrify the surrounding centurions.
Matthew explicitly reports strong seismic activity as the occasions of both the storm on the Sea of Galilee Jesus stilled in 8:24 (seismos megas) and the moving of the stone sealing Jesus’ tomb and in 28:2 (seismos . . . megas). In 27:51, he reports that the earth was shaken (he gE eseisthE) and stones split, but does not use the adjective “great” as in the other references.

The soldiers at the stake were confronted with the death of that Jewish rabbi, son of Miriam (Mary) and Joseph from the tribe of king David. They had seen the water coming out of his body and no doubt were convinced he was really death.

Those who know god can not die and as such also would not be able to stand up from the dead, would love to have others to believe the resurrection or that Jesus literally rose from the dead, should be taken only symbolically.

New York University professor Scott Korb, 37, a non-practicing Catholic, who once wanted to become a priest, says:

“The miracle of a bodily resurrection is something I rejected without moving away from its basic idea.”

“What I mean is that we can reach the lowest points of our lives, of going deep into a place that feels like death, and then find our way out again — that’s the story the Resurrection now tells me. And at Easter, this is expressed in community, and at its best, through the compassion of others.” 

That change — from a literal to a metaphorical approach — has given the story more power, he said.

“There is only one story to be told of a single man who dies and then rises,” Korb said. “But if we think about the metaphor of the Resurrection, that allows us to return to the story year after year and find new meaning in it.”

Reg Rivett, 27, finds the repetition of the Easter story a big problem. A youth minister at an evangelical house church near Edmonton, Canada, he said his belief that Jesus literally rose from the dead is central to his Christian identity and faith. Nonetheless, he still has conflicting feelings about how the Resurrection story is used in some circles.

“You hear about it year after year or at the end of every youth event — ‘This is why Jesus came and why he died,’” he said. “We tack it on to the end of everything and that is not what it should be. It’s like we’ve taken something that is very sacred and made it very common.”

That leads to some internal conflict on Easter Sunday, even as he goes to church with his family and joins them for a big meal.

“It becomes something I need to do and I do it out of respect for others,” he said.

To restore the Resurrection and the Easter story to its appropriate place, Rivett said, the church should “build” toward it throughout the year — place it in its context within the whole biblical saga.

“It is another story about Jesus, another piece of the whole Bible, but at the same time it is such a significant piece,” he said. “Neglecting it completely would be wrong, but over-saturation is wrong, too. It is hard to find a balance.”

Today we do find an over-saturation of the Easter tradition in the shops, where from the beginning of March they are already selling Easter eggs. Several Christians strangely never oppose such fertility symbols, and enjoy fantasising telling their kids about bells coming from Rome and throwing the eggs all over the garden, and hiding eggs all over in the house.Not many Christians seem to oppose those  symbols of fertility “handed down from the ancient ceremonial and symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals.

According to Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, the hunt for Easter eggs, supposedly brought by the Easter rabbit,

 “"is not mere child’s play, but the vestige of a fertility rite."” Some cultures believed that the decorated Easter egg “"could magically bring happiness, prosperity, health, and protection."”  (Traditional Festivals).

The name Easter, used in many lands, is not found in the Bible. The book  Medieval Holidays and Festivals tells us that 

“the holiday is named after the pagan Goddess of the Dawn and of Spring, Eostre.”

Eostre or Eastre (hence Easter) goddess of fertility, according to the legend, opened the portals of Valhalla to receive Baldur, called the White God, because of his purity and also the Sun God, because his brow supplied light to mankind,”(The American Book of Days)

Like many European pagan customs the Church in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a Christian meaning to them so that they could give the people something in which they beleived already for ages. They also knew people would not put away their traditions so easely and than would not convert to Catholicism.

The festival of Eostre was in celebration of the renewal of life in the spring and marked for many people who lived from the land, the sign that they could go back onto the fields to bring in assurance for their livelyhood. Without a good harvest they could not survive. Therefore it was felt important to do good to the gods so that they would be blessed.

for the Catholic church it was easy to make it a celebration of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus, whose gospel they preached, because they presented Jesus as the new life and the bringer of light and life for all.

This adoption explains how in certain lands the Easter customs, such as Easter eggs, the Easter rabbit, and hot cross buns, came about. Concerning the custom of making hot cross buns,

 “with their shiny brown tops marked by a . . . cross,”

 the book Easter and Its Customs states:

 “The cross was a pagan symbol long before it acquired everlasting significance from the events of the first Good Friday, and bread and cakes were sometimes marked with it in pre-Christian times.”

Nowhere in Scripture do we find mention of these things, nor is there any evidence that the early disciples of Jesus gave them any credence. In fact, the apostle Peter tells us to

 “form a longing for the unadulterated milk belonging to the word, that through it [we] may grow to salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2)

So why did the churches of Christendom adopt such obviously pagan symbols into their beliefs and practices? and why do people keep to those traditions of hiding eggs, eating Easter bread or cross buns?

Why when lots of people do not accept a taking out of the dead as a possible event, do they keep telling stories to their children of Easter bunnies and egg throwing bells.

For sure many do not put much accent on the real person they say they are celebrating. Not much is known about his ransom offer and on who he really was and on what he really did.

Christians should come to see the importance of following the teachings of Christ Jesus and on knowing the man Jesus about Whom God said 'This is my beloved son'.

Let us remember that that son of God really gave his life, died, and was taken out of the dead after three days in hell (the grave).

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• Religious Costumes for Easter Passion Plays
• Easter's coming and so are the questions
• Was Jesus really resurrected?
• Good Friday marked in Holy Land
• Can you question the Resurrection and still be a Christian?
• Good Friday: Things to know
• Al Sharpton's Blasphemous Easter Message: Compares Obama's 'Suffering' to Jesus
• Easter
• Why the Holy Week has no fixed dates

Swedish theologian finds historical proof Jesus did not die on a cross

'Jesus did not die on the cross'

The Swedish theologian Gunnar Samuelsson draws in his thesis, based on examination of historical sources that Jesus Christ died on the cross.

For us it is clear that in the Bible is written that Jesus died on a stake (a pole) or piece of wood; and what has historically done in that time by the Romans in order to sentence a murderer to death. But through the centuries, the image became fused with the wrong Renaissance image.

The image of the cross is based on traditions and expressions in art, and not on actual facts. There is an extensive collection of Greek, Latin and Hebrew literature on the methods used by the Romans for criminals. Nowhere is mentioned a cross or crucifixion.

The New Testament says nothing about a crucifixion says Samuelsson. The Greek word 'stauros' that often is used, is translated to cross, but in those days meant 'pole'.  Jesus died not on the cross but to a pole.

Samuelsson knows he's denial of the cross may break many people's heart. The theologian is himself a believer and sees Jesus as the Son of God. "I do not doubt the faith, but we must believe what it says". And that last point is missed by a lot of people. Usually they want to stick to entrenched images that have nothing to do with reality.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Zweeds theoloog vindt in historische geschriften dat Jezus niet aan een kruis stierf

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2013 update:

 

Related articles

• The Bible Doesn't Say Jesus was Crucified, Christian Scholar Claims
• The Jesus of Faith a myth?
• Was John Describing Something He Saw, or Was He Trying to Make a Point?
• William Lane Craig's case for the resurrection of Jesus

Jesus three days in hell

"When Jesus Christ died at the cross, he was the definite and complete sacrifice for our sins.” tells evangelist Billy Graham.  According to him Jesus “was without sin and had never committed a sin, not even one. But to the cross came sin of whole humanity on him and Christ took the decision to take the sentence which we deserve on himself. He took our place! We can hardly present ourselves this, but when he died God His own Son even went on our behalf to hell. For this reason he shouted to the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Marcus 15:34). This is what the old credo ‘he has descended in hell (this sense stands in an old declaration which is read weekly in some churches) means.”

At its baptism Jesus received the Holy Spirit and started his worldly task get people to repentance. He was prepared to take up all the sins of all people and to sacrifice his life for them. By dying to the torture post he brought a ransom sacrifice to God for whole humanity. That Jesus would have gone for three days to hell, as a place of torture,  will be a found in the wrong interpretation of the word sheol or `underworld’ where the sepulchre is simply meant (i.e. the grave). Also when we die we will arrive in the ground or the sepulchre. We shall end up in the grave or sheol, the hell, being not a place of torture, but just of earth and dust.

Dutch original / Nederlands origineel > Jezus drie dagen in de hel
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2013 update:

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• Post 1: What Did Jesus Teach (about hell)?
• What if the cross is not about "God's wrath" but about "man's violence" to Jesus?
• To Hell with Hell
• The Worth of Jesus - David Platt at Urbana 2012 - St. Louis Missouri
• Thoughts on "A better atonement: the last scapegoat"

This month's survey question: Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?

This month's survey question:

- Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?
- Jesus died instead of us to appease the wrath of God for all time.
- Jesus is God so he never REALLY died.
- He didn't actually die. His staged death was an elaborate plot.
- He did NOT die as our substitute but rather as our representative.
- Don't know.

Go to www.thisisyourbible.com to submit your answer!

To read more...  click on "The Cross of Christ" below:  

Click here to read the entire booklet  "The Cross of Christ