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I was just watching Ben-Hur on PBS, the ending which is the implication of the ressurection of the Christ. Got me thinking about one of my favorite historical artifacts of all time.... the Shroud of Turin.
That's right.
I say this with pure sincerity and zero sarchasm: I LOVE the Shroud of Turin.
I'm not Christian beyond being raised in a "Judeo-Christian" environment, so I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Son of God, healer of our sins, etc etc etc... Despite that, he was of flesh and blood and walked the Earth 2000-ish years ago and made significant contributions to history and society directly and moreso indirectly. Even if you are not Christian, if you grew up in a Judeo-Christian world, he means SOMETHING to you, even if you think he means NOTHING to you... because if you think that he means "nothing" to you, you have taken the time to decide that he means nothing to you...
Go ahead... DON'T think about Jesus... actively DON'T think about Jesus... you can't... how very Zen... mwuah hahaha
But back to the Shroud...
Things in my life don't have value for their price, but for their meaning and significance. "Treasures" of a society say as much, or maybe more, than heroes and events, because they speak of the common man and his personal values. This is similar to why I love old history books; they are innacurate, biased, and slanted... which says more about the time in which they were written than the facts themselves. I had a history book from 1904 that talked of Christopher Columbus as if he himself planted the US flag on Capitol Hill. Gives you NO useful information about Columbus, but it tells you a lot about what the US was like in 1904...
I digress again... Back to the Shroud...
About a year ago, I watched a program on PBS that neither proved nor disproved the divinity of the Shroud as a relic. Actually, the science that it demonstrated proved almost equally that it could be either... For instance, one test showed how bacteria on human skin could create the "photographic" image on a cloth under the right conditions and with enough time (hours, not years). Hoax or not, most the tests showed that it was very possible and likely that the Shroud image was created because of interaction of skin and cloth...
In other words, the cloth that is the Shroud contained SOMEONE at some time. But why is this significant? It's one of many possibilities, some of which are:
That's right.
I say this with pure sincerity and zero sarchasm: I LOVE the Shroud of Turin.
I'm not Christian beyond being raised in a "Judeo-Christian" environment, so I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Son of God, healer of our sins, etc etc etc... Despite that, he was of flesh and blood and walked the Earth 2000-ish years ago and made significant contributions to history and society directly and moreso indirectly. Even if you are not Christian, if you grew up in a Judeo-Christian world, he means SOMETHING to you, even if you think he means NOTHING to you... because if you think that he means "nothing" to you, you have taken the time to decide that he means nothing to you...
Go ahead... DON'T think about Jesus... actively DON'T think about Jesus... you can't... how very Zen... mwuah hahaha
But back to the Shroud...
Things in my life don't have value for their price, but for their meaning and significance. "Treasures" of a society say as much, or maybe more, than heroes and events, because they speak of the common man and his personal values. This is similar to why I love old history books; they are innacurate, biased, and slanted... which says more about the time in which they were written than the facts themselves. I had a history book from 1904 that talked of Christopher Columbus as if he himself planted the US flag on Capitol Hill. Gives you NO useful information about Columbus, but it tells you a lot about what the US was like in 1904...
I digress again... Back to the Shroud...
About a year ago, I watched a program on PBS that neither proved nor disproved the divinity of the Shroud as a relic. Actually, the science that it demonstrated proved almost equally that it could be either... For instance, one test showed how bacteria on human skin could create the "photographic" image on a cloth under the right conditions and with enough time (hours, not years). Hoax or not, most the tests showed that it was very possible and likely that the Shroud image was created because of interaction of skin and cloth...
In other words, the cloth that is the Shroud contained SOMEONE at some time. But why is this significant? It's one of many possibilities, some of which are:
1. The Shroud is the Death Shroud of the Christ, proving his divinity
2. The Shroud is the Death Shroud of the Christ and proves his humanity
3. The Shroud is a "fake" relic, but the fact that someone took the time to create it, IT SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF RELICS TO RELIGIOUS FOLLOWERS.
2. The Shroud is the Death Shroud of the Christ and proves his humanity
3. The Shroud is a "fake" relic, but the fact that someone took the time to create it, IT SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF RELICS TO RELIGIOUS FOLLOWERS.
Around the world, churches and cathedrals are filled with relics, enough that you would think that each Saint must have had nearly twenty fingers each, the Cross was built from an entire forest, and popes were each filled with gallons of blood to accomodate the demand for such. I've even heard that there are 13 cathedrals in France alone that claim to have the Holy Foreskin of Christ. Amongst the hundreds of finger bones of Saints, splinters of The Cross, gallons of blood... believers tend to just take their authenticity at face value.
But not The Shroud.
The image is not paint, ink, dye, pencil, lacquer, shellac,... it's blood, sweat, and tears... literally. If it's a hoax, the creator knew it would be under rigorous scrutiny.
Even if the Shroud is a manufactured fake, someone took the time to create something SO realistic and believable, it continues to stump and baffle science the hoaxer could have never even dreamed of.
WE CAN SEND A MAN TO THE MOON, BUT WE CANNOT PROVE OR DISPROVE WITH ANY CERTAINTY THE ORIGINS OF THE TURIN SHROUD.
Of course, individuals have made up their minds on its authenticity, just as there are individuals who have made up their minds on whether or not the Moon Landing was a government hoax. But there is no absolute, world wide, universally accepted conclusion, and I don't think that there ever will be.
And I don't think that will matter.
As long as even non-Christians like myself understand that this hunk of linen is an important historical artifact as EITHER hoax or authentic relic, the truth might never really matter.
But not The Shroud.
The image is not paint, ink, dye, pencil, lacquer, shellac,... it's blood, sweat, and tears... literally. If it's a hoax, the creator knew it would be under rigorous scrutiny.
Even if the Shroud is a manufactured fake, someone took the time to create something SO realistic and believable, it continues to stump and baffle science the hoaxer could have never even dreamed of.
WE CAN SEND A MAN TO THE MOON, BUT WE CANNOT PROVE OR DISPROVE WITH ANY CERTAINTY THE ORIGINS OF THE TURIN SHROUD.
Of course, individuals have made up their minds on its authenticity, just as there are individuals who have made up their minds on whether or not the Moon Landing was a government hoax. But there is no absolute, world wide, universally accepted conclusion, and I don't think that there ever will be.
And I don't think that will matter.
As long as even non-Christians like myself understand that this hunk of linen is an important historical artifact as EITHER hoax or authentic relic, the truth might never really matter.
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