I will Rise Again on the Third Day
The Shroud of Turin by Mark Goodnight
His source: PowerPoint slide show by Dr. Wayne Philips. Presentation provided free of charge.
We have just concluded the season of Lent and Easter season with the celebration of Pentecost. Easter season is the season of light.
In the nicean creed, we proclaim: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of The Father,
God from God, light from light…”
“Here then is the message we have heard from Him (Christ) and announced to you that God is Light; in Him there is no darkness.” (I John 1:5)
God is light, The Light, and He is also the source of light for all creation, both the Inner Light of consciousness and the Outer Light, physical light.
My thirteen eBook, Audio Book, and Print Book series Called Into Life By The Light focuses on the human experience of light in its inner and outer forms.
The Shroud of Turin has always fascinated me. It drew me to read all that I could find in the last 35 years. I read its history and the information provided by physical science, where light plays a major role.
In this first newsletter of what I hope will be a weekly series, to you my readers, I focus on the timeline for the history of The Shroud of Turin from 30 A.D. to 2014 A.D.
Part 1: Facts and History of The Shroud
“THE HISTORY OF THE SHROUD
The location of the Shroud: Where it’s been and why we know it.
• There are 2 types of evidence:
• Circumstantial: 30 AD to 1357 AD [30 A.D. not 33 A.D., is the current accepted date of Jesus’ crucifixion]
• There is no “proof” that the Shroud existed except for a few statements in literature, many pictures, and many traditions
• Documented: 1357 AD to 2014 AD
• During this time, it is actually written down and there are many witnesses.
• Circumstantial History: 30 AD to 1357 AD
• During the persecution of the Jews and the Roman assault on Jerusalem, it is thought that the Shroud was taken around 67 AD to Odessa, Turkey. And it remained there under the control of the first Christian city king, King Abgar. As legend has it, he was cured of leprosy by the touching of the Shroud. At that point and time is when he became a Christian.
• 2 or 3 generations later, his sons or grandsons took over and reverted to paganism. So at that point, the mentioning of the Shroud disappears. The theory then is that the believers hid it.
• Why do they think they know that date? 2 things happen in 525 AD:
• There’s an archaeological flood in Odessa, Turkey. The walls were beat up and falling apart. The way the story goes, they were trying to fix the walls, and inside one of the walls was a box which had the Shroud in it. So it was rediscovered.
• The other thing that helps to pin the date to 525 is the artist drawings of Jesus before and after this date. Before 525, he was drawn as a clean-shaven young guy with short hair. After 525, every single drawing or painting of Jesus changed to him having long hair, a beard, and looking older. What made them do that? They were looking at the face of the Shroud of Turin.
• Interestingly, when you compare a digital overlay of the face of the Shroud with a painting from the Sinai Peninsula that is carbon dated to 550 AD, both a side by side comparison and a top half and bottom half comparison, there are 180 points of congruence. These include the distance of the middle of his eye, the distance between the tip of his nose and his eye, the wideness of his mouth, the distance from his eye to his mouth, and the distance of his beard. The features of the man in the painting match the man in the Shroud in 180 points. You only need about 37 points of congruence to prove someone is guilty in a court of law.
• 944 AD – 1204 AD Constantinople.
• This is the Byzantine era. Constantinople was a very rich city with a strong army, and they were gathering all of the crucifixion relics. They didn’t have the Shroud but they knew it was in Odesssa, Turkey. They sent an army to retrieve the Shroud from Odessa. So it ended up in Constantinople in 944 AD.
• When it was in Odessa, it was folded up in a frame to where all you saw was the face. In Constantinople, they opened it up to view its full length.
• A Hungarian Bible that is carbon dated to 1196 has an artist depiction of the burial preparation as well as the Resurrection scene. The image of Jesus in the burial scene is pretty close to the image of the man in the Shroud. The Resurrection scene has the women finding an empty burial cloth that has a herringbone weave just like the Shroud, as well as the burn holes that are in the Shroud in the shape that they are in the Shroud.
• 1204 AD to 1357 AD Constantinople gets run over by the Roman Catholicism fighting the Greek Catholicism during the 4th Crusade. They destroy the city. It is thought that the Knights Templar now has possession of the Shroud. Because in 2009, a Vatican archivist found a quote that the Knights Templar worshiped a bearded man.
• Documented History: 1357 AD to 2014 AD
• 1357 AD: The Shroud appears in Lirey, France with the 1st documented appearance.
• In 1452 AD, it is moved to Chambery, France.
• In 1878, it is moved to Turin, Italy, where it is now.
• Why is it in Lirey, France? Because the 1st owner to ever show the Shroud in public was the son of a Knight Templar who was at the right age to be there for the taking over of Constantinople. The theory goes that Geoffrey de Charny is part of the receiver of the Shroud when they took all the good relics out of Constantinople. And his son was the first to have public showings. It eventually got back to the Pope, who felt it was authentic, and felt it was good for people to visit it. The visitors used to come from all over Europe to visit it.
• The Lirey Medallion is a souvenir from one of those visits. It is a piece of metal about 5″ x 6″, and it contains the front and back image of a head to head nude man, which is the Shroud. It also has the family coats of arms of Charny and de Vergy. The medallion is dated to 1357 AD, and it is solid proof that the Shroud exists.
• 1502 AD – 1578 AD: Chambery, France. Margaret of Austria is the granddaughter of the 1st owner, de Charny. She died and had built the church in Chambery. She wills to have a piece cut out of the Shroud and given to that church. Paintings of that era show the corner missing out of the Shroud. The theory then is that the painter of the day was looking at the Shroud in that condition, with her corner missing.
• 1578 AD: Turin, Italy, where the Shroud presently is. It was not under the ownership of the Vatican or the Pope until 1985. It is currently being kept in a glass case that is filled with Argon gas to prevent degradation.”
Here is a link to Goodnight’s article: The Shroud of Turin 1 the Facts and History of The Shroud
Here is the PowerPoint Presentation by Dr. J. Wayne Philips:
Closing
My next newsletter will feature Part 2 of The Shroud of Turin, the physical science study by Mark Goodnight. He continued to use Dr. J. Wayne Philips’ video as the basis for each of his blog posts. I communicated with Dr. Philips some months ago. He was delighted that I am using his research as the major part of my treatment on The Shroud of Turin. He wants The Shroud of Turin’s story to be better known. He believes it is authentic.
