Turin Shroud 'was created by flash of supernatural light': It couldn't be a medieval forgery, say scientists

By DAVID WILKES
UPDATED: 14:21 EST, 21 December 2011

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The image on the Turin Shroud could not be the work of medieval forgers but was instead caused by a supernatural ‘flash of light’, according to scientists.

Italian researchers have found evidence that casts doubt on claims that the relic – said to be the burial cloth of Jesus – is a fake and they suggest that it could, after all, be authentic.

Sceptics have long argued that the shroud, a rectangular sheet measuring about 14ft by 3ft, is a forgery dating to medieval times.

Scientists in Italy believe the kind of technology needed to create the Shroud of Turin simply wasn't around at the time that it was created

Scientists from Italy’s National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development spent years trying to replicate the shroud’s markings.

They have concluded only something akin to ultraviolet lasers – far beyond the capability of medieval forgers – could have created them.

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This has led to fresh suggestions that the imprint was indeed created by a huge burst of energy accompanying the Resurrection of Christ.

‘The results show a short and intense burst of UV directional radiation can colour a linen cloth so as to reproduce many of the peculiar characteristics of the body image on the Shroud of Turin,’ the scientists said.

WHAT IS THE TURIN SHROUD?

The Vatican owns the Turin shroud, and hails the relic as an exploration of the ‘darkest mystery of faith’.

But the church has shied away from any definitive statement over whether the shroud - which is supposed to have formed Christ's burial robe - is real.

The Shroud is thought to have travelled widely before it was brought to France in the 14th century by a Crusader.

It was kept in a French convent for years - by nuns who patched it, and where it was damaged by fire.

The Shroud was given to the Turin Archbishop in 1578 by the Duke of Savoy and has been kept in the Cathedral ever since.

Carbon dating tests in 1988 dated it from between 1260 and 1390 - implying it was a fake.

Scientists have since claimed that contamination over the ages from patches, water damage and fire, was not taken sufficiently into account In 1999, two Israeli scientists said plant pollen found on the Shroud supported the view that it comes from the Holy Land.

There have been numerous calls for further testing but the Vatican has always refused.

The image of the bearded man on the shroud must therefore have been created by ‘some form of electromagnetic energy (such as a flash of light at short wavelength)’, their report concludes. But it stops short of offering a non-scientific explanation.

Professor Paolo Di Lazzaro, who led the study, said: ‘When one talks about a flash of light being able to colour a piece of linen in the same way as the shroud, discussion inevitably touches on things such as miracles.

‘But as scientists, we were concerned only with verifiable scientific processes. We hope our results can open up a philosophical and theological debate.’
For centuries, people have argued about the authenticity of the shroud, which is kept in a climate-controlled case in Turin cathedral.

One of the most controversial relics in the Christian world, it bears the faint image of a man whose body appears to have nail wounds to the wrists and feet.

Some believe it to be a physical link to Jesus of Nazareth. For others, however, it is nothing more than an elaborate forgery.

In 1988, radiocarbon tests on samples of the shroud at the University of Oxford, the University of

Arizona, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology dated the cloth to the Middle Ages, between 1260 and 1390.

Those tests have been disputed on the basis that they were contaminated by fibres from cloth used to repair the shroud when it was damaged by fire in the Middle Ages.

More recently, further doubt was cast on its authenticity when Israeli archaeologists uncovered the first known burial shroud in Jerusalem from the time of the Crucifixion.

Its weave and design are completely different from the Turin Shroud, they said.

The Jerusalem shroud has a simple two-way weave – but the twill weave used on the Turin Shroud was introduced more than 1,000 years after Christ lived.

That research was disputed, however, because there was a possibility of contamination from patches of cloth that had been sewn on following a fire in Chambery, France, in 1532

The Resurrection of Christ, 1463-65, fresco by Piero della Francesca: The Vatican - which owns the Turin shroud - shies away from statements over whether it is real or fake, but says it helps to explore the 'darkest mysteries of faith'

Carbon dating tests carried out in 1988 in Oxford, Zurich and Arizona suggested that the shroud was created some time between 1260 and 1390

Radiocarbon _ Turin Shroud - Periodic Table of Videos

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It's brillaint to see an article on religion, you really get to see the whackjobs come out of the woodwork. Looking at all the comments, any comment that makes senses or questions the religion is thumbed down, whereas all the random "god is real and good" comments are getting thumbed up. With this in mind, I don't think I'll even bother commenting on the turin shroud, you people are clearly very mislead and are willing to believe anything that will cast even the most miniscule shred of doubt on science, without question, simply because you're either too ignorant or too stupid to realize how indotrinated you truly are. If there is a god, I think he would be embarrased by you all.

- Nate , Belfast, Northern Ireland, 23/12/2011 12:41

Click to rate Rating 5

- Nate , Belfast, Northern Ireland, 23/12/2011 12:39

Click to rate Rating 13

To Jon, Cleveland, USA, 22/12/2011 04:14 Really? With all of the vast amounts of evidence you still don't accept Jesus existed? LOL Whether you believe He was the son of God you have to accept that He existed as an historical figure.

- David , Sheffiled, UK, 23/12/2011 04:08

Click to rate Rating 36

To Anthony S. Layne, 22/12/2011 21:16 -- I thank you for commenting upon my speculative post. This was intended to show that the basic knowledge required for the production of photographic images was not a new idea when it came into use in the 19th Century. One should always consider simple explanations for phenomena before invoking the mysterious. I confess that I was not aware that the fibres of the cloth had been modified as you describe, since I understood that the Church had never allowed sufficiently detailed analysis for this to be determined. Could you please provide a reference to the published results of this study so that I may examine the matter further. As to your comment regarding the relationship between Science and the Inquisition, it is widely reported that the Church viewed all science as dubious at best. The display of relics (and the odious practice of selling indulgences) generated large amounts of revenue during those times.

- EB , Milton Keynes, 22/12/2011 22:53

Click to rate Rating 11

Unfortunately, EB, you're not fully informed on the Shroud. The image was not formed by silver salts; rather, it was formed through a change in the cellulose structure of the uppermost fibrils of the cloth. Furthermore, this fact was known as far back as 1978; the current experiment simply suggests a method by which the change was accomplished. Nor was alchemy considered heretical or risking the Inquisition; fake relics are more plentiful in fiction than in evidence. You may know a bit of photography, but you might want to read up more on both the Shroud and the Inquisition before standing on your explanation.

- Anthony S. Layne , Denton, TX, USA, 22/12/2011 21:16

Click to rate Rating 41

RE: Why can't it exist? I believe that the Turin shroud is authentic . . . and I'm a Muslim! - Ace, Leeds, 21/12/2011 21:30--------------------------------------- But what do your own religious convictions have to do with the strength or otherwise of the evidence for the claims regarding the shroud? I believe that the ducks at my local pond enjoy the bread I give them....therefore I believe that reports of alien abduction are accurate. Nope doesn't work does it. Regards.

- ALT , Epping, England, 22/12/2011 19:09

Click to rate Rating 1

This article is very misleading. The property of silver salts to darken spontaneously on exposure to light has been known for many years and it is quite possible that work was done to investigate this by the alchemists of the Middle Ages. We must remember that at that time, work of this type was viewed as heretical and these workers risked the anger of the Inquisition. Fox Talbot in England is credited with inventing the simple salt process for photographic printing in the early years of the 19th Century but again, there is a strong possibility that he was building on earlier work. The point is that at the time of the Renaissance, the principles of photographic imaging were known (E.G. camera lucida) and so it is not correct to state that this image could not be produced except by employing an unusual form of radiation. Faking relics was a highly profitable business at that time and a ghostly negative photo image would be particularly attractive and valuable.

- EB , Milton Keynes, 22/12/2011 16:30

Click to rate Rating 29

No real scientist would use the word "supernatural". This is how science works people. A claim is made, proof of that claim is provided, and the rest o the scientific community will review and test . My guess is we will hear very little support for this 'finding'. But those who believe may never be swayed by real science, indoctrination is a horrible thing..

- Dave , Phoenix, USA, 22/12/2011 15:45

Click to rate Rating 23

So, Jesus had long hair did he? Kind of odd then that he's quoted as saying "Does not even nature itself teach you that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him?". The long-haired Jesus was a medieval idea.... Incidentally, anyone quoting Josephus as an example of historical evidence of Jesus needs to look into the matter in a bit more detail. It is widely accepted that his passage in question (the Testimonium Flavianum) was a blatent forgery - the church has frequently and undisputedly resorted to forgeries to fill in/cover up any embarrasing gaps in the Jesus story (Publius Lentulus for example).

- Lesabyst , Shropshire, 22/12/2011 15:15

Click to rate Rating 28

Yes absolutely Jesus existed and is God since God is all that exists. - Baruch Spinoza

- Rod Borghese , Ottawa Canada, 22/12/2011 13:49

Click to rate Rating 29

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Theosophists have been saying that for years.

But then again, they claim that Lucifer is a "good GUy"; May 9, 2013 at 9:41 AM
Anonymous said...: I have read about the ascension process and while I don't know if the shroud of Turin is true, I have no trouble believing that the body of an ascended person such as the Christ can produce the amount of energy necessary to change the molecular structure of the objects around it.; May 9, 2013 at 10:09 AM

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Turin Shroud 'was created by flash of supernatural light': It couldn't be a medieval forgery, say scientists