Shroud of Turin Must Be a Hoax

Monday July 12, 2004

People continue to believe that the Shroud of Turin is genuine - that is to say, that it’s really the burial cloth of the Jesus Christ instead of a medieval forgery. Why? There’s no good evidence for its authenticity while there is all sorts of evidence for it being a fake.

Bill Cork, himself a devout Catholic, writes:

First problem is the image is too neat. Imagine the scene--imagine draping a cloth over a body. It isn't like laying a cloth over a box. The body is a three dimensional irregular shape. That means in some places, like the stomach, the cloth will lay flat; on the head, it will follow the contours. Drape a towel over your own head, and watch what happens. Why do we see only the front of the face, and not the sides?

Second problem is similar, but a little different. Those who believe in the Shroud talk about it being projected through some sort of radiation or something at, say, the moment of the Resurrection. There are going to be distortions whenever you project an image of a three dimensional figure onto a flat surface. This is the problem with map-making.

Then there's the matter of the blood. There's just not enough of it, and it isn't caked and matted enough, it hasn't seeped into the material. The body of Jesus was taken down and wrapped hurriedly, and the woman were going back Sunday morning to do the formal preparation. What "blood trickles" are visible are too neat, and do not look like a bandage (the Shroud) was actually pressed against it.

There’s plenty more that argues against the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin — things that Cork includes in his post and things which he doesn’t. It’s curious because the even if the Shroud were genuine it wouldn’t guarantee the truth of Christianity or Jesus. What I mean is that it shouldn’t matter to Christians whether it is genuine or not. They might be happy if it is, but if it’s not it just doesn’t matter. So why make a big deal about it... unless, of course, they are insecure in their faith and desperately need some sort of physical proof.

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