Turin Shroud, Resurrection and Science: One View of the Cathedral

Abstract

In a topic as controversial as the Turin Shroud, it is always surprising to note that there remains a large area of consensus among scholars who hold opposite opinions on the origin of this piece of fabric. According to the consensus view, neither science nor history can prove that the Turin Shroud shows signs of the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. However, the reasons provided for this important claim are not convincing, especially in light of recent developments in historiography and analytic philosophy. KeywordsShroud of Turin, Miracles, Jesus of Nazareth, Resurrection, Historiography, Methodological naturalism.The Turin Shroud (TS), a linen cloth treasured in the Cathedral of Turin (Italy), is probably the most studied piece of fabric in the world.1 Since the beginning of the 1980s, this artifact has been the main topic of at least fifty articles published in mainstream peer-reviewed journals and hundreds of popular books. This vivid interest is because the TS is believed by many to be Jesus's burial shroud, and the process by which an image of a crucified man was formed on it remains unexplained. Scientific research on the TS began in 1898 when Italian Secundo Pia took the first photograph of the linen cloth, revealing that the details of the image were much more visible on the negative than on the positive image. However, the real scientific investigation began 80 years later, when a team of scientists named STURP (Shroud of Turin Research Project) examined the TS extensively and rigorously for five days. They concluded that the image formation process was an 'ongoing mystery.'2The results of the 1988 radiocarbon test (1260-1390 AD) performed on the TS reversed the trend.3 The hypothesis of a medieval origin of the linen cloth, thereafter the Medieval Hypothesis, became 'the only game in town.' Proponents of an antique linen cloth, espousing a theory known as the Antique Hypothesis, were classified as a fringe group. The radiocarbon dating published in Nature seemed to have cut the debate short.

Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud: New Evidence from Raw Data

“…However, since 2005, a growing number of studies have provided elements and arguments contradicting the medieval hypothesis (Rogers ; Poulle ; Fanti and Malfi ; Bevilacqua et al . ; Boi ; Casabianca ). In 2013, a new statistical study based on a regression analysis seriously called into question the reliability of the conclusions of the 1988 dating (Riani et al .…”

“…Currently, non-specialists consider this general conclusion straightforward disproof of the hypothesis that the TS is an antique linen cloth (Ball 2017). However, since 2005, a growing number of studies have provided elements and arguments contradicting the medieval hypothesis (Rogers 2005;Poulle 2009;Fanti and Malfi 2014;Bevilacqua et al 2014;Boi 2017;Casabianca 2017). In 2013, a new statistical study based on a regression analysis seriously called into question the reliability of the conclusions of the 1988 dating (Riani et al 2013).…”