A Neutral Stance on the Shroud of Turin
... just image of the body, there are also depictions of bodily wounds. There are what seem to be “blood stains” from head wounds, there are scratches on the arms, legs, and back, and a large piercing in the torso. These injuries are consistent with New Testament accounts. Also causes of injury match up with ancient Roman weaponry. For example the “flagrum” or the “flagellum” was a Roman weapon used to scourge a condemned criminal before he was put to death. The flagrum was a short whip made of two or three leather ropes connected to a handle. The ropes were knotted with a number of small pieces of metal or bones, which would quickly remove the skin. And according to the images of the man on the Shroud, the whip marks look like he was whipped with this weapon. Here is a verse in the Bible that shows the injuries of the man in the image match up with biblical terms: “But when they (Roman soldiers) came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”(John 19:33-34) The Shroud image has no broken legs and does seem to have a wound in the torso under the rib cage. Jesus of Nazareth was flogged with a cat-of-nine-tails and made to wear a cap of thorns. “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head.”(John 19:1-2) Skeptics say there were more than one adult Jewish male crucified and beaten during ancient Roman period. So either it is a foregery painting or it is indeed a burial cloth of an adult Jewish male, not particuraly Jesus of Nazareth. There are many accounts in the New Testament that match the images on the Shroud. The linen cloth is actually mentioned a few times in the Gospels. Here are some examples. Matthew 27:59: “Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb he had cut out of the rock.” This passage says that the cloth was “a clean linen cloth” supposing it is indeed a single piece of cloth. Luke 23:53: “Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock...” Mark 15:46: “Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in the tomb, cut out of rock.” The two previous passages do not particuaraly define if the burial linen is a single cloth or just linen in general, meaning pieces or strips of linen. John 20:5-7 says: “He (Peter) bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there, but did not go in. “Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.” Now the previous passage does describe the linen as being strips of it. If this true than not only does it contradict with what Matthew says but also with the whole Shroud in general. If the Shroud is one big cloth, than this makes it inaccurate with this Bible passage. Another thing that has came up in disscusions of this controversy involves the Jewish burial customs. In preparing a body for burial, it was usually washed and straightened and then bandaged tightly from the armpits to the ankles in strips of linen about a foot wide. Aromatic spices, along with myrrh and aloes, often of a gummy consistency, were placed between the wrappings or folds. The spices being served as a preservative and partially as a cement to glue the cloth wrappings into a solid covering. This was also done to show respect for the individual. So the point being that Jesus was in fact buried with these spices and aloes and to show this is true here it is in scripture: John 19:39-40: “Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pou...