"The Passion" too violent? The "Shroud of Turin" shows it happened!

The Diocese of Charleston ^ | March 21, 2002 | Dr. William E. Rabil

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Shroud of Turin history presented in Upstate
Retired surgeon relays his nearly 40 years of research on the Shroud of Turin

By SHEILA OJENDYK

GREENVILLE — Dr. William E. Rabil has no doubt that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. Rabil, a retired general surgeon from Winston-Salem, N.C., began studying the shroud in the late 1950s and has been lecturing about it for nearly 40 years. He made two slide presentations to parishioners at St. Mary Church on March 6.

Rabil began with a brief history of the shroud. After the crucifixion, the shroud was originally hidden in Jerusalem and was thought to have been moved to Edessa (Urfa, Turkey) after Jerusalem fell to the Romans in A.D. 70. In 944, the Byzantine Imperial Army invaded Edessa to recover the shroud and brought it to Constantinople (now Istanbul). Raiders from the Fourth Crusade invaded Istanbul in 1294 and took the shroud to Europe. It is believed to have been hidden by the Knights Templar until Geoffrey DeCharney exhibited it in Liren, France, in 1353. From that point forward, its history is fully documented. The shroud was moved to Turin, Italy, in 1578 and has remained there ever since. It is kept in a silver reliquary behind bullet-proof glass inside the Chapel of the Shroud.

The shroud was first photographed in 1898 by Italian photographer Secondo Pia. His first shot was a misfire, but his second shot caused him to fall to his knees. On the negative was the "positive image of Jesus Christ." The markings on the shroud are negative images, and it took the photographic reversal of light and dark to reveal the positive image of a man's body.

While the evidence cannot prove conclusively that the image on the shroud is Jesus, it is definitely the image of man between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet tall who weighed approximately 175 pounds. Forensic medical investigation confirms that the man died from crucifixion.

The body in the shroud was unclothed. All four books of the Gospel tell of Roman soldiers casting lots for Jesus' garments.

The shroud was not wrapped around the body, as one might expect. The body was placed on top of the shroud with the feet at one end. The other end of the shroud was brought over the head and spread on top of the body, ending at the feet.

Jesus' torture and crucifixion were much bloodier than most paintings have ever depicted. The back of the body in the shroud shows multiple scourge marks from the nape of the neck to the feet. The Romans used a flagrum for scourging. A flagrum was a whip with bone or metal-tipped leather thongs that was specifically designed to tear flesh. One-hundred twenty scourge marks were counted on the body.

Blood had not been washed from the body in the shroud. The Sabbath was fast approaching when Jesus was taken down from the cross, and he had to be buried before sundown. The doctor emphasized that Jesus' body would have gone into rigor mortis almost immediately after death because of the trauma of crucifixion, which would have made washing very difficult. Jewish burial practices also precluded washing blood that was flowing at the time of death.

The face shows bruising on the nose; Jesus was struck on the nose by a high priest. The body had a mustache and beard, and there is evidence that facial hair had been plucked.

There were no broken bones, but some bones were displaced. There is evidence of spike wounds to both wrists and the feet. Forensic investigators have proved that the spikes were not pounded into Jesus' palms because the weight of an adult would have torn completely through all tissues, and he would have fallen off the cross. The spikes were pounded into his wrists, and the bones separated. One foot was nailed over the other.

According to Dr. John Heller in his book, Report on the Shroud of Turin (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1983), "There is a swelling of both shoulders, with abrasions indicating something heavy and rough had been carried across the man's shoulders within hours of death."

There is no pigment on the linen cloth of the shroud. If paint had been used, the wound pattern would have become obliterated. The blood stains on the back of the skull demonstrate the unique cohesive properties of blood. No other substance behaves the same way. Scientific testing has confirmed that the stains are blood and body fluids.

The forensic examination shows that the crown of thorns was actually a cap over the entire scalp. A painting done from the shroud image shows a thorn above Jesus' right eye.

Some photos of the shroud show the image of coins placed over both eyes, a Jewish burial custom. The image exactly matches that of a coin minted during the reign of Pontius Pilate between A.D. 29 and 33.

Botanical experts have examined fragments of the shroud and found spores and seeds from 27 plants that are indigenous to Jerusalem. Geological analysis of particles showed limestone indigenous to caves surrounding Jerusalem and suggested that the shroud was placed in a damp tomb or cave.

Jesus died after about three hours on the cross, which was considered fast for a man of his age and physical condition. Medical experts theorize that he was severely weakened by the brutal scourging. Death by crucifixion is very painful. The muscles of the arms, chest, and legs quickly go into spasm, and the victim dies of asphyxiation.

The shroud has been studied and tested carefully by surgeons, forensic scientists, nuclear scientists, radiologists, Biblical scholars, botanists, and historians. Experts have disagreed with each other and challenged each other's theories and tests. Nobody will ever prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Shroud of Turin was the burial cloth of Jesus Christ — but nobody can prove it wasn't either.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Though I'm not Catholic, I've studied the Shroud of Turin and watched a multitude of documentaries over the years about it. I've always been drawn to them, always fascinated by them. I believe the Shroud is what it is, "The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ".

Which is why I found I HAD to pull research regarding it after seeing "The Passion of The Christ". I'm glad I did.

They say the movie is TOO VIOLENT. This article and Dr. Rabil's research only verified what we just watched. Jesus was flayed open by His scourging before He was cruxified.

But moreover.. Jesus was so brave, and He loved us all so much. But even more amazing He repeatedly said "FORGIVE THEM.. FORGIVE THEM.. FORGIVE THEM".

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do".

Even a person who does not realize WHO He is, should have walked away with "that" message alone". Especially in light of His torture and the brutality that was done to Him. Christians aren't the ones who are crying foul here. We are just retelling what happened to our precious Lord! How precious He is!!

There was NO anti-semetism in this movie. Jesus is a Jew "and" a Rabbi. It would be the epitomy of "IGNORANCE" to believe it was anti-semetic.

But it is so irrational to not come away with the overpowering feeling of LOVE, FORGIVENESS, and SACRIFICE this movie shows all of us.

I do not hate EVEN those who did this to Jesus. If He didn't, then how dare I?

But I wanted to point out that the Shroud, PROVES that the voilence that was bestowed upon Jesus, did indeed happen. 120 wounds on his back and calves, his right eye from his CAP of thorns, his nose. The Shroud tells a story. The MOVIE allowed us to really SEE and FEEL in very real ways, what our Father went through. My elderly parents (both in their 80's) said "They always knew Jesus was crucified, but they never really "felt" it like this. Though very devoted Christians. This movie changed the level of understanding for them. And they are really greatful for it.

He bore our sins.

I kept saying under my breath throughout the movie:

"Thank you Jesus".. "Thank you". "Oh no".. "Oh Jesus.. I'm so sorry"..and then again.. "Thank you Jesus" and "I love you Jesus"!

And at the end.. when HE LIVED AGAIN.. I said softly "PRAISE GOD"!!!

Did I cry at times. Yes. Mel Gibson did an excellent job of FINALLY putting a very human side to Jesus. And He was human! But I wasn't sobbing. Because there is also GREAT JOY to know He came here for us.

We "are" after all the sinners He died for. But I do not feel guilt. That isn't what Jesus wants for or from us. He is a LOVING Father. He wants so much more for us than that.

I'm just thankful that Mr. Gibson MADE this movie, and PRAY that it will counter all the EVIL that is against it, and that has been working in our society.

So I hope you will ping your friends to this article about the SHROUD OF TURIN.

IMHO it is "PROOF" that the violence that was done to Jesus did happen.

And this movie is PROOF that Jesus FORGAVE His enemies and those who crucified Him.

Wouldn't it be nice if say those in the Middle East could LEARN from a movie like this?

FRegards FRiends

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1090859/posts

[agooga]

It's fake.

[dangus]

Excellent posting. Great story, and great commentary.

[annyokie]

Don't think so. Now, the heads (6 of 'em) of John the Baptist are fake.

[madison10]

It's real.

[theDentist]

Carbon dating shows the shroud to be from 1350-ish, just before it was discovered.

[Cold Heat]

Many want it to be.

Like any other artifact, they debunk it for various reasons.

personally, I would like it to be legitimate, if only for the reason that so few of the things that were saved from that era have survived.

[madison10]

The "Carbon dating" showed the 1350 due it (The Shroud) being in a fire.

[Sloth]

It'd be nice if it was real, though I've never seen anything to really indicate that it is.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

That's your opinion. I disagree!

[theDentist]

By the way: Has anyone ever taken a DNA sample from the Shroud? DNA does give a lot of info about the person's heritage, true?

[Cold Heat]

"Anyone who still believes that C14 dating has proven the Shroud to be medieval should be quickly disabused of that notion. See the most recent report by Garza Valdes re-printed on www.shroud.com concerning "bio- plastic coating" he found on Shroud fibers, in sufficient quantity to throw the date WAY off. This organic material would of course be younger than the linen itself and would not have been removed in pretreatment."

Just some stuff expaining what could be a error..........Or not......LOL!

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Thanks. We are seeing the movie AGAIN in about an hour!

[theDentist]

I believe that theory has not been duplicated. It's a possibility, but remains unproven. In their defense, it's very difficult to recreate the environment in which the burns/smoke impacted the shroud. But the older elements of the pieces tested would have revealed an earlier date.

[smith288]

Its just a cloth real or not. Try not to focus on the object so much and focus on Christ and his Message.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

From what I understand, there is no "absolute" accurate way to "date" something that old. We have a very close friend who is an Archeologist with a PHD. She said that this investigation has been extremely thorough, and they cannot disprove the research that has been done on this.

I don't know if you've seen any documentaries on this, but the pictures (they are actually negatives) of the Turin are breath taking! You actually see the face of Jesus!

[madison10]

"bio- plastic coating"; he found on Shroud fibers

Not only is there a bio-plastic coating, but the plant pollen/pieces found in the Shroud are from the Middle-East & two of them are indigenous only to Israel.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Then I suggest when you see "any" documentaries about this subject to watch them. We have been for over a decade now. They are fascinating.

[Desdemona]

Well, the blood is AB negative, the same as on the crown of thorns in Paris which was also "acquired" during the crusades.