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The following is a comprehensive outline of topics covered
during a full 90-minute presentation illustrated by over a hundred stunning images. Shorter
formats can be accommodated but certain topics would
need to be eliminated.
Introduction
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What is the Shroud?
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Is it mentioned in the Bible?
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Where is it now and how often is it shown?
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What happened in 1978? (STURP)
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What happened in 1988? (carbon dating)
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Is that the end of the story?
Examine the Cloth
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What does the Shroud reveal?
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The image and cloth are explained in detail pointing out
all markings including burns, water stains and bloodstains
Review the Evidence
Starting with the cloth itself...textile analysis
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Made out of flax
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3x1 herringbone weave
- Prepared according to ancient descriptions
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Threads all hand spun
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Measures exactly 2x8 Syrian cubits (3.5'X14')
- All suggest early antiquity and a middle east origin
Science Milestones
1898: First photograph revealed that the image
is actually a negative and becomes positive in a photo-negative
1975: The VP-8 Image Analyzer reveals that the
image contains accurate distance information and acts like a spatial database
much like a topographical map indicating the cloth wrapped a three dimensional
human form
Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP)
Published in numerous peer reviewed scientific and professional
journals
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Who were the scientists?
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What was their predisposition?
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What laboratories or institutions were represented?
Tests performed in 1978
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Particle analysis
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Photo-microscopy
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X-ray radiography
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Infrared thermography
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Spectroscopy
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Photography from infrared to ultraviolet
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Raking light photography
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Transmitted light photography
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Over 1,000 chemical tests
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And more
Characteristics of the image
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No paint, pigment, dye, ink, stain
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Superficial (top microfibril)
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No Directionality
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No outline
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No cementing of fibrils
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Uniform intensity
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No variations in density
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No particles between the threads
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No capillary action
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No paint binder
Why does the image show up?
An interaction with a thin carbohydrate layer? Dehydration and oxidation of the linen fibers that surrounded
a body? Or something else?
Medical Sciences
Blood evidence
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Hemoglobin
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Heme
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Porphyrins
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Serum albumin
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Bile
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Bilirubin
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AB Positive
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Human DNA
Analysis by Coroners and Medical Experts
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Image is anatomically correct
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Evidence of severe trauma
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Blood flows from actual wounds
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Separation of blood and serum
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Death by cardio-pulmonary stress and asphyxiation
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Post mortem blood flows
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Body in rigor mortis
The Work of an Artist?
Who was the artist?
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What would be required for it to be produced by an artist?
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Blood first...then image. How?
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Could he have made a negative image? A 3D image?
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Comparison to other paintings and shroud copies from middle
ages
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What do art experts say?
Carbon Dating
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The results...1260 to 1390
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Could something have gone wrong?
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The botched protocol...what was supposed to happen?
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Only one sample taken from one of the worst sites possible.
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Evidence now shows sample site was repaired in the middle ages.
- C-14 sample does not represent actual shroud but a blend of ancient and recent linen.
Other Ways of Dating the Cloth
The Historical Trail
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Historical trail begins with the Legend of King Abgar in
the 1st Century
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Evidence that the cloth known as the Image of Edessa and the Shroud
are the same
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How and when did it get to Edessa?
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How was it rediscovered in 525?
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How it did it get to Constantinople (944)?
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What happened during the 4th Crusade (1204)?
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How are the Knights Templars involved?
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How did it get to France (1353)?
Confirmation of the Historical Trail
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The pollen trail
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Iconography (ancient art)
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Historical descriptions
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Hungarian Pray Manuscript
Indications of First Century Origin
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Jewish burial practices
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Possible coins over the eyes from 29-32AD
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Pollen evidence from Israeli Botanists confirm origin in
Israel
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Off body flower images that match the pollen suggest use
in a burial
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Limestone particles similar to hills around Jerusalem
What Are the Choices?
A medieval art masterpiece unsigned by the artist who
must have known far more than is possible about...
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First century crucifixion practices
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Anatomy and physiology
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Negative and 3D images
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Microscopic particles
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Blood chemistry
Or is it the result of a Medieval "Custom Crucifixion"?
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Someone murdered to emulate the execution of Jesus?
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But corpses don't make images
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Other burial shrouds show only decomposition stains
Could It Be Jesus?
If it's First Century, then the likelihood of being anyone
else is extremely remote.
Comparison of the Shroud and Scripture
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Crown of thorns
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Severe scourging
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Wound in side
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Nail wounds in wrist
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Nail wounds in feet
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Swollen cheeks
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Shoulder abrasions
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Knee abrasions
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Legs not broken
Theories of Image Formation
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Not a contact image
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Direct contact only explains the blood
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Three dimensionality and uniform intensity implies a different
process
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Natural and supernatural possibilities
Conclusion
The preponderance of evidence supports authenticity. We'll
never have all the answers. There will always be questions. No amount of
evidence can replace faith… But it might point in a certain direction.
God works in mysterious ways…the Shroud may be one of them.
If it's authentic, then it is the "the most awesome and
instructive relic of Christ in existence". If it turns out to be the work
of some unknown artist-genius, then it is a profound masterpiece created with the intent
of representing the same truth. Either way the message is the same. The mystery intrigues; the image instructs and the Word inspires.
Editorial Note
The position of the Shroud of Turin Education Project, Inc. is that the preponderance of evidence
supports authenticity and that is the context in which the evidence is
presented. Until the cloth can be dated again with a much more rigorous
protocol accounting for all possible anomalies, our position is that
carbon dating alone, especially in light of new evidence, does not outweigh the body of data collected in 1978 and through
other streams of research over the past 100 years.
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