Evidence of Tampering: The Shroud of Turin
The Botched Carbon-14 Dating
On October 13, 1988, the world would know if the Shroud of Turin was the authentic cloth that was wrapped around Jesus Christ at the time of His burial. In London at a press conference came the announcement of the cloth to be dated in the region of 1260 – 1390 A.D. Many newspapers would parrot the words medieval and fake. Why do I say the carbon-14 testing was botched? It is a long story. People who were involved in preparing the samples for the test did not have the scientific expertise to be involved, because they were not the original research scientists working on the shroud. In 1978 there was a special scientific team involved in the scientific research of the “shroud;” this team consisted of many trained scientists. They were known as the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP). This group of scientists and other technical people numbered as many as thirty-three.
Here are some of the various specialties that these people brought to the scientific research of the shroud: infrared spectroscopy, Medical Forensics, Chemistry, X-ray radiography & fluorescence, Archaeology, Physics, Biochemistry, Nuclear Technology, Visible & UV Spectroscopy, Thermography, Biophysics. There were also specialty photographers who specialized in such fields as Scientific Photography, Microphotography and Photo microscopy, and a documentary photographer.1
The STURP team was the official team for scientific research on the shroud. For the C-14 dating an itemized protocol was set up for the testing of the samples. Here is a list of the five protocols that the STURP project proposed:
- Multiple sample areas were to be taken on the shroud
- Simultaneous Comprehensive examination
- Seven C-14 Labs would participate
- Blind Samples (labs would not be told where the samples came from)
- No Conferring between the Laboratories 2
The C-14 samples should have been submitted to the labs by STURP since STURP was managing the research of the shroud. That would not happen. Various arrogant cronies decided to take the cutting of the samples for the labs in their own hands. These people invaded STURP’s domain. Carlos Chagas and Luigi Gonella on behalf of Cardinal Ballestrero made sure that STURP would have no part in the C-14 testing. Harry Gove also blocked STURP’s scientific research while their invasion of the C-14 dating went ahead. 3
Carlos Chagas, head of the Pontifical Academy of Science decided that multiple samples of the shroud would not be used. He feared for the safety of the shroud and convinced Pope John Paul that multiple samples could threaten the safety of the shroud. Chagas claimed a single C-14 test would not be a threat. The choice of sampling would not be from STURP. The blind sampling was scrapped. Luigi Gunilla, a professor at the University of Turin became in charge of the C-14 testing. Gunilla decided to restrict the sample to only one area of the shroud. That means the first protocol that STURP established was ignored. Michael Tite from the British Museum would be the arbitrator of this hostile take-over of the shroud research. This new group of cronies that took over control of the shroud eliminated the STURP team. Since STURP spent all those hours on research of the shroud, they were the only ones that could make an educated decision of C-14 sampling for dating. Along with the removal of STURP all five protocols for the C-14 testing were deleted. Michael Tite decided that four of the seven C-14 labs would be eliminated, leaving only three labs. These three labs took over control of the C-14 testing. 4
These cronies who were now in control of the C-14 testing did not have the scientific data that STURP possessed; through their ignorance they took a sample from the shroud that was at the worst possible place on the cloth. Did they know of the 1532 fire? They cut a corner of the shroud that was formerly repaired due to a fire in 1532. Ray Rogers, a chemist from the STURP team found cotton fibers interwoven with the linen fibers of the shroud. I referred to this fact from my previous blog article on the Shroud which was referenced from the book, The Truth About the Shroud of Turin by Robert K. Wilcox. 5 The STURP team officially came to an end in 1993. The dating of the shroud from 1988 was completely botched. That is why we got the 1260 – 1390 A.D. date, because of the wrong sampling from the cloth. The sample was from a repair back in 1534 by the nuns from the 1532 fire.
The Vandalistic Restoration
Next this new team known as the Commission for the Conservation of the Shroud along with the cronies who gave the boot to the STURP team of scientists wanted to do a complete restoration on the shroud to make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Should a historic artifact like the Shroud of Turin be restored? The shroud has lived through many different environments. A valid concern for the restoration was the charred areas of the shroud that was in the 1532 fire. The fear was that charred areas would cause carbon particles to transfer over the entire cloth. 6 Hidden dust particles, pollen, spores and other microscopic organic debris left from history on the shroud long ago was swept up into a vacuum cleaner. I would agree with archaeologist, William Meacham in his book, The Rape of the Turin Shroud about the vandalistic outcome of the dirty deed. William Meacham wrote: “Like the C-14 dating fiasco, it is marked by ignorance, incompetence, stubbornness and opportunism, but its results are far worse. The damage done is permanent, and the data lost is irretrievable.”7
This restoration would be conducted in secret. The team that was known as the Commission for the Conservation of the Shroud was mostly local Italians. The STURP group was from the United States. The Italians did not like the idea of international intrusion on the shroud project. Since Italy was the home where the shroud resides the Italians wanted the control over this artifact. The only non-Italian who was working on the restoration was Mechtild Flury-Lemberg, former director of the Abegg Museum in Berne, Switzerland. This team did not want any scientific review of what they were doing. Their mind was made up and they were going to proceed with their restoration unhindered. 8
December 4, 1532, there was a fire at the St. Chapelle in Chambery, France where the shroud was stored in a silver casket. There was some heat and water damage on the cloth. Some of the silver from the container melted on to the cloth. In April and May of 1534, repairs were made on the shroud. Mother Superior, Louis de Vargin, and three other nuns with a wooden frame would embroider a holland cloth on the back of the shroud to protect it. Holland cloth known as a plain weave cloth was used for a covering usually for embroidering. Its origin of course was from the Netherlands. Patches were sewn over areas that were damaged by the fire. 9
The historical Holland cloth was removed from the back of the shroud that was sewn on the back of the shroud 450 years ago to preserve the cloth. Any dust or debris that was on the cloth found its destination into the vacuum cleaner. At least they kept the material that was vacuumed up. This material was stored in at least 200 glass vials and filed away. 10 Thirty triangular patches that were sewn on by the nuns in 1534 that were to cover up the fire damage were removed from the shroud. 11 The cloth was then scanned. Both the image side and the back side of the cloth. A new backing cloth was added. In the restoration a desire was to smooth out the old historical creases or folds. Weights were applied to the cloth to smooth out these creases. These creases should not be eliminated or smoothed out because they include an historical story of the life of the shroud. One prominent crease below the neckline of the image is believed to date to as early as the seventh century. 12
Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS)
There is a new scientific method to date archaeological artifacts. It is called Wide Angle X-ray Scattering. This scientific process can measure the natural aging of fibers in fabric. Over periods of time there are natural breaks that occur in these fibers. By measuring the number of breaks in the fibers you can estimate the age of the cloth. How valid is this process? The age of the shroud cloth was compared with a known cloth to be dated from the first century using carbon-14 dating. This known cloth was from the time of the Siege of Masada. When using WAXS both cloths had identical dates to the first century.13
When looking on the internet for a simple definition of WAXS it did not seem that simple. From a google search WAXS was defined as a technique used in crystallography to determine the structure of crystalline materials. When I saw the word” crystallography” it brought back memories I had when I was a boy. As a youngster I used to collect rocks and minerals. I would read in my mineral books about crystallography. Minerals could be identified by a specific crystal design (i.e. tetrahedral, octahedral, cubic etc.). There are many shapes that crystals could take. Scientists would use x-rays to identify these crystal structures. I do not have a scientific background so I’m not the best at explaining WAXS. I found an expert on a You Tube video who explains the function of WAXS related to the Shroud of Turin. I saw an interview with Russ Breault who is founder of Shroud Encounter. He has written a book about this new dating process that was activated on the Shroud. The title of the book is Shroud Encounter: Explore the World’s Greatest Unsolved Mystery. I am going to be adding this book to my library.
My Editorial
I have been interested in the Shroud of Turin for many years. This interest helped fuel my interest in Christian Apologetics. The pastor who first got me interested in the shroud was D. James Kennedy. I would listen to him on television and radio. I bought books from him. He has often preached and wrote about apologetics and six-day creation and spoke and wrote about the Shroud of Turin. When I heard D. James Kennedy speak about the shroud that is when I got fired up about the evidence of the resurrection the shroud presented. I have bought and read many books on the shroud. In the future of this blog, I will write other articles from time to time on specific topics of the shroud. I would like to cover the history of this cloth, and I would also like to write about the Sudarium of Oviedo which is the face cloth that is supposed to have been wrapped around the face of Christ along with the shroud. Oviedo, Spain is where this cloth resides. In the future if God willing, I would like to write other articles about the Shroud of Turin.
For my next blog post I will cover a different topic on apologetics.
Evidence of Tampering: The Shroud of Turin: End Notes
1. https://www.shroud.com/78team.htm
2. A Grave Injustice: A New Investigation into the Shroud of Turin; movie; http://www.shroudenigma.com/
3. William Meacham. The Rape of the Turin Shroud; (2005) p 64.
4. Ibid. A Grave Injustice
5. Robert K. Wilcox. The Truth About the Shroud of Turin; Regnery Publishing, Inc; Washington D.C. 20001 (2010) pp 195 – 198.
6. shrouduniversity.com/hiresimage.php
7. Ibid. The Rape of the Turin Shroud; p 147.
8. shrouduniversity.com/hirsimage.php
9. Ian Wilson. The Bood and the Shroud; Touchtone: Simon & Shuster; New York, NY 10020 (1998) pp 289 – 290.
10. Shroud.com/restored.htm
11. shrouduniversity.com/hiresimage.php
12. ibid. The Rape of the Turin Shroud; p 215
13. Shroud of Turin Proven Real? Expert Analysis On New X-ray Evidence; You Tube video; https://youtu.be/Yxc179-HIJ0?si=OYnC14yM-gVzV0G.