P.R. Dawson - How the Shroud of Turin Was Faked

How The Shroud of Turin Was Fake d

by

PR Dawson

Most c onspiracies are exposed because of a simple mistake . Pearl Harbor wasnt a s neak attack. Simple: twenty-eight Japanese warships , including three aircraft carriers the size of small village s , could no t possibly traverse three-thousand miles of open ocean an d sneak up on anyone; especially since the Japanese military cod e had already been broken . The assassination of JFK was carried out by at least two shooters. Simple: the original Zapruder film sho ws a shot from the rear followed by the fatal shot from the front.

The Shroud of Turin conspiracy fails by its most prominent feature: blood evidence it is too perfect, too neat; blood on the forehead from puncture wounds; blood and scourge marks on th e back; blood around nail holes in the wrists; blood on the dorsal part of the foot; blood from a pierce wound in the side; apparent rubbings on shoulder and back from carrying the crossba r (it would be impossible for a single man to carry the entire cross for it weighted 300 pounds ) ; and apparent marks on the knees from falling . All staged. All too neat. Famed forensic specialist, former chief medical examiner for Suffolk County , New York , says that the Shroud is too good to be true and human beings dont make this kind of pattern. (Wilson, The Mysterious Shroud, 1986, pg.29)

The Roman soldiers saw a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They threw a robe across His shoulders and placed a stick in His hand for a scepter. They still needed a crown to make their travesty complete. Small flexible branches covered with long thorns, commonly used for kindling fires in the charcoal braziers in the courtyard, were plaited into the shape of a crude crown. The crown was pressed into his scalp and again there was copious bleeding as the thorns pierced the very vascular tissue. After mocking Him and striking Him across the face, the soldiers took the stick from His hand and struck Him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into His scalp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion

But perhaps the most compelling aspect of the Shroud as a subject of inquiry is the extent to which the visible blood flows and physical injuries have been viewed as authentic by members o f the medical profession. ( Wilson , pgs. 16-17) Four or five streams of blood seem to start from the top of the forehead moving downward toward the eyes. Other streams appear clotted in the hair. The face image has one particularly striking flow, shaped like a reversed figure 3, that starts just below the hairline, then meanders obliquely downward, seeming to meet some obstruction in its descent. The back of the head features some eight or more downward-flowing rivulets.Ob vious to anyone is some irregular spiked object something like a crown or cap of thorns would seem to have been responsible for the wounds...Some even see among the rivulets clear distinctions between arterial and venous blood... ( Wilson , pg. 20) Wils on waxes eloquent on the subject of blood on the Shroud. He uses it as incontrovertible proof that the image on the Shroud is the crucified Jesus each [blood flow] behaving in the manner a modern specialist would expect. ( Wilson , pg. 20)

This makes a w rong assumption , that no one had the expertise to fake such modern evidence. However, human anatomy has not changed in thousands of years. In this piece I shall solve the mystery of when, where, who and how the Shroud of Turin was faked.

As recorded in the New Testament, Jesus was scourged . STURP (US Shroud of Turin Research Project) in 1978, determined this scourging was done by a Roman flagrum . The Roman scourge, also called the "flagrum" or "flagellum" was a short whip made of two or three leather (ox-hide) thongs or ropes connected to a handle The leather thongs were knotted with a number of small pieces of metal, usually zinc and iron, attached at various intervals. Scourging would quickly remove the skin . The leather was knotted with bones, or heavy indented pieces of bronze.

http://www.bible-history.com/past/flagrum.html

T he f lagrum , was not used to kill, but only for intense torture. the verberatio ([T]he highest degree of beating, commonly associated with crucifixion. This is the beating Jesus Christ received. Jesus received this beating as result of the last effort for Pontius Pilot to spare him from crucifixion. It was used mainly as a prelude to crucifixion, but could also have been used for severe punishments.) The whip has evolved from a spiny branch to a meticulously made piece of leather art and has been used in many of the millions of merciless whippings in the Roman Empire during Jesus time. http://c.o.a.t.tripod.com/index_files/page0002.htm

H ebrew law was strict on this, limiting it to 40. The Pharisees, in order to make sure that they never broke the law, gave only 39 lashes. The Romans had no limit, except for the fact that the victims should be left with just enough strength to carry their crosses to the place of execution. As the man who condemned Jesus to be flogged was Pilate, the Roman Proconsul, the number of lashes could be unlimited. The Gospels report that Jesus could not carry his cross without calling to an onlooker for help. This suggests a very severe beating. Those who have studied the traces of the flogging on the Shroud have identified over 100 lash marks .

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/gira.cadouarn/english/back_matter/flogging.htm

There is no way that a human being could possible survive a vicious beating of over sixty lashes with a flagrum , let alone 100 or more. Yet, t hose who have examined the evidence in greater detail than the STURP investigators have determined that there were two men flogging the Shroud victim , one on his right and one on the left. T he victim was tied to columns with their hands above their heads, so we seldom find lash wounds on the arms or forearms . T he number of lashes was between 100 and 120, m ostly in groups of two or three, in a fan shape, spreading out from two origins, one on each side of the body. The centre of the wounds inflicted from the right are a little higher than those inflicted from the left. The probable explanation is that the executioner standing on the right was taller than the one standing on the left. One of them showed a tendency to lacerate the legs. (see above link)

B elievers in the Shrouds authenticity often quote Hebrew /Jewish law to excuse contrary evidence . Wilson goes to great length, for example, to excuse the fact that the victim of the Shroud was not washed before burial: Perhaps t he most difficult feature, from the point of view of identifying the Shroud with Jesus and with first-century Jewish burial, is that quite clearly, the blood was not washed away from the body, and among those cultures, but most especially that of the Jews, washing was a standard preliminary to any burial. ( Wilson , pg. 45) So, to get around this, Wilson, on the same page, quote s from the Code of Jewish Law : One who fell and died instantly, if his body was bruised and blood flowed from the wound, and there is apprehension that the blood of the soul was absorbed in his clothes, he should not be cleansed, but they should inter him in his garments and boots, but above his garments they should wrap a sheet which is called sovev . It is customary to dig the earth at the spot where he fell, if blood be there or nearby, and all that earth upon which there is blood should be buried with him. ( Wilson , pgs. 45, 46)

This is clearly talking about one who has been killed in battle (One who fell and died instantly, if his body was bruised and blood flowed from the wound). This does not apply to Jesus who was a convicted criminal of the state, a criminal condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin The Sa nhedrin Trial of Jesus refers to the trial of Jesus before the Jewish C ouncil, or Sanhedrin , following his arrest and prior to his trial before Pontius Pilate . They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him. (Mark 14:53-65 (New International Version)