IF THE SHROUD DEPICTS JESUS THERE WOULD BE SOME DECOMPOSITION

The Turin Shroud is the most famous relic in the world. Millions believe that it is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ bearing his crucified and bloodied image.

 

The cloth is kept at Turin in Italy. The cloth is an enigma. Many say it is a miracle.

The Christians think that Jesus was buried in the Shroud for nearly three days and during this time the image appeared on the cloth. Jesus predicted he would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 

The Christian view is, "The way the Jews reckoned days leaves Jesus being in the grave one day and two nights. This is not three days but a day and a half!" Whether it is that short or longer the fact remains that there is no way to prove Jesus rose on the third day whatever that means. When the gospels say that the tomb was found empty on Sunday morning there is no hint that anybody said they knew when Jesus left the tomb. He could have been gone as soon as the stone was closed. Thus the prophecy whether it means part of three days or three full days is a trick. A prophecy that predicts something uncheckable is a fake. Jesus was definitely a false prophet and the early believers made a slip that showed how gullible the first generation of Christians actually was. Religion blinded them so they could not see the obvious.

 

We will approach the Shroud assuming that Jesus did stay in the tomb until Sunday morning.

The Shroud of Turin image shows no signs that it contained a decomposing body. Jesus was buried for nearly three days and bodies decomposed fast in the Palestine climate. There should be some sign of decomposing. The freedom from decomposition is verified in http://www.skepticalspectacle.com. It is ridiculous to surmise that Jesus came to earth to suffer and die on the cross and wouldn’t decay a bit until he raised his body up again. His body was decaying all his life and restoring itself like we all do, he aged which is decomposing alive. Why would a god who was willing to undergo a humiliating birth and death preserve his body. Why not let it rot as much as it should for the three days and then restore it to life? What makes it worse is that there is no evidence in the New Testament that the resurrection was a revival of the human body of Jesus. All it says is that it had the seed of the new resurrection body of Jesus which was more like a spirit than a body but nevertheless a body.

Jesus’ blood should have decomposed a bit. He wasn’t going to resurrect it for there is no flesh and blood in the kingdom of Heaven according to St Paul. So the blood didn’t matter. The blood that spilled from the cross decomposed. But not on the Turin Shroud. What you have on it is blood that is so well-preserved you would swear it was paint or some compound made by an artist. All this is very suspicious. It indicates that the Shroud is not the burial cloth of Jesus. It may be a miracle duplicate but miracles prove nothing though religion tries to pretend they are evidence from Heaven that its doctrines are true. If you look to miracles as evidence you will be confused forever for every religion has them and has experts to defend them. Miracles can be used as an excuse for defending any tall story. So whatever the Shroud can do, it cannot prove that Jesus existed. In fact it warns us to be wary of miracles! A miracle burial cloth that is not a burial cloth can’t be warning us any louder than that! Besides, we have evidence from the New Testament itself that Jesus did not die when the Church claims he died. The shroud is made to look like it supports the Church so the shroud is fake. It is refuted by the written evidence. If it is a miracle it is still not stopping us from disbelieving in Christ with a clear conscience.

Bodies in Palestine will decompose faster than bodies in the United Kingdom. Bodies in the UK are displayed at wakes and funeral parlours until the third day after death. They are displayed a lot less than 72 hours and yet the following procedures are necessary for undertakers. Steps have to be taken to make sure there is no decomposition until the body is in the grave. The body is wiped with disinfectant to stop maggots and worms and insects from infesting the corpse while it is on display. Steps have to be taken to stop fluids being ejected from the stomach through the mouth. The mouth needs to be sewn together. The penis needs to be tied and the anus stuffed with cotton wool containing preservative chemicals. This is to stop leaks from those areas. The man on the Shroud shows no signs of being treated as a truly dead body. And he has not been behaving like a dead body should without these treatments. And this despite him being supposedly buried in Palestine! No matter what the mad scientists say, there was definitely no body in the Shroud. If there was, then the man was not Jesus or wasn’t in the Shroud long. Jesus supposedly was buried on Friday night and disappeared from the tomb on Sunday morning. He was in his shroud longer than the Shroud man was in his.

The Christians might say that the lack of decomposition is a miracle. It is wrong to use miracles as explanations for mysteries or to get around facts one does not like. The sensible Christians go in search of evidence to show their belief in miracles is justified. They do not guess that a miracle has happened. They only consider miracles when somebody has experienced a possible miracle and claims a miracle happened. But do such Christians exist? 

Conclusion 

The Shroud man is not Jesus Christ.  

 

BOOKS CONSULTED

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