By: Scott Adkins, Sling ‘n Stone Ministry
Carter County Times
Easter arrives. What and why do we celebrate? We celebrate the Resurrected Christ, not bunny rabbits and candy. We do so because, absent Christ’s Resurrection, we remain hopeless. (I Corinthians 15:17) (“[I]f Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”). Christ’s Resurrection gives escape from judgment and forever validates Christ above all. Islam’s founder, for example, lies buried in Mecca today. Christ alone declared, “I am the resurrection and the life[,]” (John 11:25), and proved it when, by God’s incomprehensible power, Christ arose and walked out of that grave.
But “doubting” Thomas disbelieved until he saw and touched the Resurrected Christ. (John 20:25). Christ accommodated Thomas, (John 20:27), and mercifully does so for disbelievers today via:
History’s First “Selfie”—The Shroud of Turin
Believers affirm Christ’s Resurrection, Shroud or no Shroud; God’s Word suffices. (Romans 10:9) (“God hath raised Him from the dead.”). But doubting Thomases abound; hence, our summarizing evidence obtained from scientific tests on the Shroud. But first, what is the Shroud?
The Shroud presents a 53-square-foot linen cloth, displayed in Europe since the mid-1300’s, that has been dated from 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. For centuries, Christians believed the Shroud to be Christ’s burial “linen clothes,” mentioned in John 19:40; 20:5. In 1898, Secondo Pia photographed the Shroud. The photo negative shocked the world: it showed a bearded dead man, who’d been scourged, suffered scalp injuries, as if from a “crown of thorns,” and crucified, exactly as scripture says. (John 19:1-2; 20:18).
In 1978, Rome allowed tests on the Shroud. Scientists’ final report concluded: “(T)here are no chemical or physical methods known which can account for the totality of the image, nor can any combination of physical, chemical, biological or medical circumstances explain the image adequately… The Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified man. . . the blood stains are composed of hemoglobin,” and contained concentrated bilirubin, indicating severe torture.
But how did the image form? Scientists still don’t exactly know. Our most advanced UV lasers still cannot do it. Physicists do say several billion watts of UV light were required—more UV light than all sources on earth today can produce—with pulses shorter that one-forty-billionth of a second. Heat accompanies light, but not here. Had heat done so, both Shroud and tomb would’ve vaporized. Finally, one recent, sophisticated digital analysis showed as the image formed, the body: (i) moved; and (ii) breathed, among other astounding facts.
Christ created history’s first “selfie” for today’s doubting Thomases, but even without that, we rest assured He arose because, having not yet seen, we believe His Word that tells us so. Happy Easter.
NEXT WEEK: Gentleman Jesus, Part I—His Compassion For Distressed Women.