Shroud of Turin - A British View

There is an article in today's UK London Telegraph written about the Shroud of Turin.  It rehashes all the arguments both pro and con.  It was written because a group of Italian scientists have declared that the only way the image could have appeared on the cloth was through the means of ultra-violet radiation.

The Shroud is the mysterious object given its 700 year old 'known' history.  I say known or documented since the historical record only begins in the 14th century in southern France with a family with links to the Knights Templar.  I have a number of books about the subject and have read scores of articles on the web and in periodicals.  There is mention in the ancient Constantinople histories of a very similar sacred object dating back for a millennium before the 1300's.  Is it the same object?  All the evidence appears to point to the disappearance of this sacred object around the time of the Crusader's sacking of Constantinople, hence the link with the Templar's and its appearance shortly thereafter in France.

If you are interested in reading more I would suggest Ian Wilson's book which is very objective.  I find it intriguing that Eastern Christianity's iconography of Christ has a very close resemblance to the haunting face of the shroud.  Is this a coincidence......I think not.

More interesting than the article, which is written in the typical British intellectual, skeptical and  condescending fashion, are the comments from the Telegraph readers who mock and jeer in comment after comment.  There is a difference between US atheists and British atheists even though both countries share a legacy of anti-Catholicism.   While 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God, only 35 percent in Britain do.   In the US religious belief is still respected whereas in Britain it is not.  Ad hominem  attacks on the Pope and clergy are taken de rigueur and the pro-life stance is viewed as a form of bigotry and religious oppression.

In many ways, I see the UK disintegrating from within.  With the Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg seeing no difference between gay and straight marriage, the coming secession from the EU forced by the Tory 'fire-eaters', high unemployment/little social mobility and the dominance of its financial center in the City of London in politics and economics, the British appear to moving into uncharted territory that will isolate it from both the continent and the USA.  Although the British look back on their history and see a pugnacious and independent country always winning against all odds and for a period dominating the world stage, they fail to realize that this image was a two century aberration which ignores a 2,000 year relationship as part of Christendom and linked to historical Europe in many ways.  BTW, the royal family is German in origin and the Duke of Edinburgh is from the Greek royal family.

"Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it".   I find the British in general being ignorant of the real history of their island.  This is a disaster in the making.

A better warning is from the Bible:

2 Peter 3:3-7 

....."scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly."

The image above is of Christ Pantocrater (All Powerful) which is 1600 years old and has resided at St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai in Egypt.  It is the oldest Icon surviving in the world.  For similarities between the face on the shroud and this icon, the following site is very enlightening and informative.

No proof is ever enough for some doubters......even St. Matthew had to see the risen Jesus in person.

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't. --Blaise Pascal