Shroud of Turin [Paperback]

I read Robert K. Wilcox's first book on the mysterious Shroud about a year ago. The present book is a revision and significant updating of that first book, bringing the reader completely up-to-date with the latest scientific findings.

Wilcox takes the approach of an investigative journalist. He comes to the Shroud with no evident preconception or religious/irreligous prejudice. He is thorough in exploring every conceivable hypothesis of what the Shroud is -- from the Shroud being a Medieval painted forgery to it being as old as the time of Christ and from the same Palestine area. Wilcox takes the reader as he travels to continents and countries to interview and consult with a diverse range of experts, including archeologists, artists (painters), photographers, theologians, and top atomic physicists. He is facile at translating complex scientific concepts to make them readily understandable to the lay reader. One by one, Wilcox demonstrates how each alternate hypothesis for the Shroud falls apart, leaving in the end only one possible conclusion. Readers of the secular rationalist bent will appreciate Wilcox's meticulous empiricism, while readers of Christian faith will find their faith vindicated. This is not to say that the two groups are mutually exclusive categories. In fact, the Shroud is the best confirmation that faith and science are not antagonistic, but can be mutually reinforcing.

In the end, what is most intriguing about the Shroud is that its astounding characteristics and true nature are increasingly revealed as human beings grow more in knowledge and our science becomes increasingly advanced and sophisticated. Instead of science showing the Shroud to be a fake, it is with science that the Shroud's miraculous character is revealed.

I guess I'm behind the times but I knew little about the Shroud of Turin when I ran into this book, very reasonably priced. Material evidence of Jesus? That was interesting. I had some idea of Veronica's Veil, but this ancient cloth has a strange total body image, front and back, on it. It has a tradition of being Jesus's burial cloth and a very plausible history back to the tomb in the Bible. But it's the science about this linen cloth that is really impressive. The image is like a photographic negative. But in fact something etched the images in such precision that it goes beyond a photo. Sophisticated computers can read the image to the point that a 3-dimensional holograph can be made of the man in the shroud. No paintings or conventional photos can be converted like that. Wilcox, a journalist, weaves a good story here - a great story. He starts with the first photographs taken in 1898. That was the start of scientific interest in the shroud. Doctors say the man in the shroud pictures is a real corpse. It exhibits astounding anatomical realism. It's not a traditional Christ which argues against a forgery. Some scientists say they can see flowers in the images, like funeral wreaths, which are native to Jerusalem and only bloom around Easter. The Vatican says it's found documents that plug important gaps in the shroud's history. For someone like me who didn't know much about the shroud this is a great primer. Wilcox takes the reader on a search literally around the world. He apparently thinks the shroud is authentic but lets the reader decide. This is a genuine mystery of awesome proportions and those wanting to get an up-to-the-minute read on this phenomenon should get this book. You won't be disappointed!

When I ordered this book, I thought it was brand, spanking new. Little did I know it was a makeover of a book written in 1977! And a book I already had in my collection - somewhere. (I have alot of books! Mostly from Amazon!) Anyway - I reread the book to find what was newly added to it. 37 pages out of a 234 page book, by my count. What is new - SPOILER ALERT - is what has been hinted at all along since the controversial Carbon 14 datings of 1988...and that is that the test samples were not from the original Shroud at all, but pieces of patchwork from the time scientifically deduced by the testing. This issue was being addressed almost as soon as the test results were back, in addition to other theories as to why the date was medieval and not closer to the time of Jesus.

So what Mr. Wilcox has done, in effect, is what was done to the Shroud. A small patch of it was sewn into a corner, a 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 snippet compared to the Shroud's overall 14 foot length - this was allegedly done sometime in 1508 and this is what was dated. With this revamped book Wilcox has done much the same thing: added a snippet to an old dusty book and got it on the market for this coming Easter's public showing of the Shroud by its Turin guardians. Great timing!

I am genuinely mystified by the Shroud. When I had first heard the Carbon 14 results I said to myself, okay, there's a date indicating forgery...and most all of science was so smug about the dating's infallibility - but they could NOT explain how the image got on the Shroud. Nor did they take into consideration the possibility that if the Shroud contains the image of Christ at the moment of his resurrection (since the image is more of a scorch and NOT a painting whatsoever)then that "miraculous" moment may have altered the Carbon content of the cloth. Anyway, it is a genuine enigma of enormous proportions. But the depth of its many, many wonders and mysteries are only quickly told in Wilcox's book. It is too rapid and too easy a read and too much of what may have been relevant in its first edition is left in now as padding. The NEW information seems completely rushed...as if to meet a press deadline. Why not just write a brand new book??? Well, Time is money, you know.

There are two books out there that are much, much more in-depth and much, much more convincing than the work now being discussed. And they are THE RESURRECTION OF THE SHROUD by Mark Antonacci (published in 2000)and Ian Wilson's THE BLOOD AND THE SHROUD (written in 1998 but it also has been reworked with all of the latest data.) Both of these books are immensely more compelling and captivating than Wilcox's quickie. Even the photographic section pales in comparison to either of the other two works. And if you want a truly beautifully illustrated book on the Shroud - and also one containing much more informative than the Wilcox work - look for THE TURIN SHROUD: THE ILLUSTRATED EVIDENCE by Ian Wilson and Barrie Schwortz.

An artifact such as the Shroud of Turin needs a much more in-depth, in-detail approach....for its implications are immense. Wilcox's book (even in its original state) seems more of a patch-work quilt than a truly methodical analysis of this enduring enigma. It's so-so for a quick read, but you will definitely want to know a heck of alot more after reading it. And you'll find written and visual treasures in the other books mentioned above that are barely probed in THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SHROUD OF TURIN. Even the title and its subtitle - SOLVING THE MYSTERY - are grandiose distortions as to what the book truly contains and achieves.

Happy Easter to one and all!