The Challenge of the Shroud
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Product Description
The book addresses the many challenges posed by the Shroud. If, for example, it really was the work of a 14th century forger, how did such a person, with the limited scientific knowledge of his time, produce an artifact that can still not be replicated or even explained by 21st century sceince? If the Shroud is evidence of an event that could be called supernatural - the resurrection of a dead man - what does this imply for scientists studying it|? If the Shroud is evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, what are the implications of this for those who do not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God or that he was anything but a rural Jewish teacher? What are the challenges facing researchers and theologians today both in preserving the Shroud and in carrying out further scientific research? The book is in three main parts - a complete review of the history of the Shroud - both known and speculated; a study of crucifixion as a method of execution and its relationship to the image and markings on the Shroud; and a review of the scientific studies carried out on the Shroud over the past century, together with the various hypotheses that have been advanced as to how the image was formed. The book concludes with some suggestions as to how conflicting demands for preservation of the Shroud and for further scientific studies can be reconciled and carried forward. Is the Shroud the genuine burial cloth of Jesus Christ? This question is left to the reader to answer.
About the Author
Mark Oxley is a Zimbabwean businessman who has spent over three years carrying out detailed research on the history of the Shroud of Turin and on the scientific studies that have been carried out on it. A scientist by training with an avid interest in both classical and mediaeval history, he has used both disciplines to carry out an in-depth review of the current state of knowledge about the Shroud. He has been interested in the Shroud since he was a schoolboy, when he saw a film about the Shroud in which the late Lord Cheshire explained the Shroud, its history and what was known at the time about the image on it. Over the years he has followed the scientific debate on the Shroud and particularly the controversy over its radio-carbon dating. It was this controversy in particular and some of the hypotheses that arose from it that eventually led to his decision to carry out further research and write his own book on the subject of the Shroud.
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24 May 2011
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Oxley is a believing Catholic, but except for a few slips he does not weight his book or try to convince the reader that the Shroud is authentic. I give him credit for that.
However I was not happy with the books' use of pages and the reader's time. About 110 pages are devoted to history, not only of the Shroud, but of lots of peripheral issues which the reader may not care much about. Then he spends a few dozen pages explaining how painful the crucifixion must have been. OK, that's obviously true but it adds little to the main subject.
Finally he gets to the important issues having to do with the Shroud's claimed authenticity. This section is the final 90 pages of the book. He fairly reviews the evidence and scientific investigation, of which there was plenty, but not enough to resolve the issue. The carbon dating that "proved" the Shroud to be a medieval artist's work was wrong, so it could be 2000 years old. The main problem with deciding authenticity is that no one, including dozens the dozens of scientists who have looked into the matter, has come up with a plausible mechanism for how the image was imprinted onto the Shroud. Given this crucial missing explanation, it cannot be decided whether the Shroud was made by natural or supernatural means. Oxley spends less time on all the possible imaging phenomena than does Antonacci, but covers them well.
As a hardcore skeptic and atheist, I remain open-minded about this possible miracle, and I certainly agree that the image creation is unexplained. More research is needed. He points out that the Church is less interested in the Shroud's authenticity than in its value as an object of veneration.
Finally, any skeptic or atheist who attempts to damage this relic should be imprisoned. Natural or supernatural, the Shroud is the only thing like it in the world and potentially has much to teach us. As Oxley says, the Church owes humanity the most thorough possible investigation.
However I was not happy with the books' use of pages and the reader's time. About 110 pages are devoted to history, not only of the Shroud, but of lots of peripheral issues which the reader may not care much about. Then he spends a few dozen pages explaining how painful the crucifixion must have been. OK, that's obviously true but it adds little to the main subject.
Finally he gets to the important issues having to do with the Shroud's claimed authenticity. This section is the final 90 pages of the book. He fairly reviews the evidence and scientific investigation, of which there was plenty, but not enough to resolve the issue. The carbon dating that "proved" the Shroud to be a medieval artist's work was wrong, so it could be 2000 years old. The main problem with deciding authenticity is that no one, including dozens the dozens of scientists who have looked into the matter, has come up with a plausible mechanism for how the image was imprinted onto the Shroud. Given this crucial missing explanation, it cannot be decided whether the Shroud was made by natural or supernatural means. Oxley spends less time on all the possible imaging phenomena than does Antonacci, but covers them well.
As a hardcore skeptic and atheist, I remain open-minded about this possible miracle, and I certainly agree that the image creation is unexplained. More research is needed. He points out that the Church is less interested in the Shroud's authenticity than in its value as an object of veneration.
Finally, any skeptic or atheist who attempts to damage this relic should be imprisoned. Natural or supernatural, the Shroud is the only thing like it in the world and potentially has much to teach us. As Oxley says, the Church owes humanity the most thorough possible investigation.
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