Much has been in the news lately about the Balloon Boy and the antics of his father playing a hoax on the world all for his own glory. Hoaxes have been around as long as man has. Lately in the news also has been what could be a very old hoax recently debunked. You be the judge. What do you think?
I grew up hearing about the supposed miracle surrounding the Shroud of Turin. I had no idea at the time, as a child, that it had Roman Catholic origin to it. I just knew it seemed pretty awesome to have what they believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus still around today. The politics behind it totally escaped me.
As I grew older and I think wiser, being the skeptic that I am now about such things I decided to not have an opinion one way or another about this shroud. Many jump on the Sensation bandwagon easily enough, believing what they wish to believe and I'm not like that. It has to be logical and factual for me to hang onto it. I don't go for easy beliefism. Sensationalism sells. We know that.
I know my Catholic friends think this Shroud of Turin is sacred because they have been told it is and that settles it for them. It has been revered for centuries as the cloth that covered Jesus in the tomb.
Recently an Italian group has come out saying the Turin is a forgery. They claim this relic is manmade. One of the reasons for their claim is the fact they have reproduced it easily enough.
Scientists have recently reproduced the shroud using materials and methods that were available in the 14th century and is further evidence that this shroud is a medieval forgery. In 1988 scientists used radiocarbon dating to determine this shroud was made in the 13th or 14th century.
So how did they reproduce it?
A Professor of chemistry related in an interview that his team used a linen woven with the same technique as the shroud and artifically aged it by heating it in an oven and washing it with water. They then placed this cloth on a student who wore a mask to reproduce the face and rubbed it with red ochre, a well known pigment at the time. The entire process took a week.
The original shroud was first recorded in history in 1360 in the hands of a French knight. This would have been more than 13 centuries after the death of Christ and one of the reasons why some are skeptical of its authencity.
This shroud, of course, was owned by the Vatican and is kept locked in a special chamber and is rarely shown. The last public display was in 2000 with the next expected showing to be next year.
Could this be a hoax afterall these years finally debunked? Some think so.