Proposed Minimally-Invasive, Scientific Testing of the Shroud of Turin Endorsed by Shroud Expert
St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) October 29, 2013 -- Joseph G. Marino, theologian and Shroud of Turin expert, has had over 35 years of researching the famous cloth purported to be the burial garment of Jesus Christ. He has appeared in numerous media and documentaries, and authored and co-authored (with his late wife, M. Sue Benford, R.N., M.A), several articles including Discrepancies in the Radiocarbon Dating Area of the Turin Shroud, (Chemistry Today, 26.4, (July-August). Marino contends that the Shroud samples removed for carbon dating purposes in 1988 contained threads from a 16th century repair that was invisibly rewoven into the same vicinity as the original fibers. Marino has recently endorsed Mark Antonacci’s proposal and petition to Pope Francis ] to allow further examining of the Shroud of Turin, its blood marks and other samples from the cloth, at the molecular and atomic levels.
In contrast, Antonacci contends that particle radiation emanating from the body wrapped in the Shroud not only explains the cloth’s medieval radiocarbon dating, but many other unparalleled features on the cloth including its unique body images. Antonacci first presented this test proposal and his image-forming hypothesis in his first book The Resurrection of the Shroud, (New York: M. Evans and Co., 2000). He presented an updated test proposal during the keynote address of the international conference held in conjunction with the Shroud’s last exhibition in 2010, Can Contamination Be Detected on the Turin Shroud to Explain its 1988 Dating?, (International Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Archeiropoietos Images, Frascati Italy, May 4-6: 239-247). His image-forming hypothesis, Particle Radiation from the Body Could Explain the Shroud’s Images and its Carbon Dating, can be found at Antonacci, M. (2012), Scientific Research and Essays, Vol. 7(29).
The Shroud’s radiocarbon dating is the only scientific test result among thousands that is inconsistent with the cloth’s authenticity as Jesus’ burial garment. This aberrant result has recently been challenged by scientists at the University of Padua in Italy who obtained an average date of 33 B.C. +/- 250 years using three different methods to date fibers from the Shroud. The provenance of these samples has also been questioned. If molecular and atomic technology were applied to the Shroud, it could determine, once and for all, the source of all dated samples. It could further test all proposed explanations for the Shroud’s radiocarbon dating and its unique images from naturalistic to artistic to miraculous. This technology could independently reveal the Shroud’s actual age, the identity of the man buried within it, if it is a forgery and whether a miraculous event occurred to the dead body wrapped within it.
The Shroud of Turin has only been scientifically examined in a comprehensive manner once, 35 years ago. While this examination revealed extensive, startling information, a new generation of promising research is being developed that could resolve the remaining mysteries regarding this famous cloth.
Antonacci and Marino contend that the world has everything to gain and nothing to lose by testing the Shroud of Turin and its samples at the molecular, atomic and other non-invasive, scientific levels.
Mark Antonacci, President
Resurrection of the Shroud Foundation (RSF)
Cell: 314-704-0537
Office: 636-938-3708
markantonacci(at)testtheshroud(dot)com
Joseph G. Marino
(614) 477-1480 or
JMarino240(at)aol(dot)com
The RSF designs, advocates and funds some of the most sophisticated scientific testing of the 21st century. For the last two decades, it has supported a variety of scientific research and information relating to the age, origin and authenticity of theShroud of Turin.
Monograph Publishing is a multi-dimensional company based in St. Louis, Missouri specializing in high quality publications, design, fine art prints and photography. http://www.monographpublishing.com
Ellie Jones/William Mathis, Monograph Publishing, http://www.monographpublishing.com, 314-952-8508, [email protected]
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