Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Mind Numbing Realism

It is hard to imagine how a forger achieved such realism as we see was in light of what was known about human anatomy and forensic pathology by the Middle Ages. Many skeptics of the shroud’s authenticity focus their and our attention only on the arguments that support medieval origin and shy from the mind-numbing realism found in the shroud images, realism that was almost imperceptible in a negative image. Some, such a John Dominic Crossan, seem to be more realistic and recognize the near to sheer impossibility of this.

Part of the realism is in the bloodstains. As forensic scientists and chemists now know, the stains are from real human or at least primate blood. Immunological, fluorescence and spectrographic tests reveal this. ABO typing of blood antigens suggests that the blood is type AB. However, there is considerable doubt that blood typing is accurate for old blood for various reasons. The stains are from real bleeding from real wounds on a real human body that came into direct contact with the cloth. There is no doubt about that. When the stains formed, the man was lying on his back with his feet near one end of the fourteen-foot long, banner shaped piece of cloth. The cloth was drawn over the top of his head and loosely draped over his face and the full length of his body down to his feet. Many of the stains have the distinctive forensic signature of clotting with red corpuscles about the edge of the clot and a clear yellowish serum retraction ring.