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

Rogers on Natural Images

However the images were formed, if by a natural process, it must have been by a complex combination of different systems acting together. Ray Rogers wrote:

The main problem surfaces when you look at the times necessary for color formation. If we must consider something less than about 30 hours, simple thermal reactions are highly improbable. The least stable impurities that could be expected on ancient linen (e.g., pentose sugars) would take much too much time at temperatures below 100C. . .  Maillard types of reactions can produce colors within the required times at the required temperatures. Can anyone think of other ways? I have been looking for possible reactions for 27 years.

Radiation alone won't do it. Simple thermochemistry alone won't do it. Simple gaseous diffusion alone won't do it. Lots of things alone won't do it. The trick is to find some combination of phenomena that WILL do it. Remember - - - it did happen. 

Note: the reference to 30 hours is not biblical. It is a rough approximation of the time before decomposition products would begin to damage and soon destroy the cloth. Such natural ravaging of the cloth did not occur. If the images are formed by some natural process, it would require a complex process.