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

Chance and Necessity

The precision, the level of detail and the uncanny photo-like realism, when a complex system is considered, compels us to think about the seductive logic of chance and necessity. Necessity, here, is all of the circumstances that must come into play to create the images as they are. Chance is the questionable likelihood that all those circumstances would happen in concert. If the Shroud is an authentic burial cloth of a much wounded crucified man (it is if it is not a hoax) then is it a lucky fluke that the images are so visually correct?  A truly natural explanation requires that a chemical reaction starts and ends. And this is key: The reaction must end sufficiently late for there to be discernible images. And, it must end early enough that the images are not oversaturated. Analysis of the images shows no saturation plateaus. Timing is everything. In photographic terms this is correct exposure. Is this mere luck?

It is not just correct exposure that is at play here. Good focus, suitable contrast and smooth and realistic gradations between light and dark areas also are important. (Resolution is better than 0.4 cm at a distance of 1.1 cm indicating the image production mechanism must be highly anisotropic).