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

The Most Studied Artifact in History

The shroud is very probably the most studied artifact in all of history. Those who study it are not, as some skeptics charge, religious fanatics or overzealous Christian apologists. Many of them believe in miracles and many of them do not. Many of them are not Christian. A fair number of them are Jewish. Some are agnostics. Those that are Christian span the full spectrum of progressive-liberal to conservative theological and Christological thought. They include Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Evangelical Christians.

They include archeologists, historians, chemists, physicists, botanists, palynologists, forensic pathologists, image analysts, art historians, textile experts, and technical photographers. Most of them are from leading academic institutions or from prestigious scientific establishments including the Los Alamos Laboratory, the Sandia Labs, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago.  Their work, which is well documented, formidable in detail, and much of it carefully peer reviewed, warrants consideration. Most of the researchers who have studied the shroud extensively, conclude, that at some level of understanding, it is authentic.

Yet the myth persists that the shroud has been proven to be medieval. Crossan said that it was his best understanding that it was a medieval relic-forgery. Some skeptics will say that it has not been proven that the carbon 14 tests are false. That is true. They may not be scientifically definitive and are suspiciously inaccurate, but they have not been proven wrong. Skeptics will argue that Pierre d’Arcis has not been proven a liar. That is also true. But what are we to make of all the contradictions, the preponderance of other evidence?