Let There Be Evolution

Let There Be Evolution

Because of what it could mean if the shroud is real, because the image are so mysterious and potentially miraculous, the shroud, like it or not, rightly so or not, has become part of the never ending, unavoidable and possibly unjustified scientific quest for God. Balls choice of the word microcosm may not be the best choice. It is not a miniature of the greater quest in the same sense that baseball is a microcosm of team sports. It is its own quest that may lead nowhere even if the shroud is real.

It is wrong, however, to think that this is all that drives the study of the shroud. Ball’s comment should not receive uncritical acceptance. The shroud is a kaleidoscope of mysteries, many perhaps that can be answered by science. But should the goal be to prove by science a religious belief or should it be to seek a clear understanding of the cloth and let the chips fall where they may. John Paul II very wisely puts this in perspective:

The Shroud is a challenge to our intelligence. . . . The mysterious fascination of the Shroud forces questions to be raised about the sacred Linen and the historical life of Jesus. Since it is not a matter of faith, the Church has no specific competence to pronounce on these questions. She entrusts to scientists the task of continuing to investigate, so that satisfactory answers may be found to the questions connected with this Sheet, which, according to tradition, wrapped the body of our Redeemer after he had been taken down from the cross. The Church urges that the Shroud be studied without pre-established positions that take for granted results that are not such; she invites them to act with interior freedom and attentive respect for both scientific methodology and the sensibilities of believers.