Debate over cloth believed to be Jesus' burial shroud

A new scientific study on the Shroud of
Turin is questioning the claims that the
shroud could have been the cloth that
Jesus was wrapped in when he was buried
after crucifixion.
The study was published in the Journal of
Forensic Sciences, and essentially states
that all the evidence from the shroud
indicates the person who was wrapped with
the cloth was standing up at the time.
The biblical account of Christ’s crucifixion
makes it clear that Jesus had died when he
was wrapped with burial cloths, so he
couldn’t have been standing.
The abstract of the study entitled, “A BPA
Approach to the Shroud of Turin,” states
that a living volunteer was used in the
“investigation into the arm and body
position required to obtain the blood
pattern visible in the image of the Shroud
of Turin.” BPA stands for “bloodstain
pattern analysis” in forensic sciences.
Studying the blood stains on the shroud,
the research declares the stain markings at
the back “are totally unrealistic” if they’re
supposed to have come from a body that
was lying flat.
“The two short rivulets on the back of the
left hand of the Shroud are only consistent
with a standing subject with arms at a ca
45° angle,” the investigation abstract
states. “This angle is different from that
necessary for the forearm stains, which
require nearly vertical arms for a standing
subject.”
“The BPA of blood visible on the frontal
side of the chest (the lance wound) shows
that the shroud represents the bleeding in a
realistic manner for a standing position
while the stains at the back – of a
supposed postmortem bleeding from the
same wound for a supine corpse – are
totally unrealistic,” the study abstract
continues.
The investigation says the results from
simulating the “bleeding from the nail
wounds contacting wood surfaces” were not
clear.
Christians accept the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ by faith – based on
the biblical account of the many
eyewitnesses who observed those historical
events – whether or not the shroud is real.
The shroud is located in the Cathedral of St.
John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. It depicts
the image of a crucified man, and scientists
and experts have studied it for a long time.
The Vatican has never officially declared or
denied its authenticity, according to Fox
News.
The network reports that researchers
discovered bloodstains that did not line up
with any single pose, which seems to
indicate a model who was standing was
used to make the patterns.
One of the researchers Matteo Borrini, a
forensic scientist at Liverpool John Moores
University in the United Kingdom
told BuzzFeed News, “the bloodstains
shouldn’t be so inconsistent” if the shroud
covered a person who was crucified or
taken down from a cross to be buried.
Bloodstain pattern expert Jonathyn Priest
of Bevel, Gardner and Associates Inc.
told BuzzFeed News that the investigation
“is founded in science and the methodology
sound,” but he also urged caution.
He said the results were based on parts of
the body held steady and did not take into
consideration if someone carried, cleaned or
prepared a body to be buried. These things
might need more study.
In July of last year, CBN News reported that
a breakthrough discovery on the Shroud of
Turin is leading some to believe it really is
the actual burial cloth of Jesus Christ.
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Researchers from the Institute of
Crystallography said they found signs of
blood from whomever could have been
wrapped in the shroud.
“The Blood serum tells us that before dying
the person was suffering,” a researcher
told CBN News. “This means that the Turin
Shroud is not fake… It is certainly the
funeral fabric that wrapped a tortured
man.”