The shroud of Turin: a testimony to the incarnate Son?

[James F.]

I don't know if the Orthodox Church has a teaching on this or not. If the Church does have a teaching on this, would you please tell me what it is? If not, what are your own personal beliefs?
God Bless.

[Kris]

I don't know if the Orthodox Church has a teaching on this or not. If the Church does have a teaching on this, would you please tell me what it is? If not, what are your own personal beliefs?
God Bless.

Hi,

The Orthodox Church does not have any teaching regarding the Shroud of Turin itself. However, it does have a long tradition of a shroud, the Mandylion, on which the image of Christ was printed miraculously. It is thought by some that this could be the Shroud of Turin; but that is mere speculation as far as I am aware.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_of_Edessa

[James F.]

Thanks, Orthodox11. Interesting read.

[Kosta]

The Shroud of Turin can very well have some miraculous properties to it.

The clearness of its negative image (i believe thats what its called) is quite astounding. Of course before the invention of the camera, there was no controversy over the shroud.

It was a rule for the bishop to clearly pronounce that it is NOT the burial cloth of Christ when it went on display. And no one make a big hoopla over it, because it was simply a faint image with nothing unique about it. This is what was believed of the Shroud until...... it was photographed ( i believe about 100 years ago???

Constantinople did hold claim to miraculous "shrouds" notice i use the plural. Supposedly there were a few. Regardless, Orthodoxy has a history of miraculous and wonderworking icons. The Shroud of Turin could also be categorized as one.

[Simon]

I stand to be corrected on the issue, but if my memory serves me rightly, there was a test of a minute amount of the material of the shroud, which turned out to be much later than the time of Christ. However, this information needs to be checked!

[Kosta]

a small amount of the cloth, smaller than a postage stamp was sent to a few different labs. The tests all concluded the same time period, from the middle ages. Within 100 years of when the shroud first surfaced.

[Peter Farrington]

There is a great deal of doubt about these results which are not conclusive.

Research has shown that measurements taken of cloth that has been heavily handled, burnt, exposed to candles and incense etc etc over a long period can all show later dates than the underlying material.

Peter

[Herman Blaydoe]

Lots of good information here:

The Shroud of Turin Website (http://www.shroud.com/)

The Carbon 14 dating was not conclusive, there has been much contamination with more recent material over the centuries. At this point, there really is no conclusive proof at this point that it is NOT the burial shroud of our Lord.

[John Charmley]

Dear Peter, Dear Herman,

As long as there have been relics there have been sceptics; and for almost as long as there have been relics there have been those who faked them for their own purposes. The 'scientific' mindset would reduce everything to what can be proven with absolute certainty, but as St. Augustine wrote:

Nothing would remain stable in human society if we determined to believe only what can be held with absolute certainty. Usefulness of Believing
As Christians we declare a creed - from credo 'I believe'. We are not like the Manichees who thought they could reason their way to God. St. Augustine holds that the knowledge acquired by faith and belief is not primarily a matter of gaining information; it is more like learning a skill, and is learned over time through how we pray and live within the Church.

So, perhaps in their terms the scientists think they have 'absolute certainty', but I am with St. Augustine in this one. Of course, our belief as Christians depends on reliable witnesses - or as we call it, Holy Tradition; and it is there that the lateness of the Turin tradition might lead one to have a few doubts; but in the end, it is a matter of faith.

In Christ,

John

[Andreas Moran]

Father Symeon of Essex has seen it and thinks it's genuine.

[Ioanne]

XHRISTOS ANESTH,CHRIST IS RISEN! Greetings to all! Two excellent web sites concerning the Shroud of Turin are: Shroud.com and Shroudstory.com
May agape reign in our hearts as we contemplate our Lord's passion and
resurrection. In Christ,Ioanne