New Evidence on the Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin, which many (including myself) believe to be the burial cloth of Christ, has presented some interesting paradoxes. The vast majority of the evidence on the Shroud rules out any possibility of a forgery and is completely consistent with being a textile from the time of Christ. And yet, the carbon dating indicates that it is no older than 1300 years. This fact led Ray Rogers, the head of the Shroud of Turin Research Project, to declare it a fake, a reasonable conclusion from the carbon dating evidence.
But it turns out that there may have been problems with the sample used for the carbon dating. According to a story in The Daily Mail Online,
But after examining the fibres taken from an earlier investigation in 1978, Ray was shocked to find cotton present too.He said: 'The cotton fibres were fairly heavily coated with dye, suggesting they were changed to match the linen during a repair. 'I concluded that area of the shroud was manipulated by someone with great skill.
'Sue and Joe were right. The worst possible sample for carbon dating was taken.
'It consisted of different materials than were used in the shroud itself, so the age we produced was inaccurate.'
