Bogus: Shroud of Turin? #4

Bogus: Shroud of Turin, The Conservative Voice, April 08, 2007, Grant Swank ...Continued from part #3 with the implicit assumption behind the 1988 radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin, that "3) there has been no additional neutron source that would be creating C-14 from N-14."

[Above: Nuclear radiation image of Dr. August Accetta, in Wilson, I. & Schwortz, B., "The Turin Shroud: The Illustrated Evidence," 2000, p.131]

And, having shown in part #3 that the image on the Shroud is "some kind of scorch," that "somehow `projected' across space onto the cloth," "which has thus far eluded all attempts at duplication" and "has no natural counterpart," now for my posting of what I claim is the main reason why assumption 3) above is wrong.

Which is if the Shroud is indeed the sheet that was covering Jesus' body when He was resurrected, then the change of state of His body into a "glorious body" (Php 3:21), a "spiritual body" (1 Cor 15:42-44), which could pass through walls and locked doors (Jn 20:19,26); and which the disciples Peter, James and John had a preview of at Jesus' transfiguration (Gk. metamorphoo) in Mt 17:1-2 = Mk 9:2; would have emitted radiation which imprinted Jesus' image (as well as the images of plants and possibly a Roman coin) onto the linen.

Leading sindonologist and historian Ian Wilson, in his 1978 book "The Turin Shroud," i.e. ten years before the 1988 radiocarbon of the Shroud, also drew the conclusion that "the image is some form of scorch" because "Spectroscopically `body,' `blood,' and burn-mark features all recorded the same intensity":

"Either way, the deduction must be that, if the Shroud image was formed neither by human artifice nor by ordinary natural means, it must have been by some unknown image-forming process. It is in attempting to define something of the nature of this third alternative that we arrive at the Shroud's paramount mystery. ... With regard to the image-forming process itself .. A far more promising suggestion has been that the image is some form of scorch, the color being the sepia of the first stage of the oxidation process preliminary to actual burning. ... This idea gained credibility ... at the 1973 exposition. On close study of the Shroud color there seemed a great similarity between the character of the scorches from the 1532 fire and the tones of the body image. Just over three years later the validity of this subjective impression was demonstrated scientifically at Albuquerque. ... Spectroscopically `body,' `blood,' and burn-mark features all recorded the same intensity. ... the implication for future research was self-evident-the Shroud image had pronounced similarities to a scorch. The obvious question is how a genuine dead body, cold in the tomb, could produce some kind of burning or radiance sufficient to scorch cloth, acting in so controlled a manner that it dissolved and fused blood flows onto the cloth, yet created at the same time the perfect impression of a human body? The concept is mind-boggling. Yet, if the evidence already presented for the Shroud's authenticity is to be believed, something along these lines appears to be the only explanation." (Wilson, I., "The Turin Shroud," Book Club Associates: London, 1978, pp.207-209. Emphasis original).

But then as he also asked above, "The obvious question is how a genuine dead body, cold in the tomb, could produce some kind of burning or radiance sufficient to scorch cloth, acting in so controlled a manner that it dissolved and fused blood flows onto the cloth, yet created at the same time the perfect impression of a human body?" (my emphasis).

Wilson recalls that at the 1977 conference on the Shroud in Albuquerque, , "the idea that it might have been some kind of thermonuclear flash" was "Not far from anyone's minds ... considering that they were sitting not two hours' drive from the site of the first atomic-bomb test at Alamogordo in 1945":

"Not far from anyone's minds at the Albuquerque conference was the idea that it might have been some kind of thermonuclear flash-a singularly appropriate speculation, considering that they were sitting not two hours' drive from the site of the first atomic-bomb test at Alamogordo in 1945. Adding some weight to this speculation were some unexpected photographic properties of the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, as attested by Hiroshima author John Hersey:

The scientists noticed that the flash of the bomb had discolored concrete to a light reddish tint, had scaled off the surface of granite, and had scorched certain other types of building materials, and that consequently the bomb had, in some places, left prints of the shadows that had been cast by its light. The experts found for instance, a permanent shadow thrown on the roof of the Chamber of Commerce Building (220 yards from the rough center) by the structure's rectangular tower; several others in the look-out post on top of the Hypothec Bank (2,050 yards); another in the tower of the Chugoku Electric Supply Building (800 yards); another projected by the handle of a gas pump (2,630 yards) .... A few vague human silhouettes were found, and these gave rise to stories that eventually included fancy and precise details. One story told how a painter on a ladder was monumentalized in a kind of bas-relief on the stone facade of a bank building on which he was at work, in the act of dipping his brush into his paint can; another how a man and his cart on the bridge near the Museum of Science and Industry, almost under the center of the explosion, were cast down in an embossed shadow which made it clear that the man was about to whip his horse ... ' [Hersey, J., "Hiroshima," Penguin: Harmondsworth UK, 1946, pp.104-105]

The correspondence of these radiation images with the phenomenon on the Shroud itself is, of course, by no means total. The Shroud was, after all, seemingly scorched from within rather than from without, and by a process of necessity far more controlled than the blast from an atomic bomb." (Wilson, 1978, p.209. Emphasis original).

and there "were some unexpected photographic properties of the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima" including "human silhouettes" reported.

And indeed one paper at the conference by a physicist, Dr. Eric Jumper, was titled, "Considerations of Molecular Diffusion and Radiation as an Image Formation Process on the Shroud" (my emphasis):

"While it does indeed seem possible that a molecular transport process over reasonably long periods of time (a minute or longer) would set up a molecular concentration gradient which could form some sort of intensity pattern interpretable as an image, it seems very unlikely in my mind that molecular transport could have formed the image we find on the Shroud. This opinion is based on the observations of stain spreading I made in the simple experiment, the fact that the stain on the Shroud does not penetrate even the surface fibers of the cloth and the fact that the Shroud image is nowhere saturated. While it cannot be concluded that radiation caused the Shroud image, in the specific areas of stain spreading and saturation, radiation cannot be ruled out." (Jumper, E.J., "Considerations of Molecular Diffusion and Radiation as an Image Formation Process on the Shroud," in Stevenson, K.E., ed., "Proceedings of the 1977 United States Conference of Research on The Shroud of Turin," Holy Shroud Guild: Bronx NY, 1977, p.188)

and it's understated conclusion then was that, "radiation cannot be ruled out" (my emphasis).

Wilson considered that "the impression is inescapable that, rather than a substance, some kind of force seems to have been responsible for the image" as "the image-forming process seems to have shown no discrimination between registering the body surface, the hair, the blood, and even inanimate objects-i.e., the two coins":

"Nevertheless the impression is inescapable that, rather than a substance, some kind of force seems to have been responsible for the image. This is suggested by the information in the 1973 commission's report that the image affected only the topmost surface of the fibers, and whatever created it had neither seeped nor penetrated the fibers and was insoluble and resistant to acids. Whatever formed the image was powerful enough to project it onto the linen from a distance of up to four centimeters (according to jumper and Jackson), yet gentle enough not to cause distortion in areas where there would have been direct contact. This factor is particularly obvious on the dorsal image, where the cloth would have received the full weight of the body. The concept of a force is implicit from the manner in which the image seems to have been created with a marked upward/downward directionality, without any diffusion, and leaving no imprint of the sides of the body or the top of the head. Also the image-forming process seems to have shown no discrimination between registering the body surface, the hair, the blood, and even inanimate objects-i.e., the two coins discovered by Jackson and Jumper. All would seem to have been imprinted on the cloth with the same even intensity, and with only the most minor color variation in the case of the blood. The idea, then, of some form of thermonuclear flash being the force in question is obviously more than idle speculation. Dr. jumper certainly treated it seriously, arguing that, as any diffusion process would have involved penetration of the fibers, and as any remotely lingering laser beam would have caused destruction, whatever created the image must have been some extremely high intensity, short duration burst, acting evenly upward and downward. Thermal chemist Ray Rogers of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, who attended the conference, said very much the same thing, using the words `flash photolysis,' and speaking of a mere millisecond of time. In the absence of definitive analysis of the Shroud stains, this concept may be as near as scientists can bring us to whatever created the Shroud image." (Wilson, 1978, pp.209-210. Emphasis original).

There is some doubt that the Roman coins are there, but if they are not, the argument above still applies to the "body surface, the hair, the blood," and also to the later discovered imprinted flower images-see next part #5.

Wilson concluded his discussion of in his 1978 book of how the image on the Shroud was formed, by venturing "a hypothetical glimpse of the power operating at the moment of creation of the Shroud's image" that from "the dead body of Jesus ... there is a burst of mysterious power from it" and instantaneously the image of "the blood ... and that of the body becomes indelibly fused onto the cloth, preserving for posterity a literal `snapshot' of the Resurrection":

"Even from the limited available information, a hypothetical glimpse of the power operating at the moment of creation of the Shroud's image may be ventured. In the darkness of the Jerusalem tomb the dead body of Jesus lay, unwashed, covered in blood, on a stone slab. Suddenly, there is a burst of mysterious power from it. In that instant the blood dematerializes, dissolved perhaps by the flash, while its image and that of the body becomes indelibly fused onto the cloth, preserving for posterity a literal `snapshot' of the Resurrection." (Wilson, 1978, p.211).

Twenty years later (and ten years after the radiocarbon dating) in his 1998 book, "The Blood and the Shroud," Wilson revisited the "argument, also advanced by some high-level scientists" that there was something "thermonuclear to the circumstance by which the crucified body image was created on the Shroud," and he quoted a Harvard physicist, a "Dr Thomas J. Phillips" who pointed out in Nature (a week before the actual 1989 radiocarbon dating report), that "If the Shroud of Turin is in fact the burial-cloth of Christ" then "the body ... may have radiated neutrons, which" could "have ... changed some ... carbon 14 ... to give an apparent carbon-dated age of 670 years [i.e. fourteenth century]" (my emphasis):

"Another argument, also advanced by some high-level scientists, has been that if there were anything thermonuclear to the circumstance by which the crucified body image was created on the Shroud, then this in itself, by adding to the cloth's low-level radioactivity levels, could have made the Shroud appear younger than its true age. A letter from Dr Thomas J. Phillips of Harvard University's High Energy Physics Laboratory, published in the very same issue of Nature which carried the formal report of the radiocarbon-dating findings, commented:

If the Shroud of Turin is in fact the burial-cloth of Christ ... then according to the Bible it was present at a unique physical event: the resurrection of a dead body. Unfortunately this event is not accessible to direct scientific scrutiny, but ... the body ... may have radiated neutrons, which would have irradiated the Shroud and changed some of the nuclei to different isotopes by neutron capture. In particular some carbon 14 would have been generated from carbon 13. If we assume that the Shroud is 1950 years old and that the neutrons were emitted thermally, then an integrated flux of 2 x 10¹⁶ neutron cm^-2 would have converted enough carbon 13 to carbon 14 to give an apparent carbon-dated age of 670 years [i.e. fourteenth century].' [Phillips, T.J., "Shroud Irradiated With Neutrons?," Nature, Vol. 337, 16 February, 1989, p.594]"

(Wilson, I., "The Blood and the Shroud: New Evidence that the World's Most Sacred Relic is Real," Simon & Schuster: New York NY, 1998, pp.232-233).

Wilson also quoted from a "British nuclear physicist Dr Kitty Little" who "completely independently" of Dr Phillips, and who had actually "irradiated a range of fibres, including several different cellulose ones" as linen is, "in a research reactor called BEPO" and the "cellulose fibres turned to the straw-yellow colour" that "the image of the Shroud" is, and "this would inevitably have resulted `in the formation of extra carbon 14 on the sheet ... to make the apparent age of the fabric appear more recent than it really is":

"A similar view has been expressed by the pioneering British nuclear physicist Dr Kitty Little, now retired from her career at the UK's Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, Oxfordshire. She has recalled an experiment that she conducted back in the 1950s in which she irradiated a range of fibres, including several different cellulose ones, in a research reactor called BEPO: `At the time BEPO was being run at only three MW, so that the temperatures were in the range 70° to 90° centigrade. This meant that I was obtaining radiation effects without the complication of heat effects.' Little observed the fibres to change with only relatively low-grade heat to the very same colour reported of the Shroud image, something of which at that time she had no knowledge. In her own words: [The] cellulose fibres turned to the straw-yellow colour that has been described for the image of the Shroud...' Even more interesting, however, was that the very same radiation particles which produced this effect were necessarily also accompanied by neutron emission. And as she has explained, this would inevitably have resulted `in the formation of extra carbon 14 on the sheet, the whole of it', this extra carbon tending quite categorically and specifically `... to make the apparent age of the fabric appear more recent than it really is ...'" [ Little, K., "The Holy Shroud of Turin and the Mystery of the Resurrection," Christian Order, April 1994, p. 226] This explanation, proposed completely independently of each other by Drs Phillips and Little, potentially accounts both for how the radiocarbon dating could have erred and for how the crucified body image could have been formed on the cloth, all in one neat single package. ... The great difficulty in such a hypothesis, whether it comes from me or from a trained scientist, is that it demands that 2000 years ago something far beyond the normal order happened to the body of Jesus as it lay in apparent death. That something of this kind indeed happened has of course been claimed by Christian believers throughout those 2000 years." (Wilson, 1998, pp.233-234).

In a more recent book, "The Turin Shroud: The Illustrated Evidence" (2000), Wilson referred to further experimental evidence supporting the Shroud image being a "nuclear radiation process"

[Above: X-ray of hands compared with Shroud images, Dr Alan Whanger, Duke University]

including it having "the Shroud's image's ... X-ray characteristics, particularly in the case of the bones in the hands" and Dr August Accetta's allowing himself to be injected with a radioactive dye and then xrayed(see images at beginning of this post) , which "conclusively demonstrated that a full-body radiation image could be produced by this means, without the application of any paints or dyes" and "replicated all the Shroud image's monochromatic characteristics" (my emphasis):

"Furthermore ... one of the Shroud image's additional properties seems to be that of X-ray characteristics, particularly in the case of the bones in the hands, as first observed in the early 1980s by Michigan chemistry professor Dr Giles Carter, followed in 1995 by Dr Alan Whanger and his wife. So what nuclear radiation process could possibly account for these as well as all the Shroud image's other properties? At which point enter Dr August Accetta, a youthful physician based in Huntington Beach, California. So convinced of the Shroud's authenticity that he has founded a special Shroud Centre to further Shroud researches and public education on the subject, Accetta has likewise been fired to go where no researcher has ever gone before on the subject, with a view to proving positively how the Shroud image could derive from some nuclear radioactive event. Using himself as a guinea pig, and working in collaboration with Dr Kenneth Lyons and Dr John Jackson, Accetta allowed himself to be injected with methylene diphosphate, a mildly radioactive compound with a six-hour `half-life' that he routinely uses in his medical work to show up internal organs. [Accetta, A.D., "Nuclear Medicine and Its Relevance to the Shroud of Turin," Sindone 2000 Shroud Conference in Orvieto, Italy, August 2000] Having allowed time for this compound to bind itself to his bones, tissues and body organs Accetta then assumed the Shroud pose, while a gamma camera was deployed to `photograph' the photons radiating from his body. This was set to fire at timed intervals which Accetta and Lyons knew from their experience would register the body elements at different intensities relative to the degree of the methylene diphosphate's absorption and dispersal through them. The results obtained proved quite astonishing, indeed little short of sensational. First, it was conclusively demonstrated that a full-body radiation image could be produced by this means, without the application of any paints or dyes, which replicated all the Shroud image's monochromatic characteristics. Second, the image had the same collimated, or straight-up, straight-down character as that of the Shroud's imprint, though in fairness it should be said that a collimator in the set-up ensured this, since otherwise the radiation would have spilled out at all sides. Third, apart from its being slightly more distinct against its background, the image had the same lack of outline as that on the Shroud. Fourth, the image shared the Shroud's otherwise seemingly unique lack of any light focus. Fifth, the Shroud's X-ray properties were strikingly replicated, spectacularly in the case of the hands, in which the metacarpal bones and phalange or finger bones could clearly be distinguished with a most compelling similarity to these same bones on the Shroud. Sixth, when viewed via the VP-8 Image Analyzer, Accetta's body exhibited the same three-dimensional properties as that on the Shroud imprint, the limbs being particularly similar. One of the Accetta process's few differences from the Shroud was that it produced images of some of the body's internal organs, most notably the kidneys. Another difference was that Accetta's head, unlike the rest of his body, appeared very distorted on the VP-8 Image Analyzer, seemingly because of the high volume of radiation emitted from its lower two-thirds, a problem that he expects to eliminate in future experiments. As Accetta is the first to acknowledge, he cannot claim to have been able to replicate all the Shroud's characteristics exactly, nor indeed did he expect to. A quite spectacular achievement on his part, however, is that he very genuinely has been able to reproduce some of those characteristics sufficiently closely for some kind of nuclear radiation explanation for the Shroud's image to be considered seriously, more so than anyone might previously have dared contemplate." (Wilson, I. & Schwortz, B., "The Turin Shroud: The Illustrated Evidence," Michael O'Mara Books: London, 2000, pp.129-130) .

[Continued in part #5]

Stephen E. Jones, BSc. (Biology).

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Exodus 33:18-23; 34:2,5-8. ¹⁸Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." ¹⁹And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." ²¹Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²²When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." ... ²Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. ... ⁵Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. ⁶And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." ⁸Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.