Shroud of Turin and the Resurrection of Jesus & More

Unexplained Mystery UPDATED

One day, I received an email from a high school student in Alaska. Her chemistry teacher handed out a list entitled, “Carbon 14 Dating Successes.” The topmost item on the list read, “Shroud of Turin – Proven Fake.”

“I asked my teacher about it but was ridiculed for not being scientific,” she wrote. Later, during a true or false examination, the student had to acquiesce to the truth that the shroud was fake or be marked down. She objected. She brought in an article from Wikipedia and another article obtained from the internet (she was writing to me in search of more articles). Her teacher told her, in front of the entire class, that she could believe anything she wants about her “religion,” but when it comes to science the shroud is a fake, and that is a “scientific fact.”

If you read nothing else about the Shroud, read: Possibly the Biggest Radiocarbon Dating Mistake Ever.

No one can explain how a polysaccharide coating that covers only the outmost fibers of the cloth has turned into a caramel-like substance in certain places to form the images we see. This coating is thinner than 1/100th the thickness of a human hair (200-800 nanometers).

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Ohio Shroud of Turin Conference Blog: New article by conference speakers in Chemistry Today

 

An article by two of the conference speakers, M. Sue Benford and Joseph Marino has been published by the peer-reviewed international journal "Chemistry Today" (www.chemistry-today.com) The article, entitled "Role of calcium carbonate in fiber discoloration on the Shroud of Turin," appears in the March-April 2008 issue (vol.26,no.2, pp. 57-62) and is accessible free online for 30 days starting May 12th.  Free registration is required to view article.  Afterward, it will be accessible only via subscription.  According to Shroud expert and archaelogical chemist, Dr. Mary Virginia Orna of the College of New Rochelle (NY), ". . . the role of calcium carbonate in fiber discoloration and especially its relationship to the possible means of formation of the image on the Shroud of Turin describes a fascinating hypothesis and experiment . . .  [the] hypothesis may provide the 'chink in the armor' of the hitherto un-crackable problem."

Read Details: Ohio Shroud of Turin Conference Blog: New article by conference speakers in "Chemistry Today"

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Ohio Shroud of Turin Conference Blog: New article by conference speakers in Chemistry Today

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Christianity on the Internet

 

Snejana Farberov, a master's candidate at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, points out that churches have been slow to take advantage of Internet technology, but that times are changing. Here is some salient points:

Trinity [Episcopal] Church in Downtown Manhattan has managed to keep up with the changing times by getting wired. When one of Trinity's parishioners moved to China in 2000, the rector of the church came up with the idea of online worship. Seven years later, a new rector was appointed to head Trinity, and he too embraced the Internet, naming cyberspace the third sacred space -- right after Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel.

On a recent Sunday, a female vicar opened the sermon by welcoming "those who are worshiping with us on the Internet." Donna Presnell, Trinity's assistant manager for public relations, said that now every service begins with these words.

Trinity offers live and on-demand webcasts of its services and weekly choir performances to about 4,000 viewers from as far as China and England. Other churches in the United States, including the Washington National Cathedral in Washington [also Episcopal], D.C.; Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minn.; and Little Creek Baptist Church in Hartville, Mont., have also gone online.

Sixty-four percent of wired Americans use the Internet for religious purposes, and 86 percent say that religion remains important in their lives, according to a 2004 survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Web entrepreneurs and religious groups have caught on to this trend, flooding the Web with millions of sites dedicated to spirituality and God.

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Christianity on the Internet

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Episcopal Relief and Development responds to Cyclone Nargis in Burma

 

Please find it in your hearts to give.

5/5/2008

Episcopal Relief and Development

Episcopal Relief and Development is providing emergency assistance to communities in Burma affected by Cyclone Nargis. The storm, packing winds up to 120 miles per hour, swept through the country on Saturday, leaving at least 23,000 people dead and 41,000 people missing. The low-lying Irrawaddy Delta region suffered the most severe damage.

The situation in Burma is dire. At best, the infrastructure in Burma is marginal and the storm has placed an unbearable strain on already limited services. Power outages and scattered debris across the country continue to hamper recovery efforts. Reports indicate that tens of thousands of homes were destroyed, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without shelter. The full extent of the damage throughout the country remains unclear due to poor communications and roads made impassable by the storm. In Rangoon, the capital, machete-wielding monks have taken to the streets to assist with clearing the wreckage.

Working with our partner, the Anglican Church of Burma, Episcopal Relief and Development is sending funds to secure shelter, food water and other relief needs for people displaced by the Cyclone.  As part of our long term strategy, we have been working for the past two years with five dioceses on economic development including agriculture, livestock, and micro-loans, clean water and education programs. 

“Episcopal Relief and Development’s response to the cyclone will involve a long term recovery and rehabilitation strategy for affected areas in which the church has a presence,” says Kirsten Laursen Muth, Senior Program Director for Asia and New Initiatives. “Our prayers are with the people of Burma at this very difficult time,” she added.

To help people affected by the cyclone in Burma, please make a donation to Episcopal Relief and Development’s “Myanmar & Cyclone Response Fund” online at http://www.er-d.org, or call 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief and Development “Myanmar & Cyclone Response” P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.

Episcopal Relief and Development is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church of the United States. As an independent 501(c) (3) organization, Episcopal Relief and Development takes its mandate from Jesus’ words found in Matthew 25. Its programs work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Together with the worldwide Church and ecumenical partners, Episcopal Relief and Development strengthens communities today to meet tomorrow’s challenges. We rebuild after disasters and empower people by offering lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Episcopal Relief and Development responds to Cyclone Nargis in Burma

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Best of both worlds: Science Religions: Evolution God

 

The Ottawa Citizen today published a review of a new book, Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion, by Francisco J. Ayala, an eminent evolutionary biologist.

Boxers or briefs? Liberal or Conservative? Spicy or mild? When given two options, we often can only choose one. But when the options are science and religion, people shouldn't be dismissed as unreasonable if they choose both.

Books denouncing religion as superstition have enjoyed lofty positions on bestseller lists recently. The authors, the so-called "new" atheists, would like us to believe that science and religion are mutually exclusive. This kind of aggressive atheism is itself a kind of fundamentalism, and fortunately some thoughtful scientists are objecting to it.

In his new book Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion, Francisco J. Ayala, an eminent evolutionary biologist, expresses his opinion that belief in evolution can coincide with belief in God. A former Dominican priest, Mr. Ayala claims that while science allows us to find "material explanations for material processes," it cannot be used to prove or disprove God's existence. Furthermore, the idea that only atheists can truly embrace evolution is bad for religion and science, he argues.

Mr. Ayala's approach conflicts with that of Richard Dawkins, also an eminent evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion. Mr. Dawkins has no kind words for traditional religion. He believes that raising children in a religious tradition amounts to child abuse. . .  

. . .

By setting religion and science against each other, like two opposing teams, the atheists make it difficult for some religious people to accept scientific processes. It's as though believers are being asked to choose between, say, God or evolution. No wonder some believers then twist their minds in knots to find new ways of explaining how the physical world works. Thus we end up with theories like Intelligent Design, the "bad" science that Mr. Ayala dismisses in his book.

Even supporters of Mr. Dawkins and the other new atheists have recommended that the group change their approach, perhaps by toning down the arrogance. One physicist who is also a staunch opponent of creationism was quoted saying that "Science does not make it impossible to believe in God. We should recognize that fact and live with it and stop being so pompous about it."

. . .

I certainly agree with this: "Thus we end up with theories like Intelligent Design, the 'bad' science that Mr. Ayala dismisses in his book." Off now to order the book from Amazon.

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Best of both worlds: Science Religions: Evolution God

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church speaks out on the crisis in Zimbabwe

 

Statement of the Presiding Bishop on the Crisis in Zimbabwe

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

Together with millions of people around the world, my heart has been drawn in recent months to the political and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Zimbabwe.  The tragedy of that nation’s descent into internal chaos is magnified by the high sense of purpose and prosperity that a newly independent Zimbabwe brought to Africa and the world nearly three decades ago.  Sadly, Robert Mugabe’s government has undermined that promise beyond recognition with its systematic repression of human rights, democracy, and economic opportunity for the people of Zimbabwe.  The turmoil in the wake of Zimbabwe’s recent elections signals an urgent need for governments and other leaders in the international community to stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, and call for an end to this long hour of human suffering and the beginning of a new era of promise and opportunity. 

In listening to the voices of bishops and other leaders in Zimbabwe and the region, I urge all Episcopalians to advocate for an international response with three components:

First, the international community must act to ensure a fair resolution of Zimbabwe’s March 29 elections.  According to nearly all independent observers, those elections – if reported accurately – would reveal a strong majority in favor of removing the present government.  Unfortunately, the electoral process has been so marred by government tampering, intimidation, and violence that the results reported last week – a narrow edge for the opposition that requires a run-off election – appear to be wholly without credibility.  Moreover, unless neighboring governments and multinational institutions intervene to ensure electoral fairness, any run-off election would threaten even greater upheaval.  Institutions with clout in the region – the government of South Africa, the Southern African Development Community, and the African Union – thus far have not mounted the massive pressure needed to ensure a fair electoral process for Zimbabwe’s people, and I join my brother bishops in the region in calling for urgent and creative action from these parties.

Second, all in the international community have a moral obligation to stand for an end to the political violence, torture, intimidation, and other human-rights abuses unleashed by the Mugabe government in the weeks since the elections.  Government riot police raiding a meeting of the Anglican Mothers’ Union in Mbare is but one example of a pattern whose greatest abuses are far more shocking.  Such repression is an affront to the dignity of every human being, and if left unchecked by Zimbabwe’s neighbors, threatens to plunge Zimbabwe into violence much more severe and widespread.

Finally, I join with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the Archbishop of Cape Town, in calling for an international arms embargo against the government of Zimbabwe.  The prospect of a more-heavily armed Zimbabwe not only further threatens the security and well-being of Zimbabweans, but would also deeply undermine the peace and stability of the whole region.  I am deeply thankful for the recent and successful efforts of Bishop Rubin Phillip of Natal in South Africa to prevent the offloading in Durban of a Chinese ship carrying arms for Zimbabwe.  This much-publicized incident reveals, however, the urgent need for the United Nations Security Council to impose an internationally enforced embargo that would prevent arms from reaching the Zimbabwean government and sanction any who try to provide such arms. 

In seeking these responses from government leaders, I urge all Episcopalians to continue to pray, in the name of the Prince of Peace, for the people of Zimbabwe.  In a land that has suffered so greatly in recent years as a result of 165,000 percent inflation, 80 percent unemployment, and poverty so drastic that life expectancy is now only in the mid-30s, the need for healing and transformation could not be more urgent.  May God, “in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, and no strength known but the strength of love,” grant wisdom, courage, and strength to the people of Zimbabwe and to all who work for an end to that great land’s current strife.

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church speaks out on the crisis in Zimbabwe

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Book Review on The Living Church

 

From Episcopal Life Online

London cleric, John Stott, shares what he's learned about faith and the church

In The Living Church John Stott shares with his readers what he has learned. After serving as longtime rector of All Souls, London, Stott is both influential and well-known far beyond the Church of England. His many books, preaching and teaching and 60 years in urban ministry, as well as traveling and speaking throughout the world, have made that a certainty. In 2005, he was honored by Time as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World."

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Book Review on The Living Church

Ohio Shroud of Turin Conference Schedule

UPDATED TENTATIVE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Thursday, August 14, 2008

5-7 p.m. On-site registration

6:45-7 Opening remarks

7:00-8:30 Opening address: The Shroud: An Eternal Challenge by Rex Morgan, Shroud Science Group member

8:30-8:45 Break

8:45-9:00 A Tribute to STURP by Barrie Schwortz, STURP documenting photographer and Shroud Science Group member

9:00-10:00 Informal gathering in Ballroom

Friday, August 15, 2008

7:00-9:00 a.m. On-site registration

8:00-9:30 Breakfast

8:45-9:00 Opening remarks

9:00-9:30 The STURP Experience by Tom D’Muhala, former President of STURP

9:30-10:00 The Sudarium of Oviedo: A Study of Fiber Structures by Ray Rogers, STURP member and Shroud Science Group member, read by Joanna Emery.

10:00-10:30 VP-8 Shroud Image Analysis, Impact and History by Peter Schumacher

10:30-11:00 My White Linen White Paper by Kenneth Stevenson, STURP member and Shroud Science Group member

11:00-11:15 Visibility of the Shroud Image: An Optical Physicist’s Perspective by John Dee German, STURP member

11:15-11:45 The Spectroscopy of Various Candidate Processes Associated with Image Formation and Features of the Shroud of

Turin

Redux (what we might have seen if we did it right) by Joseph Accetta, STURP member

11:45-12:00 Question/Answer session with STURP members (time permitting)

12:00-1:30 Lunch

1:30-2:00 Role of Calcium Carbonate in Fiber Discoloration on the Shroud of

Turin

by M. Sue Benford and Joseph G. Marino, Shroud Science Group member

2:00-2:30 Digital Image Analysis of the Shroud of

Turin

: An Ongoing Investigation by Ray Schneider, Shroud Science Group member

2:30-3:00 A Physical Hypothesis on the Origin of the Body Image embedded into the

Turin

Shroud by Paolo Di Lazzaro

3:00-3:30 Revisiting The Right Eye Image: What is it? By Alan and Mary Whanger, Shroud Science Group members

3:30-4:00 Shroud Coins Dating By Image Extraction by T.V. Oommen

4:00-4:30 Aspects of The Shroud in Botany and Related Art By Alan and Mary Whanger, Shroud Science Group members

4:30-4:52 Body Image Formation Hypotheses Based on Corona Discharge: Discussion by Giulio Fanti, Shroud Science Group Member

4:52-5:14 Resolution of images obtained without an acquisition system using MTF by Giulio Fanti, Shroud Science Group member and Roberto Basso

5:14-5:36 Statistical analysis of dusts taken from different areas of the

Turin

Shroud

by Giulio Fanti, Shroud Science Group member and Roberto Basso

5:36-6:00 Scourge bloodstains on the

Turin

Shroud: an evidence for different instruments used by Barbara Faccini, Shroud Science Group member

6:00-8:00 Dinner

8:00 Rest of evening free

Saturday August 16, 2008

8:00-9:30 a.m. Breakfast

8:45-9:00 Opening remarks

9:00-9:30 What Went Wrong with the Shroud's Radiocarbon Date?  Setting it all in context by Paul Maloney, Shroud Science Group Member

9:30-10:00 Overview of and New Findings for Historical and Scientific Evidence Pertaining to Possible “Invisible Mending” of the C-14 area of the

Turin

Shroud by Joseph G. Marino, Shroud Science Group member and M. Sue Benford

10:00-10:30 Surface chemical analysis of the Shroud of

Turin

identifies discrepancies in Radiocarbon Dating Region by M. Sue Benford and Joseph G. Marino, Shroud Science Group member

10:30-11:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED

11:00-11:30 SEM-EDXA Analysis of Red Particles Removed from the Underside of the Turin Shroud in 1988 by Parr RL, Reguly B, MacKenzie A, Merriwether DA, Benford MS, Baraldi P, and Fanti G

11:30-12:00 Questions for morning speakers

12:00-1:30 Lunch

1:30-2:00 Neutron Radiation Effects on Linen Fibers and Consequences for a Radiocarbon Dating by Francesco Barbesino & Mario Moroni

2:00-2:30 A Global Forensic Analysis of the Elements of the Shroud of

Turin

: Compatibility Between the Evidences of Vitality and the Absence of Signs of Death on the Cloth by Miguel Lorente

2:30-3:00 The death of the Shroud Man: an improved review by Barbara Faccini, Shroud Science Group member

3:00-3:30 The Shroud of

Turin

, The Holographic Experience by Petrus Soons

3:30-4:00 Botany of the Shroud of

Turin

by Avinoam Danin

4:00-4:30 Jesus Christ, the Man of the Shroud, and Bilirubin by Carlo Goldoni, read by Roberto Basso

4:30-5:00 Ancient

Edessa

and the Shroud by Jack Markwardt

5:00-5:30 On

Besancon

and Other Plausible Theories for the Shroud During the Missing 150 Years, 1204 to 1355 by Daniel Scavone, Shroud Science Group member

5:30-6:00 Was Sixth-Century Desertification a Factor in the Transfer of Relics from

Palestine

? by Diana Fulbright, Shroud Science Group member

6:00-8:00 Dinner

8:00-10:00 GENERAL OPEN FORUM: Twenty Years After – Where Do We Stand with the Carbon dating? moderated and with a brief introduction by Bill Meacham, Shroud Science Group member and member of the 1986 conference convened by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Archbishop of Turin to Advise on carbon dating the Shroud

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 2008

8:00-9:30 a.m Breakfast

8:45-9:00 Opening Remarks

9:00-9:30 Advancing the Shroud into the 21^st Century: Reaching the next generation by Russ Breault, Shroud Science Group member

9:30-10:00 Focus Projects for Student Involvement in Researching the Scientific Properties of the Shroud of

Turin

by Ray Schneider, Shroud Science Group member

10:00-11:00 GENERAL OPEN FORUM: The 2002 “Restoration” – its Impact and Prospects for Future Testing moderated and with a brief introduction by Bill Meacham, Shroud Science Group member and member of the 1986 conference convened by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Archbishop of Turin to Advise on carbon dating the Shroud

11:00-11:30 The Tangible Emmanuel: How the Scriptures Shed Light on the Meaning and Presence of the Shroud of

Turin

by Chris Knabenshue

11:30 Closing remarks; End of Conference

Ohio Shroud of Turin Conference Blog

How Darwin Lost His Faith: Not Evolution

From an article by Dinesh D'Souza over at News Bloggers:

It's widely believed that Charles Darwin lost his faith when he discovered evolution. And many contemporary atheists proclaim themselves followers of Darwin in this sense. Michael Shermer, for instance, writes that he abandoned Christianity when he learned about evolution; finally he could see how there could be design--or the appearance of design--without a designer. Richard Dawkins writes that it was Darwin who finally made it possible to be an "intellectually fulfilled atheist."

In reality Darwin's atheism had little to do with his discovery of evolution. First of all Darwin was never a very devout Christian. He was raised as a nominal Anglican. It says something about Anglicanism in Britain that a lukewarm Christian like Darwin actually considered becoming a clergyman. What turned Darwin against Christianity, however, was two things.

Read the entire article. It is very interesting. GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: How Darwin Lost His Faith

Pope and Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Meet

 

Pope Benedict and the Archbishop of Canterbury discussed Christian-Muslim relations on Monday in their first meeting since the Anglican leader caused a storm with comments on the role of Sharia law in Britain.

The Vatican said the Pope had received Dr Rowan Williams in a private audience but gave no details.

An Anglican spokesman said the two spoke privately for about 20 minutes and discussed Christian-Muslim relations, inter-faith dialogue and the Pope's impression of his visit to the United States last month.

He described the visit, the second official meeting between the Pope and the spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, as "warm and friendly".

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Dialog with Atheists?

 

Dialog with Atheists?

By Martin L. Smith

Martin Smith is well-known in the Episcopal Church and beyond as a priest, writer, preacher and leader of retreats. Through such popular works as A Season for the Spirit and The Word is Very Near You and in numerous workshops, lectures and retreats, he continues to explore a contemporary spirituality that encourages a lively conversation between new knowledge and the riches of tradition.

What kind of conversation should there be between Christians and atheists? One way of looking at that question is to consider this to be an invitation to a kind of interfaith dialogue, and one that serious Christians should equip themselves to conduct.

Today interfaith dialogue is literally coming home. It isn’t something to be reserved for experts on official commissions. Our daughter might return from college having adopted Tibetan Buddhism. Our brother might marry a keen and eloquent Muslim wife. Hindu neighbors might move in next door. We might become close friends with a new co-worker who is deeply observant Jew. But the chances are just as high we will be spiritually face to face with a humanist agnostic or committed atheist. I am not talking about someone who is merely tone-deaf when it comes to religion. I mean atheism chosen as a moral commitment—and that kind of atheism can be understood as a type of (non-religious) faith, and therefore a world-view and commitment that invites our conversation.

. . .

Take ethics and morals. Unfortunately, Christians bear some responsibility for the popular caricature of religion in which choosing good and avoiding evil seems to be governed by fear of divine punishment or expectation of divine favor. Go deep in conversation with our humanist neighbor and we might discover a commitment to justice, decency, compassion, even to virtue, for their own sake. The idea that atheists are intrinsically likely to believe that anything goes morally is a slander. So in dialogue with humanists, Christians may find themselves more in agreement than they imagine. When I talk with an avowed humanist committed to social justice and strong personal ethics of compassion and fidelity, I find myself in hearty agreement that goodness is to be chosen from the heart because it is good, as our mystics have always held. Making a choice from fear of punishment is spiritually infantile.

And what about superstition and religious illusion? In a sense, much of the critique that atheists direct at religion is an offshoot of the biblical critique. If we knew how to read the Bible properly, we would find that a great deal of it is devoted to exposing the elements of illusion and self-deception in so much human religiosity. It isn’t that the prophets merely attacked pagan idolatries as superstitious and toxic. They directed their most devastating analyses to the religion of their own people, all in the name of a very mysterious God who refused to be represented by any image, and who inspired his messengers to vigorously disassociate him from a host of practices performed supposedly in his name. It is out of this prophetic critique that the Jewish saying arose, “The next best thing to believing in the Lord is not to believe in God!”

...

GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH: Dialog with Atheists?