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[[image:Shroud of Turin face.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Negative image of the face of the Shroud; the photographic qualities of the Shroud were unknown until 1898.]]

[[image:Shroud of Turin face.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Negative image of the face of the Shroud; the photographic qualities of the Shroud were unknown until 1898.]]

The '''Shroud of Turin''' is a long cloth presently kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, which contains the image of a [[crucifixion|crucified]] man<ref>[http://www.shroud.com/]</ref>, with many believing it to be the actual burial cloth of [[Jesus Christ]]. It has been the source of intense scientific controversy and there have been many modern attempts to prove or disprove its authenticity. It was owned and maintained by the Savoy family for centuries and willed by Umberto II in the late 20th century to the [[Roman Catholic Church]], which has never taken a position for or against its authenticity.

The '''Shroud of Turin''' is a long cloth presently kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, which contains the image of a [[crucifixion|crucified]] man<ref>[http://www.shroud.com/]</ref>, with many believing it to be the actual burial cloth of [[Jesus Christ]]. It has been the source of intense scientific controversy and there have many modern attempts to prove or disprove its authenticity. It was owned and maintained by families in [[Italy]] for centuries and given only in the late 20th century to the [[Roman Catholic Church]], which has never taken a position for or against its authenticity.

Scientists have devoted years of work in analyzing the Shroud.  Several of these scientists who have studied the Shroud converted to [[Christianity]] as a result.<ref>[http://www.shroud.com/mrinobnf.pdf]</ref>

Scientists have devoted years of work in analyzing the Shroud.  Several of these scientists who have studied the Shroud converted to [[Christianity]] as a result.<ref>[http://www.shroud.com/mrinobnf.pdf]</ref>

== Dating the Shroud ==

== Dating the Shroud ==

Raymond N. Rogers, a retired [[chemist]] from the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] in [[New Mexico]], studied the Shroud and declared, "The chemistry says it was a real shroud, the blood spots on it are real blood, and the technology that was used to make that piece of cloth was exactly what Pliny the Elder reported from his time," about A.D. 70.  "It's a shroud from the right time, but you're never going to find out (through science) if it was used on a person named [[Jesus]]," Rogers said.<ref>http://bibleprobe.com/</ref>

Raymond N. Rogers, a retired [[chemist]] from the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] in [[New Mexico]], studied the Shroud and declared, "The chemistry says it was a real shroud, the blood spots on it are real blood, and the technology that was used to make that piece of cloth was exactly what Pliny the Elder reported from his time," about A.D. 70.  "It's a shroud from the right time, but you're never going to find out (through science) if it was used on a person named [[Jesus]]," Rogers said.<ref>http://bibleprobe.com/</ref>

In 1988, [[carbon dating]] of a small snippet of the Shroud was performed, and the results suggested that the Shroud originated between A.D. 1238 and 1430.  However, a peer-reviewed scientific paper later demonstrated the invalidity of those results, suggesting instead that the Shroud is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old.<ref>Rogers, Raymond N., "Studies on the radiocarbon sample from the Shroud of Turin". Thermochimica Acta, Volume 425 Issue 1–2, pp. 189-194 (Jan. 20, 2005)[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6THV-4DTBVHC-1&_user=10&_handle=B-WA-A-W-WE-MsSAYWA-UUA-AAUYYDZUYC-AAUZVCZYYC-YZEWAVVVC-WE-U&_fmt=full&_coverDate=01%2F20%2F2005&_rdoc=26&_orig=browse&_srch=%23toc%235292%232005%23995749998%23553672!&_cdi=5292&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3d89246a5d4144616be7657f0d83b6cf]</ref>    <ref>Mark Antonacci "Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence"</ref> The sample for the 1988 analysis is believed by some to have actually been taken from cloth woven into the Shroud during the [[Middle Ages]], thereby giving a false result.<ref>[http://www.shroudcentersocal.com/]</ref>  Moreover, "the 12th Century Hungarian 'Pray Manuscript' depicts Jesus being wrapped in the shroud - with authentic herringbone pattern and burn marks - 100 years before carbon-dating says the material originated."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3624753.stm]</ref>

In 1988, [[carbon dating]] of a small snippet of the Shroud was performed, and the results suggested that the Shroud originated between A.D. 1238 and 1430.  However, a peer-reviewed scientific paper later demonstrated the invalidity of those results, suggesting instead that the Shroud is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old.<ref>Rogers, Raymond N., "Studies on the radiocarbon sample from the Shroud of Turin". Thermochimica Acta, Volume 425 Issue 1–2, pp. 189-194 (Jan. 20, 2005)[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6THV-4DTBVHC-1&_user=10&_handle=B-WA-A-W-WE-MsSAYWA-UUA-AAUYYDZUYC-AAUZVCZYYC-YZEWAVVVC-WE-U&_fmt=full&_coverDate=01%2F20%2F2005&_rdoc=26&_orig=browse&_srch=%23toc%235292%232005%23995749998%23553672!&_cdi=5292&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3d89246a5d4144616be7657f0d83b6cf]</ref>    <ref>Mark Antonacci "Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence"</ref>   The sample for the 1988 analysis had actually been taken from cloth woven into the Shroud during the [[Middle Ages]], thereby giving a false result.<ref>[http://www.shroudcentersocal.com/]</ref>  Moreover, "the 12th Century Hungarian 'Pray Manuscript' come to depict Jesus being wrapped in the shroud - with authentic herringbone pattern and burn marks - 100 years before carbon-dating says the material originated."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3624753.stm]</ref>

The defect in the carbon dating was that the samples were "uniquely coated with a yellow–brown [[plant]] gum containing dye lakes. [[Pyrolysis-mass-spectrometry]] results from the sample area coupled with microscopic and microchemical observations prove that the radiocarbon sample was not part of the original cloth of the Shroud of Turin."  Instead, [e]stimates of the kinetics constants for the loss of vanillin from lignin indicate a much older age for the cloth than the radiocarbon analyses."<ref>[http://bibleprobe.com/]</ref>

The defect in the carbon dating was that the samples were "uniquely coated with a yellow–brown [[plant]] gum containing dye lakes. [[Pyrolysis-mass-spectrometry]] results from the sample area coupled with microscopic and microchemical observations prove that the radiocarbon sample was not part of the original cloth of the Shroud of Turin."  Instead, [e]stimates of the kinetics constants for the loss of vanillin from lignin indicate a much older age for the cloth than the radiocarbon analyses."<ref>[http://bibleprobe.com/]</ref>