Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Shroud of Turin

2012-06-07T21:58:51Z

Tweedledum:

[[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''' (in Italian, ''la Sacra Sindone'') is the most studied artifact in the history of the world,.

The Shroud contains real blood stains consisting of human male DNA, and a blood type that is AB. The height of the man was 5' 11"; his weight, about 170 pounds. Coins visible only to modern technology had been placed over the man's eyes, a tradition not known to historians until modern archaeological excavations revealed the practice.

There is overwhelming forensic evidence on the Shroud indicating that it is the image of man who was both scourged and crucified, yet without the breaking of the victim's leg as commonly done as part of the punishment.<ref name="Forensics">http://www.shroudstory.com/forensics.htm</ref> The bloodstains on the Shroud were formed before the image was made. The image is scientifically precise in a way unknown to any medieval forgers: the thumbs are not visible because the nails were through the wrist, not through the hands as mistakenly thought until the 20th century.<ref name="Forensics"/>

The long cloth is 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> An [[agnostic]] [[British]] scholar studied the ''Shroud of Turin'' and concluded in his book, ''The Sign'' (2012), that the Shroud is authentic and was even the basis of disciples' acceptance of the [[Resurrection]].<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9162459/Mystery-solved-Turin-Shroud-linked-to-Resurrection-of-Christ.html</ref>

==Description==
The Shroud is about 14 feet 3 inches long by 3 feet 7 inches wide, consisting of a single piece of fine linen cloth made from fibers of the flax plant (''Linum usitatisismum''), and woven in a 3-over-1 herringbone twill.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3624753.stm]</ref> Centered on the cloth is the front and back images of a man who is pictured as if in a burial repose; the man's estimated height is somewhere between 5'8" to 6'1"<ref>[http://www.shroudofturin4journalists.com/Details/howtall2.htm]</ref>. He is rather powerfully-built, with classical eastern Mediterranean features. The images of the feet are at both ends of the cloth, indicating that if it was a burial linen the body was placed on one end with the other end bought over the head to cover the body. On either side of the image is a series of triangular patches, covering much of the damage from a fire which took place in 1532.

The image of the body shows a man who had died a violent death. Upon both front and back are dumbbell-shaped markings; approximately 140 such marks were applied upon the back, chest, and legs. Roman soldiers involved in "scourging" as a form of punishment for offenders employed a whip called a "[[flagrum]]",<ref>[http://www.shroudofturin4journalists.com/terms/flagrum.htm]</ref> which was studded with either bone or lead knobs, and when used it tore into flesh and muscle.

The wrists and feet bear large bloodstains consistent with historical descriptions of [[crucifixion]]. The feet themselves are placed one on top of the other within the image; both front and dorsal images display a single large bloodstain, indicating one nail was driven through both feet upon the cross. The left wrist likewise displays a large bloodstain; however, the left hand covers the right, preventing a view of the wound there. Blood flows are present on both lower arms, displayed to flow in a direction as if the victim was hanging on a cross. A single large bloodstain is also present on the right side of the chest - nearly-obliterated by the 1532 burn damage - and appears to have been mixed with a clear liquid from the body. Blood stains are also present about the scalp, and the marks of a severe beating are evident upon the face.

==History==
Historians and authors of written works on the Shroud have generally divided its history into two periods of time: a first period, from the time of the Resurrection ca. 33 A.D. to the fall of Constantinople in 1204; and the second period from about 1349 to present. The first version is based on largely on circumstantial evidence.

===First Period: A.D. 33 to 1204===
====Gospels====
The ''Gospel of John'' contains the first description of what is today regarded as the Shroud of Turin (the "linen clothes"), and the "napkin", a small head wrap which may be a relic known as the Sudarium of Oviedo, Spain.<ref>http://www.shroud.com/guscin.htm</ref>

:''On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
:''She ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other student, whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have laid Him!"
:''So Peter went out, and that other disciple, and came to the tomb.
:''They both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter, and came to the tomb first.
:''He stooped down and looked in, and saw the shroud stretched around nothing, but did not go in.
:''Then Peter came after him, and went into the tomb, and saw the empty shroud lying there, and the facecloth, that had been around His head. The facecloth was not lying with the shroud, but was rolled up in a place apart from them.
:''Then that other student went in also, the one who had come to the tomb first. He saw, and believed. For they still did not know the Scripture that said that He must rise again from the dead.'' - John 20:1-9; [[CBP]] (retrieved: May 25, 2010)''

====Bardesane of Edessa====
The earliest possible extra-Biblical reference to the Shroud is found in a second century poem by Bardesane of Edessa. Called the "Hymn of the Pearl", it was embedded within the non-canonical ''Acts of Thomas'', and tells the story of a boy - apparently the figure in the poem - to retrieve a pearl from Egypt. He describes the "mirror of myself" embedded in his robe in some detail similar to the Shroud:
:''"And because I remembered not its fashion / for in my childhood I had left it in my father's house, / on a sudden, when I received it, / the garment seemed to me to become like a mirror of myself. / I saw it all in all, / and I to received all in it, / for we were two in distinction / and yet gain one in one likeness. / And the treasurers too, / who brought it to me, I saw in like manner / to be two (and yet) one likeness, for one sign of the king was written on them (both), / of the hands of him who restored to me through them / my trust and my wealth"''<ref>[http://www.gnosis.org/library/hymnpearl.htm]</ref>

====Image of Edessa/Mandylion====
According to [[Eusebius]], King Abgar of Edessa was afflicted of an illness, and hearing of the miracles of Jesus as a healer he sent a letter to Him, asking if He would come to his aid. Jesus responded that He could not come, but would send his disciple Thaddeus, who comes and heals him;<ref>http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vi.xiii.html</ref> according to variants of this story King Abgar is left with the cloth image of Jesus, beginning with the ''Doctrine of Addai'' (ca. 400 A.D.) in which a court painter created an image of the Lord and "brought with him to Abgar the king, his master. And when Abgar the king saw the likeness, he received it with great joy, and placed it with great honor in one of his palatial houses."<ref>http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/addai_2_text.htm</ref> Artistic works of this relic - called either the "Image of Edessa" or the "[[Mandylion]]" - generally have it portrayed as the face of Christ upon a towel or kerchief.

The Mandylion would surface again around 525 when Edessa was flooded by the Daisan River. Workmen repairing one of the city's gates discovered a niche with the cloth inside; the mandylion was declared to be ''Acheiropoietos'' (Greek: Αχειροποίητος), "not made by hands", meaning that it was a miraculous image created supernaturally and not by man. The Mandylion stayed in Edessa as a means of protection for the city from harm until forcibly taken to [[Constantinople]] in 944, where it was received with great fanfare by Emperor Romanus I. Placed within the church of Saint Mary of Blachernae, it stayed there as a Christian relic until disappearing in the sack of the city during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. One of the knights who participated in the sacking of Constantinople, Robert de Clari, left a detailed letter of what he observed at the time, and he referred to this relic as being more than a facial image:
:''"But among the rest, there was also another of the minsters, which was called the Church of my Lady Saint Mary of Blachernae, within which was the shroud wherein Our Lord was wrapped. And on every Friday that shroud did raise itself upright, so that the form of Our Lord could clearly be seen. And none knows - neither Greek nor Frank - what became of that shroud when the city was taken."''<ref>http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/clari4.htm</ref>

====Geoffroi de Charney====
Geoffroi de Charney was a French knight, the Preceptor of Normandy for the [[Knights Templar]], who was executed by burning at the stake in 1314. His crimes are disputed, but during that time there was a backlash directed against the Templars; the King of France apparently either feared the power they wielded, or coveted their hidden wealth. But to march against them it was necessary to have the Pope (Clement V) declare them heretics, based on their alleged worship of a "bearded head"; in one account (1287), a French applicant named Arnaut Sabbatier was taken in to a "a secret place to which only the brothers of the Temple had access" where he was instructed to venerate the image of a man on a long linen cloth.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6040521.ece</ref>

Little is known of Geoffroi de Charney. He participated in the sack of Constantinople in 1204, and may have been a witness with Robert de Clari when he first saw the shroud at the Blachernae Church. He certainly could have been well-placed to have taken the Shroud back to France for veneration. On March 19, 1314, he was burned at the stake, along with the leader of his order.<ref>141.—Stemler, Contingent zur Geschichte der Tcmplcr, pp. 20-1.—Raynouard,pp. 213-4, 233-5.—Wilcke, II. 236, 240.—Anton, Vcrsuch, p. 142</ref><ref>A History of the Inquisition of the Middle ages, Vol III by Henry Charles Lea, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888 p.324. Not in copyright. </ref>

===Second Period: 1349 to present===
In 1389 the French Bishop of Troyes, Pierre D'Arcis, wrote a letter to the Pope (Antipope Clement VII) detailing his complaints of a shroud "...upon which the whole likeness of the Saviour had remained thus impressed together with the wounds which He bore" was being exhibited at nearby Lirey; he further stated to the Pope of his belief that the shroud was a fraud, having found "[a man] procured for his church a certain cloth cunningly painted, upon which by a clever sleight of hand was depicted the twofold image of one man… falsely declaring and pretending that this was the actual shroud in which our Savior Jesus Christ was enfolded in the tomb." D'Arcis' predecessor, Henri de Poitiers, likewise was in a similar situation 35 years before, but did not launch an investigation into the matter; in his time he had concerns that the knight Geoffrey de Charny - who had just built the church at Lirey - was passing the relic off as the real shroud of the Lord. Whether or not de Charny was questioned about it is conjecture; he was killed in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. Also undetermined is his relationship with the earlier Templar knight. But the one thing that is certain is de Charny is the first documented owner of the Shroud.

His church at Lirey continued to exhibit the Shroud despite Bishop D'Arsis and those within the Church demanding that it cease displaying a "false relic," as they claimed. The Church would eventually - grudgingly - allow the exhibitions to continue, provided that they billed the cloth as a "representation" of Christ, and not the true burial shroud. A century after his death the Shroud was sold to the Savoy family of Italy, who had it brought to Turin where it resided ever since.<ref>http://www.shroudofturin4journalists.com/geoffrey.htm</ref> It was willed in the late 20th century to the [[Roman Catholic Church]], which has never taken a position for or against its authenticity.

== 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>

In 1988, [[carbon dating]] of a small snippet of the Shroud was performed and found with 95% certainty that the Shroud originated between 1260–1390 AD, thereby disproving any connection to Jesus of Nazareth, and corroborating with the emergence of the Shroud in the Middle Ages.

== The Lamb ==
According to a paper by Dr. Petrus Soons scientific research of some of the photographs of the shroud show an oval object under the beard of the image. After much research three cursive letters were identified and translated from the Hebrew. The meaning of the translation was, "The Lamb," a name in which Jesus was referred to in the New Testament.<ref>Dr. Soons Paper [http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache%3ACtDFWbA8AfIJ%3Awww.ohioshroudconference.com%2Fpapers%2Fp24.pdf+THE+SHROUD+OF+TURIN%2C+THE+HOLOGRAPHIC+EXPERIENCE+By+DR.+PETRUS+SOONS&hl=en&gl=us]</ref> This finding now makes the person on the shroud exclusively identified with Christ.

== Critics ==

Many of the arguments by modern skeptics against the authenticity of the Shroud have been debunked and disproven. For example, some claimed that a misspelling on one of the coins over an eye could not be authentic, but in fact otseveral other coins having the same misspelling have since been found.<ref name="Coins"/>

Over the centuries there have been critics and doubters of the Shroud being the authentic burial cloth of Jesus. One of the earliest unbelievers was Pierre d'Arcis, Bishop of Troyes who wrote a scathing letter to the pope in 1389 claiming that the Shroud was a "cunning" painting and that the artist had been discovered.<ref>The Shroud, Ian Wilson, 2010, page 102.</ref> An enemy of the Catholic Church, [[John Calvin]], repeatedly ranted against relics and he wrote against the Shroud in 1543:

:''"How is it possible that those sacred historians, who carefully related all the miracles that took place at Christ's death, should have omitted to mention one so remarkable as the likeness of the body of our Lord remaining on its wrapping sheet? This fact undoubtedly deserved to be recorded. St John, in his Gospel, relates even how St Peter, having entered the sepulchre, saw the linen clothes lying on one side, and the napkin that was about his head on the other; but he does not say that there was a miraculous impression of our Lord's figure upon these clothes, and it is not to be imagined that he would have omitted to mention such a work of God if there had been any thing of this kind."''<ref>[[John Calvin]]: ''Traité des Reliques'', Geneve 1543, translated by '''Valerian Krasinski''': ''A treatise on Relics'', Edingburgh 1854</ref>

The flaw in Calvin's argument, of course, is that the disciples had no reason to study the Shroud at the time, and no access to modern photographic equipment; they had far greater concerns during the chaotic period after Christ's Resurrection.

Another critic was the scientist [[Walter McCrone]] (1906-2002), who insisted that it was a painting; this possibility has been thoroughly disproven.<ref>[http://www.shroud.com/piczek.htm Disproof that the Shroud is a painting, as explained by a professional artist]</ref>

== Replication ==
Luigi Garlaschelli, professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia, announced that he had made a full size reproduction of the Shroud of Turin using only medieval technologies on October 5th, 2009. Garlaschelli placed a linen sheet over a volunteer and then rubbed it with an acidic pigment. The shroud was then aged in an oven before being washed to remove the pigment. He then added blood stains, scorches and water stains to replicate the original. The image on the reproduction would closely match that of the Turin Shroud with differences explained as the result of natural fading over the centuries.<ref>Italian scientist reproduces Shroud of Turin [http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5943HL20091005]</ref> But according to noted sindonologist Giulio Fanti, "the image in discussion does not match the main fundamental properties of the Shroud image, in particular at thread and fiber level but also at macroscopic level."<ref>[http://www.acheiropoietos.info/abstracts/talks-image_formation.html]</ref> Further criticism of Garlaschelli's replica has come from shroud scholars Peter Soons <ref>[http://shroudofturin.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/why-the-italian-fake-does-not-reproduce-the-shroud-of-turin/]</ref> and Thibault Heimburger.<ref>[http://www.shroud.com/pdfs/thibault-lg.pdf]</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
*[http://www.shroud.com/pdfs/guscin3.pdf Sermon of Gregory Referendarius, Archdeacon of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, August, 944]
*[http://www.shroudstory.com/shroud-of-turin-picture-01.htm Amazing Details about the Shroud]

[[Category:Christianity]]

Worst College Majors

2012-06-07T21:53:29Z

Tweedledum:

The '''worst college majors''' are fields of study that leave the student with relatively few job opportunities and often a distorted or ultra-[[liberal]] view of the world. Students incur an average debt in excess of $25,000 for attending college, and these college majors can leave such students without the ability to pay off their loans, which are typically not dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Adding insult to injury, [[liberal]] colleges have begun charging students more if they decline one of the '''Worst College Majors''', and study something of value instead.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-04-24/differential-tuition-increase-major/54513940/1</ref>

==Majors==
# [[Feminism|Women's studies]],<ref>"Women’s studies ... is disappearing from British universities. ... Students have begun to realise, too, that women’s studies is useless for getting you a job. It’s no coincidence that the subject’s collapse coincided with the introduction of tuition fees. The moment you start paying for something is the moment you consider whether it’s really worthwhile." [http://www.theinsider.com/news/639292_The_End_Of_Women_s_Studies_And_Other_Useless_Qualifications]</ref><ref>http://www.boundless.org/2000/features/a0000225.html</ref><ref>http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/why-is-gender-studies-dominated-by-one-gender-1.289830</ref> sometimes included as part of "gender studies"<ref>http://www.whitman.edu/content/genderstudies</ref>
# Film<ref name=georgetown>[http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/whatsitworth-complete.pdf What's It Worth?] Georgetown University, July 2011</ref>
# Puppetry
# Music Therapy<ref name="georgetown" />
# Dance<ref name="georgetown" />
# Interior Design<ref name="yahoolist" />
# Art History<ref name=yahoolist>[http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/110196/20-worst-paying-college-degrees-in-2010 20 Worst-Paying College Degrees in 2010] Yahoo! Finance, 08/12/2010</ref>
# Sequential Art<ref>http://www.scad.edu/sequential-art/index.cfm</ref>
# Surf Science and Technology<ref>http://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/1645/Pages/CourseOverview.aspx</ref>
# Golf Management – University of Birmingham / Florida Gulf Coast University
# Journalism <ref>http://www.foxbusiness.com/slideshow/personal-finance/2010/06/28/worst-fields-graduates/#slide=4</ref>
# Psychology<ref name="georgetown" />
# Fashion Design
# Theater<ref name="georgetown" />
# Horticulture<ref name="yahoolist" />
# Human Resources<ref name="yahoolist" />
# Photography<ref name="georgetown" />
# Video Game Design<ref>One observer noted that not even the video game industry typically hires people who majored in video game design.</ref>
# Forestry/Range Management/Wildlife Management
# Environmental Studies
# Outdoor Recreation
# Fine Arts<ref>http://www.artcareer.net/faqs/job-market-outlook-for-artists-and-designers/</ref><ref name="yahoolist" />
# Sociology
# History of Music
# Climatology
# Comparative Religion
# Gaming Management<ref name="cat">[http://www.umac.mo/iscg/courses/gmdiphome.html 10 Worst College Majors for Employment]</ref>

(please add to the list)

==Courses==
# Understanding Obama - Harvard Law School <ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/harvard-law-offering-understanding-obama-course-taught-by-obama-mentor/</ref>
# Revolutionary Marxism - Portland State University <ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/portland-state-university-offering-revolutionary-marxism-course-and-wait-until-you-see-the-syllabus/ </ref>
# Why Occupy Wall Street? The History and Politics of Debt and Finance - New York University <ref>[http://weaselzippers.us/2011/12/09/n-y-u-to-offer-classes-on-occupy-wall-street/ N.Y.U. To Offer Classes On Occupy Wall Street, Weasel Zippers, December 9, 2011]</ref>
# Occupy the Field: Global Finance, Inequality, Social Movement - Columbia University <ref>[http://michellemalkin.com/2012/01/02/occupy-101/ Columbia University to Offer ‘Occupy 101′ Course, January 2, 2012]</ref>
# Football Culture
# Queer Musicology – UCLA
# The Science of Harry Potter – Frostburg University <ref>CBS News: ''Harry Potter Goes To College: Professor Uses Boy Wizard To Explores Links Between Magic, Science'', by Bootie Cosgrove-Mather, Sept. 26, 2003 [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/19/national/main584456.shtml] ''...Frostburg State President Catherine R. Gira said she isn't worried that some may view a Harry Potter class as trivial. "Irrespective of the specific title of the course, the 'magic' in the fiction is being analyzed by applying concepts of physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. This honors course creatively packages scientific principles in a contemporary way that will interest today's students," Gira said.''</ref>
# Native American Feminism - University of Michigan
# Cyber Feminism - Cornell University
# Feminist New Black Man - Occidental College <ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvlL_lDk4ko Jason Mattera At CPAC, YouTube]</ref>
# Philosophy and Star Trek – Georgetown University in Washington <ref> [http://courses.georgetown.edu/index.cfm?Action=View&CourseID=PHIL-180 Georgetown University Course Listing]</ref>
# The Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Odyssey of Jay-Z – Georgetown University <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/#ixzz1fPkYhzqX Jay-Z's street rhymes a Georgetown college course]</ref>
# Emotional Literacy<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1076368/Schools-councils-waste-300-000-useless-emotional-literacy-course-faraway-island-sun.html</ref>
# Media Genres, the study of zombies - University of Baltimore <ref>[http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/university-of-baltimore-pop-culture-class-focuses-on-zombies/19625044?test=latestnews College Course Preps Pupils for Zombie Apocalypse, AOL News, September 9, 2010]</ref>
# The Science of Superheroes - UC Irvine <ref>[http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/11/14/the-top-8-california-schools-that-are-like-totally-wasting-your-money/ The Top 8 California Schools that Are, Like, Totally Wasting Your Money, NewsRealBlog, November 14, 2010]</ref>
# Field Equipment Operation (tractor driving) - UC Davis
# Hip Hop: The Politics of Culture - UC San Diego
# History of Surfing - UC Santa Barbara
# Labor Studies - UM Saint Louis & UM Kansas City <ref>[http://www.thehotjoints.com/2011/04/25/video-college-course-teaches-violent-union-tactics/ Video: College Course Teaches Violent Union Tactics, The Hot Joints, April 25, 2011]</ref>
# Arguing with Judge Judy - UC Berkeley
# Self-Esteem - Cal State Fresno
# Gaga for Lady Gaga: Sex, Gender, and Identity- University of Virginia-Charlottesville<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/10/lady-gaga-college-class_n_712540.html</ref>
# Pilot Brewery (brewmaster) - UC Davis
# Search for Extraterrestial Intelligence - UC Berkeley
# Ecology of Renewable Natural Resources - Texas Tech University <ref>[http://www.depts.ttu.edu/officialpublications/courses/NRM.php Texas Tech University Course Listing]</ref>
# Introduction to social networking

== External Links ==

*[http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/Unemployment.Final.update1.pdf Unemployment rates and earnings for college majors - Georgetown University report - 2012]
* [http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/whatsitworth-complete.pdf What's It Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors] - Comprehensive report at [[Georgetown University]] website
* [http://learnfinancialplanning.com/best-worst-college-majors-degree/ Best and Worst College Majors]
* [http://www.toptenz.net/to-10-useless-college-classes-degrees.php Top 10 Useless College Degrees & Classes]
* [http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/10-college-majors-lowest-unemployment-rates-163049193.html College majors with lowest unemployment]
[[Category:college]]
[[Category:education]]

== References ==

<references/>