Created by Light? Fascinated by the Shroud of Turin.

      Last night, I watched CNN's Finding Jesus. You can watch last night's episode at CNN. I was very impressed with the presentation, and although I despise obnoxious commercial breaks, I stuck around for the show. 
    The image on the Shroud has always been a part of my everyday life because I was raised Catholic and there was never a shortage of Catholic literature or imagery in my home, consequently, I took it for granted.
     But about 30 years ago, around the age of 20, I read a book about the Shroud of Turin, and I was convinced it was authentic. (For the life of me though, I cannot remember who wrote the book). However, a multitude of books exists if you want to learn more about the shroud.
     By the way, I love ordering books online, and my favorite book dealer is Alibris. They can find rare and out of print books for you. So if you are interested in reading about the Shroud of Turin, or another title, take a peek at the many great deals sold at the online store Alibris.
     This relic has probably been studied more than any other relic in the world, and rightly so, it could be the image of our savior, and the first known photograph, or at least it appears to be a photograph. And on last night's episode, CNN's Finding Jesus, the producers demonstrate just how it could have been done using a camera obscura and light.
     For me, a skeptic by nature, it is the real image of Christ, but I'm not here to try to convince anyone. When it comes to evangelizing, I'll share my faith, but I'll always revert to Jesus own words when sharing the gospel or anything related.
     In the 20th chapter of the gospel of John, vs. 29, "... Jesus [said], 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.' Another favorite quote used by my mother during my most unbelieving years is by St. Thomas Aquinas: "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible".
     But back to the Shroud of Turin---let's look at the image on the shroud. It has bugged scientists for years. Even the most distinguished scientists can't figure out how the image got there, but they do feel certain that it was created by light in a photographic way. And that in itself is awe-inspiring.

     The history of the Shroud of Turin is down right captivating, especially for me as a photographer. I'm all too familiar with light sensitive materials used in the photographic process, and as an aside, I love asides, I would love to introduce you to the process, so please allow me to slip this cool site, Making a photograph, from the Smithsonian institute's National portrait gallery, into this blog.
     Alrighty, back to the Shroud and it's mysterious photographic properties. A concept that really enticed me in my youth was from the book about the Shroud that I read years ago. The author presented the fact that some scientists who have studied the shroud have introduced the cool notion of the similarities between the shroud image and the permanent shadows made when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII in 1945. Google it some time, it's very interesting.
     Both permanent images needed bursts of brilliant light to create the representations. I like to imagine the big bang as the same energy and burst of light as God's Holy Spirit spoke the universe into existence. 
    That same energy, God's brilliant and Holy light---was used to raise Jesus from the dead, and it left the permanent image of his brutally tortured body on the burial cloth---the shroud of Turin.
     Now Man, Jesus torturers, scripture tells us, is made in the image of God. But Man, who certainly seems evil by default---we Catholics call that original sin---sometimes uses his God given intelligence for the bad---hence war and destruction. Why is that? There are lots of paradoxes in the history of man. Perhaps I'll discuss that in another blog. Until then, I'll continue to be utterly fascinated by the Shroud of Turin.