What I don't get is why it matters. Let's say the Shroud is proven to be a pious fraud, that all the things skeptics say about it turn out to be true and verifiable to the extent that even the most ardent authenticity supporters admit they got it wrong. Do we imagine for one minute that this is going to damage anyone's belief in Jesus?
Similarly, if the Shroud were shown to be authentic (in that it is the burial cloth of the Jesus of the Gospel narrative), are we seriously to expect mass conversions to Christianity? It would do nothing to prove the divinity of Jesus, or the miracles claimed for Jesus, or, well, anything other than that he was wrapped in this particular cloth.
The whole thing smacks of desperation.
Boru
Similarly, if the Shroud were shown to be authentic (in that it is the burial cloth of the Jesus of the Gospel narrative), are we seriously to expect mass conversions to Christianity? It would do nothing to prove the divinity of Jesus, or the miracles claimed for Jesus, or, well, anything other than that he was wrapped in this particular cloth.
The whole thing smacks of desperation.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
