Shroud of Torin Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Shroud of Torin - Research Paper Example Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth that bears the image of a tortured and crucified person and that is believed by many people to be the actual cloth that wrapped Jesus Christ during his burial. The authenticity of the Shroud of Turin has been a subject of a very controversial debate; the proponents of the Shroud of Turin argue that the Shroud of Turin is indeed the real cloth that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was wrapped in during his burial, while the critiques of the Shroud of Turin on the other hand dismiss the Shroud of Turin as a medieval Christian hoax meant to win Christianity more converts (Stapylton, 2003). This paper looks at the history of the Shroud of Turin, and also at the controversies that characterize the history of the Shroud. And since the History of the Shroud of Turin is too broad to be covered in this paper, the paper focuses on the highlights of the history of the Shroud of Turin. At the end of the paper, an objective conclusion is made based on the history and the debates on the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. For better analysis of the history of the Shroud of Turin, the history of the Shroud of Turin can be divided into two periods. The first period is before the year 1350, and the second period is after the year 1350. Researchers are agreed that the year 1350 is the beginning of the documented history of the Shroud of Turin (Shroud History, n.d.). But the period before 1350 is quite controversial; some scholars are of the view that the Shroud of Turin existed even before 1350 while other scholars, basing their evidence on Carbon dating, believe that the origin of the Shroud of Turin can be traced in the medieval period. But before we get into the debate of the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, let us first look at the documented history of the Shroud of Turin. The following are the significant events in the history of the Shroud of Turin as documented by the Shroud Historian Ian Wilson (1978). According to the d ocumented history of the Shroud, Geoffrey de Charny, a French knight, is mentioned as the person who was first found with the Shroud of Turin (Wilson, 1978). In the year 1349, Geoffrey had written to pope Clement V1 expressing his wish to build a church in honour of the Holy Trinity. Geoffrey had been a prisoner of the English and he claimed that the Holy Trinity had miraculously saved him from the English prison. The pope gave him the permission to build the church and Geoffrey built it at Lirey in France. Geoffrey is said to have been in possession of the Shroud of Turin during this time and he kept the Shroud in the Church that he built at Lirey. Some people have argued that Geoffrey had got the Shroud from Constantinople; while other people disagree with this view (Shroud History, n.d). The first public exposition of the Shroud of Turin was done in 1355 at the church that Geoffrey had built at Lirey in France. Bishop Henri, however, was quite sceptical of the Shroud and he order ed that the expositions be halted. The expositions were halted and the Shroud was hidden away. In the year 1356, Geoffrey and his wife died, but the Shroud remained in the family of Geoffrey. In the year 1389, King Charles V1 of France requested the bailiff of Troyes to seize the Shroud at lirey and deposit in another church in Lirey waiting further decisions on the Shroud from the king (Shroud History,