Science
Written by Michael Murphy for the October newsletter.
The shroud of Turin is something that I have always been interested in, a linen cloth that is supposed to be the one that Jesus was wrapped in after His death on the cross. Currently, the Vatican is in possesion of it and only allows for the occasional public viewing. Obviously, there are many questions surrounding the relic, however, the idea that Jesus’ burial wrappings are still around is very exciting to me. In the late 80s the shroud was allowed to be tested for carbon dating to find out how long this linen had been around. Much to the surprise to the Catholic Church, who was allowing it to be tested because of its confidence in its validity, the shroud dated only back to between the 1300s to 1400s. Of course, this didn’t stop some people in believing that the shroud was still real. Some of those people continued researching, hoping to find a clue as to why the carbon date was off. It paid off. Evidence was more recently found that the shroud was actually repaired during that time period and the part that was tested was contained the newer threads in addition to the original material.
It seems like everytime there is stong evidence to disprove the ideas around God and Jesus, there seems to be new science that says ‘hold up a minute’! Take evolution for instance: it seems that there is just enough evidence to say creation is possible, but also just enough to make you want to second guess it. There are so many questions like that. How old is the world? What year was Jesus born? It’s hard to say because there’s compelling evidence on every side.
Recently, I’ve been wondering if this is actually on purpose. My question is, did God make the evidence so undeciding that it’s left up to the individual’s heart to decide? This then becomes a matter of faith, not science. Thomas was given a small compliment followed by a small cut down, because he had to see to belive. What if all of the evidence is so ‘half and half’ because it was designed to be that way? Many of us know what the truth is, but for different reasons (laziness, fear, embarassment) choose to not move forward and take the next step of faith.