Theo 101 Christian Theological Tradition
Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk
1. Intro to historian’s craft.
2. Course requirements &
structure.
3. Divine revelation.
4. Divine inspiration of scripture.
Shroud of Turin
• Mk 15:46: “Joseph
bought a linen
cloth, and taking
down the body,
wrapped it in the
linen cloth, and
laid it in a tomb
that had been
hewn out of the
rock.”
Lk 24: 12: “But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and
looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves.”
Face of Christ on the Shroud of Turin
Icon of Christ (6th c) compared to the Image on the Shroud
12 Mandylion & Shroud compared
Domenico Fetti, The Veil of Veronica, c. 1618/1622
The fourth crusade evidence
Questions
types of tests
findings/ conclusions
What is
depicted?
photography
Image looks like a negative. Bruises on the forehead and breast. Blood on the
wrists, perhaps from nails (authentic).
criminology
Blood from nails is not on the palms of the hands, unlike most Medieval images.
Blood is on the wrist. The shroud image is anatomically accurate. It was not based
on medieval paintings. No signs of decay of the body (authentic).
Who could this
possibly be?
Biblical record
Jn 19: 40, 20: 5-6. The cloth is left after the disappearance of Jesus from the
tomb.
Place?
micro-biology
Pieces of pollen from different plants where found on the surface of the shroud.
Their corresponding habitats intersect in Jerusalem (authentic).
Nature of
image?
Is it a painting?
chemical analysis
No traces of paint found (authentic).
The cloth was damaged by fire in
the 16th c.
Date?
Physics: carbon –
14 testing.
history
Historical record?
history, archeology
Approx date of 1260-1390. A small sample, damaged by fire, was used. Some
scientists think carbon-14 dating is unreliable (fake)
Pieces of cloth like this were used in the 1st c. Palestine. Problem: no image of
any kind on those ancient cloths (authentic)
Image of Christ “Not made by Hands.” Veronica’s handkerchief. Mandylion. King Abgar
of Edessa legend. Problem: these are facial, not full-body images. Mandylion travels
from Edessa to Jerusalem, Constantinople. Stolen from Constantinople in 1204.
Recovered as Shroud in the estate of Geoffrey de Charny, who was a relative of the
famous knight Templar, executed in the beginning of the 14th c. (authentic?)
First know exposition of the Shroud was held in Lirey, France, in 1353/5. this agrees with
carbon-14 dating (fake).
No record of its veneration in the second century. No record in the fourth-fifth centuries
which were known for their archeological findings (fake).
There were lots of forgeries in the Medieval period. (fake).
The remains of the recently discovered first-century shroud in the Old City of Jerusalem
do not match the texture of the Turin Shroud (fake)
How did the
image get on the
shroud?
Bottom line: we do not know. A miracle? Super fast Radiation (purely
speculative)? If it is a forgery, we cannot reproduce it.
Shroud’s Lessons
• Historian’s task: the search for “what really
happened.”
• Theology is the forum for all sciences
• God respects our freedom
• Believers are invited to become like a shroud
Course requirements
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Participation, participation, participation
And participation again!
Quizzes
First paper
Exam 1
Course web site
Second paper
Exam 2
Course structure
• Bible
– Old Testament
– New Testament
• History of Christianity, periods:
–
–
–
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Early
Middle Ages
Reformation
Modernity
Divine Revelation
• General
– Through nature
– Through conscience
• Special (some examples)
– In prophecy
– In mystical experience
– In history
Divine inspiration of the Bible: three
views
1. Verbal inspiration (inerrancy, fundamentalism).
2. Secular view.
3. Middle position.