Tuesday.....International.....Shroud of Turin?

An Italian scientist announced that he has reproduced a replica of the Shroud of Turin using simple methods with materials that would have been available in the years 1260 AD to 1390AD that carbon dating had determined the cloth to originate from. Luigi Garlaschelli, a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia admitted that he was funded by an organization composed of atheists and agnostics. He will shortly present his experiment to an Italian paranormal society for their conclusion. Internet photos of the shroud look strikingly similar to the original that is kept in Turin Cathedral. Pigments, acid and heating were used on linen that a model, wearing a mask, was lying beneath. Many will wait with baited breath for the paranormal society's finding. If memory serves, there were herbs found on the shroud that were prevalent in the Middle East. The Roman Catholic church, that never officially authenticated the shroud, claims that the Knights Templar protected the shroud and this is consistent with my belief that they probably produced it also. Christians have a lot of differing opinions on many doctrines. Would you expect anything less than that? If there were one set of dogma on non-essential doctrine that was accepted by everyone then the possibility of one visible church would be a probability. That church would assume absolute powers, to protect the gospel of course, and we would eventually have religious tyranny. No, the different denominations are problematic in many ways, but necessary for we keep each other in check on the essentials of the Christian Faith. We are in a situation now where denominations that are within orthodoxy, though differing in much doctrine, have a bonding and a unity with each other while recognizing the aberrant, the heterodox and heresy. As for the shroud, an image of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Savior, is inconsistent with the emphasis that the Bible speaks of in evidenceof things not seen, and would be consistent with the warnings the Bible gives through Paul in Galatians 1:8,9 but even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. A genuine shroud of our Lord, would not increase our faith that is generated in us by God's Spirit, for it could not. It would though, increase our faith in a tangible image which is the basis for the warning from Galatians. The Bible will continue to be attacked in every venue possible. It always has, it always will. We come into this world with our eyes blinded to the gospel. We could read the Bible through 100 times and it would not matter. God opens our eyes and its words leap from the pages. If you do not know this, open your Bible and ask for God's mercy in understanding it. As you progress, we would certainly differ in various things. And it would be wonderful, for we would not differ in who Jesus Christ is, and that is everything.