THE BOOK
Scripture and Jewish burial Customs
‘At the outset, it must be realized that my conclusions that the Man of the
Shroud was washed prior to placement on the Shroud is solely on a scientific
basis. The following thoughts regarding scriptural support are presented with the
full realization that I am not an expert in this area.
However, my intention in presenting the following scriptural comments is
merely an attempt to show that there is scriptural support for the washing
hypothesis. Ian Wilson’s presumption that many scriptural scholars believe Jesus
was washed because they based their assumptions on the passage from St. John’s
Gospel! “They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with spices and in linen
cloths following the Jewish burial customs (John 19:40)” is obviously correct
because the passage is completely straight forward and clear in its interpretation.
The evidence in favour of burial according to Jewish burial customs includes St.
John’s Gospel (John 19:40), the Lost Gospel of Peter, ..... the strong probability of
an object (shard) such as a coin over the eyes, the use of burial spices (John
19:39), and the wrapping in a shroud (19:40). Rabbi Dan Cohn Sherbok of the
University of Kent in England related that it was a legal obligation not only to
enshroud the body but to wash and anoint it as well even on the sabbath (“Jewish
Shroud of Turin”, Expository Times, 1981). However, Wilson’s statement that
“Only on the view that Jesus was not washed can the authenticity of the Shroud of
Turin be upheld” basing it on the fact that there was not enough time to perform
the washing since the Sabbath was at hand is completely untenable. A complete
washing of the body accompanied by a shortened ritual can be accomplished in
minutes.
A piece of controversial scriptural evidence although not accepted by all
religious scholars concerns The Last Gospel According to Peter, ... which is hereby
submitted because of its definitive statement regarding the fact that Jesus was
washed prior to being placed on the shroud: “And he took the Lord and washed
him, and rolled him in a linen cloth, and brought him to his own tomb, which was
called the Garden of Joseph.’
Reader, other voices state that, because of the approaching dusk, a matter of urgency existed at the time with the need to get permission from the Roman authorities to take down the body of Jesus for burial before night fell. And that therefore, there may not have been sufficient time to perform a ‘customary’ Jewish burial before dusk set in. Whilst we do not here have a definitive opinion from a recognised Jewish religious source as to whether Judaism believes the Shroud to be genuine or a fake, the information around burial customs offers us at least something from the “chosen race”.
What we can tell you, reader --- is that from the Akashic Chronicle, [i.e., The Pages of Time] --- after the body of Jesus was removed from His tomb by an especial few Disciples; before it was permanently sealed in its present location: Yes, then yes, His body was cleansed, embalmed with herbs and spices, and wrapped in new linen.
[Along with many relevant accounts from the past that we will feature in PART IV, we may perhaps recount the full picture of Jesus’s final placement in a “sealed cavern” --- and by whom.]
It was originally thought that this Shroud was a complete hoax, especially since the scientific world had initially dated the fabric of the Shroud to the middle of the second millennium. However, in early 2005, one of the scientists from that panel –- just a few weeks before his death --– testified that the part of the fabric that had been dated was actually patchwork that had been carefully added to replace worn-out and/or fire-damaged parts of the Shroud, and that the Shroud itself could be anywhere between 1500 and 3000 years old! Given that the image “fits” with Christ’s Crucifixion, it is not likely to go back in time further than the date of His execution.
The scientific world has essentially concluded that the Shroud was indeed once used to cover a body that had been tortured and then crucified exactly as Christ was reported to have been. However, scientists cannot verify that this Shroud was the one used to wrap Jesus’s body shortly after His death. This is quite understandably the natural limit of science, which relies far too heavily on empirical evidence without at the same time exercising the power of the spiritual intuition. Nevertheless, we should not ascribe any blame to the “Shroud scientists” who have done the world a great service by presenting the results of their analyses and keeping the “mystery” well to the fore in the public’s mind.
An interesting and beautifully-logical observation by McNair (after Meacham) ‘contends that such an exact concordance [the wound and blood-flow patterns on the Shroud] could hardly be coincidental’: “it seems to me otiose, if not ridiculous, to spend time arguing . . . . about the identity of the man in the Turin Shroud. Whether genuine or fake, the representation is obviously Jesus Christ.” A marvellous statement that cuts through the “prattle”; McNair is one of the few who has gotten to the heart of it all.
For the “Stigmata-wounds” on Christ’s body that are clearly distinguishable on the Turin Shroud surely reveal a clear Truth. In clear concert, what is especially striking to this writer is the death-demeanour of the “face” on the Shroud. Clearly imprinted like a photograph on the fabric, an understated “Power” emanates from the “spiritually-serene” face. Moreover, reader: The “face” on the Shroud, upon whom your gaze rests, quite clearly does not possess classic Jewish features. Yet Christian and Jewish tradition tells us that “He was born a Jew”. So: Should we dismiss it out of hand on the basis of generally accepted cultural/facial features that pertain to the Jewish race?
In truth: If --- there’s that key word again --- this truly is the “face” of Jesus, then the historical narrative from the time of Mary’s pregnancy has absolute credibility, for it gives us a mix of earthly races where Jesus is concerned. I can hear it now! Blasphemy, they will cry! How dare you! Nonetheless, convenient religious narratives have no place where the Truth of a given matter is concerned. Therefore, to clarify the content of this Discourse further, let’s revisit a key point from Discourse 5, precisely about the earthly “face” of Jesus!
‘In its earthly aspect, the historical record from that time shows that the “chosen earthly father” for the pregnancy which would “house” the Divine Core of Jesus was known to many, hence the inclusion into the historical/Biblical narrative. Indeed, Mary was vilified by her “people” because of her association with a man when out of wedlock, and hence Joseph’s disquiet.’
As we wrote there, also, what has long been known as the Akashic Record or Book of Life --- whereupon all that happens is imprinted thereupon --- thus holds the life of Jesus too. The publication, “From Past Millennia”, has the very point we need to give Spiritual clarity to this vital subject.
From Discourse 5, Sub-Section --- The Earthly Father of Jesus --- we repeat the key conversation between Jesus and Mark.
Again he looked at Jesus and said once more: “It as though the young soldier
was standing before me again today, so strong is the resemblance. That is also
what makes you seem so different from all Jews. You have the face of a Roman.
You have the pride of a Roman! But there is something else besides, something
which I cannot describe, but which drew me to you irresistibly!”
Jesus smiled at Mark’s words and said: “That is the Light I bring to the world so I
say unto you: I am the Truth and the Life. NO MAN COMETH TO THE FATHER BUT
BY ME!”
Then, deeply shaken, Mark fell on his knees before Jesus and wept. And Jesus
accepted him as a disciple. ----------------------------------
Even though the Turin Shroud is revered as a sacred memento of Christ’s Life, it is more especially about His death! Since only Christ is recorded as having had a death that exactly matches the scientific analyses of the Shroud, it can be concluded that it is most likely the very Shroud in which the body of Jesus was wrapped! To that end, what can we state about the object from the scientific standpoint that makes it really “fit”? Despite numerous theories and actual experiments about how the image might have been produced, nothing “man-made” has been able to approximate even the tiniest aspect of the “image”.
Let’s seriously consider the following notion: The very fact that such an ancient piece of cloth has actually survived to the present-day might just have some very especial reason that reaches far beyond just purely scientific considerations. For if it really is the “Burial Shroud of Jesus” --- the word, if, being solely for the purposes of this discussion --- and given the fact that the “image” is reported to be “fading”; the fact that it has undergone intense scrutiny for decades might just “spiritually-suggest” that the very purpose of such ongoing analyses may have actually served a “Divine purpose” at the very time in human history that was prophesied to be the “last days” for most. Isaiah: --- “Few men left”.
So a singularly-significant icon of extreme importance that has survived 2 millennia of wars, fire, loss and retrieval; upon which, latterly, the world’s attention has been focussed, may now have served its ultimate purpose: That of the surest and clearest proof that Jesus lived and died exactly as the historical narrative states. And for the human race, a singular “sign” gifted to us and upon which we might make a final, individual choice about it; to accept what is there, or to reject!
For in terms of any “ostensible mystery” surrounding the seemingly strange but defining imprint of the “image” on the Shroud, it should not be deemed a mystery at all. If as we suggest; that the iconic ‘Shroud” is meant to serve a greater purpose than just simple human curiosity --- before the image is lost to us forever --- then how the image was produced becomes the greatest aspect of the Power that produced it; for the reason why quite naturally follows as a simple and subsequent consequence of the first. So, let’s more closely examine this particular thread.
If we can get it into our heads that the Divine Power of Jesus was naturally “housed” in the physical body which served as the ‘cloak’ for His lifetime on earth, and that that inherent Power could not be easily contained, then it is surely a simple step to further understand that His whole Being was completely suffused with that “radiative Power”. He knew when healing powers were leaving Him, such as the case of the woman who simply “touched His robes” to “heal” her bleeding. And the many “miracles”, recorded by several chroniclers, obviously required a degree of Power that no human could emulate. After His death, that “Divine Power” was no longer contained or restrained as He exited His “earthly cloak, which Power thus “burned” into the Shroud in which His earthly body was wrapped.
The key to that reality is also recorded in the Gospels when, immediately post-Crucifixion, He warned His Disciples not to touch Him because of the unrestrained Power of His non-physical body --- the Ethereal body --- He now “wore”. Think! Think! Think, people!
The dense, material/physical body has the quite natural effect of dampening the “radiative effects” of the “inner”, less dense but more refined, more mobile, “other bodies”. That Creation-Law reality means that here we can employ both the “necessary spiritual” and the “correct scientific” --- in perfect harmony --- to literally illuminate the answer to this great question of “the image on the Shroud”.
So now we move to a definitive merging of “spiritual knowledge” and scientific theory to arrive at the conclusive answer. In this case, that residual radiation emanating from the body of Jesus provides the key to understanding how His features were suffused on the fabric of the Shroud! “Residual radiation”: We, too, possess the same, but not anywhere near the level of the Divine Power inherent in Jesus.
Ours is a “spiritual” radiation only. And that is precisely why science, on its own, could never come to any final conclusion as to exactly how the Shroud was imprinted, because the process was a Lawful one, but generated and driven by the Divine Power that had come to earth in Christ!
IAN WILSON’S ESPECIAL INSIGHT
In his book, The Turin Shroud, on pages 279-80; Ian Wilson muses over exactly this quandary.
“The obvious question is how a genuine dead body, cold in the tomb, could produce some kind of burning or radiance sufficient to scorch cloth, acting in so controlled a manner that it dissolved and fused blood-flows onto the cloth, yet created at the same time the perfect impression of a human body. ... something along those lines appears to be the only explanation.”
That effect was first noted in World War II when the Hiroshima bomb produced, at the moment of detonation, the ‘prints of shadows that had been cast by its light’, and a few vague ‘human silhouettes’ gave credence to a radiative-process being responsible for the image on the Shroud. On pages 280- 1, Wilson writes:
“The Shroud was ... seemingly scorched from within rather than from
without, and by a process of necessity far more controlled than the
blast from an atomic bomb. ...the impression is inescapable that
rather than a substance, some kind of force seems to be responsible
for the image. ... Whatever formed the image was powerful enough
to project it onto the linen from a distance of up to four centimetres
(according to Jumper and Jackson), yet gentle enough not to cause
distortion in areas where there would have been direct contact.
The idea, then, of some form of thermonuclear flash being the force in
question is obviously more than idle speculation.
...whatever caused the image must have been some extremely high
intensity, short duration burst, acting evenly upward and
downward. Thermal chemist Ray Rogers of the Los Alamos Scientific
Laboratory [actively involved in the testing of the Shroud], [used the
words], ‘flash photolysis’ [in] a mere millisecond of time.”
[Emphases and parenthetic addition mine.]
We know that The Gospels explicitly describe Jesus as ‘a man with a power’, a Power specifically recorded as being drawn from Him; and a man who worked miracles. From pages 282-3: The Turin Shroud.
“It was perhaps a manifestation of this power which took place at the Transfiguration -– the extraordinary incident described by three Gospel writers when, on a high mountain, the aspect of Jesus’s face changed and He appeared in brilliant light, his clothing ‘dazzlingly white’ and ‘as lightning’.” ...
We would aver that the Transfiguration of Jesus described by His Disciples points not to any element of ecstatic religious fervour on their part, but to a Creation-Law Event gifted only to human beings sufficiently worthy to receive such an experience. The three Gospel writers concerned were clearly deemed “sufficiently worthy”. Wilson continues:
“Even from the limited available information, a hypothetical glimpse of
the power operating at the moment of creation of the Shroud’s image
may be ventured. In the darkness of the Jerusalem tomb the dead
body of Jesus lay, unwashed, covered in blood, on a stone slab.
Suddenly, there is a burst of mysterious power from it. In that
instant, the blood dematerializes, dissolved perhaps by the flash, while
its image and that of the body becomes indelibly fused onto the cloth,
preserving for posterity a literal ‘snapshot’ of the [spiritual]
Resurrection.”
(All emphases mine.)
So, the actual answer? Well, reader: What you very recently read in the exchange between Jesus and Mark provides it vis-à-vis: “But there is something else besides, something which I cannot describe, but which drew me to you irresistibly!”
Jesus replied: “That is the Light I bring into the world...”
When we speak of the Light of Jesus, we must really understand that it is The Light of Divine Power; something that cannot exist separately by Itself down here. The “Power” of God obviously can for it is present in all life. But only in a Part of God living on earth can it manifest to its greatest degree! Thus it was in Jesus! And there we have it!
Yet even without the incomparable knowledge of Imanuel’s All-Truth that we are tasked to Proclaim; on the great “mystery” of the “Shroud image”, Ian Wilson has nonetheless “got it in one”! And therein lies an interesting thought. Throughout history, certain individuals have been incarnated whose primary purpose was to take the human race into regions that challenge and awaken us to greater realities of Truth than “what had gone before” --- even if it had been so for centuries.
In my view, Ian Wilson is such a person. Irrespective of whatever else he may have written about, his great spiritual insight in just that one especial book sets him apart from the bulk of “everyday” humanity.
With that correct statement, his small paperback thus becomes the key carrier for the Truth of the “image” on The Shroud of Turin --- more so than all the other treatises and theories propounded by science. Should the Shroud image now fade into oblivion, Ian Wilson’s book will stand as one of the Shroud’s true witness for as long as humans are on this earth. Reader, do we think that such statements smack of overly dramatic prose? On the question of the Shroud Image, we certainly do not think so.
DR. RICHARD STEINPACH CONCURS
However, to add definitive weight to Wilson’s correct determination, we include part of an essay by Dr Richard Steinpach: The Falsified Shroud. From the knowledge of The Grail Message, Dr Steinpach wrote key essays about the “great questions to life”. His ability to delve deeply into The All-Truth and extract more from Its Sublime Knowledge than most other adherents means that in the case of the Turin Shroud, he has clarified not just the “non-earthly” aspect of the quandary surrounding it, but also a key and contentious scientific issue, the radio-carbon dating of it. The procedure undertaken on the Shroud and the results produced therefrom produced much controversy. Little common ground was found for a definitive, collective statement from the scientific community. Dr Steinpach explains why!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
‘The radio-carbon method --- initially developed by William Libby --- is based
on the fact that through the cosmic radiation entering into the atmosphere, a radio-
active carbon isotope (C 14) is produced among other things. It disintegrates at a
half-life of 5370 (+ or - 40) years. Production and disintegration in the atmosphere
remain in balance. This applies also to every living organism, which together with
the carbon dioxide in the air, also absorbs this isotope. When it dies, however, no
further uptake takes place. This allows us to determine the age of an article,
counting backwards from the amount of C 14 which is still present, or rather which
the material expended, within a tolerance of + or – 100 years. Three laboratories,
in Zurich, Oxford and Tucson (Arizona) undertook these tests totally independent of
each other. At the end of September 1988 the result filtered through. It was
surprising, more than that, sensational. In absolute unison, the test had resulted in
a time of origin of the linen cloth between 1200 and 1390. The newspapers
reported in Banner-headlines: “The shroud of Turin is a middle-age forgery.”
Archbishop Cardinal Ballestrero of Turin was quick to explain only a few days
later to the world-press, that the church would accept the verdict of the scientists
and not cast any doubt upon it. The shroud would in future be venerated only as a
picture, but no longer as a relic.
This must appear a conclusion, which is as incomprehensible as it is hasty.
Favouring just one solitary method of testing, all the results up to that time were
brushed aside.
None of the doubts were removed in this way, on the contrary, they simply
increased and shifted over. Accordingly, could all the examiners to date have been
wrong? Were all their authoritative assessments, and their convictions based on
these, all mistaken?
But above all:
What technical skill --- surpassing all modern sciences --- must this “Forger”
in the Middle-Ages have possessed, who found it possible to create this negative-
image, without any identifiable chemical substance, which corresponded to all the
medical and historical conditions of the Passion of the Redeemer which, taking into
consideration the distances between various parts of the body, centuries later
made a three dimensional picture possible and which had to be put onto the
surface of a piece of linen, on which was found flower pollen from Palestine?
Question after question remains open. But in reality they don’t even exist.
Because the results of the tests on the material under the radio-carbon method, fit
effortlessly into all that has gone before. More than that, they complement and
corroborate the latter –-- as long as one interprets them correctly, which means
taking into account the peculiarity of the event in question, which is being
considered here.
To determine time in accordance with the method of radio-carbon dating [we
need to understand that it] is actually subject to fluctuations. It is totally dependent
on the strength of the cosmic radiation, which produces the C 14 isotope. This was
not the same during all periods of the history of the earth. Depending on this, too
high a radio carbon content of the air would then deceive us with too low an age,
which would be especially obvious, if the fluctuations concerned were of a short
duration, A deviation of only 10% can change the dating calculation by about 800
years, (so says Dr. Hans E. Suess, in an essay on the subject.)
With this we are not saying that the results of the three institutions which
undertook the tests on the shroud were mistaken in this respect. Science has long
been able to take these fluctuations of cosmic radiation into account. This is not
even what is at issue here. The above explanations do show, however, that
according to scientific opinion, the amount of radiocarbon produced depends on
the strength of the radiation and it is this which influences the dating process.
And that is exactly the point which is at issue here: While the results of the
tests are correct in measuring technique, they are wrong in determining age. But
nobody could blame the scientists for this. They could not take the one
circumstance into consideration, which should have been a matter for the
theologians to bring into the equation. Because: The Shroud is genuine, and so the
image shown on it is not that of an ordinary person. Christendom starts from the
principle, that Jesus was the Son of God, therefore that the Divine had become
flesh in Him. Within this mere outwardly covering of the earthly body, a type of
effect must have unfolded which exceeded by far anything human. The Grail
Message, which explains in detail the necessity for the Coming of the Son of God
and the preconditions for His becoming human, speaks in this connection of a
“Process of Radiation” (Lecture: “World Events”) and further about the fact that,
during Jesus’ becoming a man “these covers, which otherwise serve as a protective
armour” only remained thin, so that “His innermost Divine nature burst through
and shone forth more easily and strongly....”
The evangelists were able to experience it: Matthew (17:1-8) (Mark 9: 2-8)
and Luke (9: 28-36) report in total accord about a transformation of Jesus, whereby
His appearance changed, His face radiated like the sun and His garments became
brilliantly white, like the snow, like the light”. In His turning upward, He was thus
permeated by this Divine Radiation Power.
At the death of Jesus, this Divine core parted from the destroyed earthly
body, radiated through it one last time in parting and left it behind.
Divine Radiation --- what effect was connected with that, must have been
connected with it! Man cannot grasp the Divine, as the Grail Message explains, but
it can never be arbitrary. It moves within the framework of the perfect and
therefore immutable Laws of God, which remain constant in all planes of Creation.
This enables us to draw conclusions in a kind of “reckoning up”. In this the Grail
Message is again helpful to us. Because in the Lecture: “Spirit Germs” we read:
“However, the cloak of a mature spirit brings along new powers, refreshing
and strengthening the same species, because it has been strongly penetrated by
the glowing of the self-conscious spirit, which ascended in the right sense carrying
this glowing within it.”
By how much more must that cloth which had --- separated only by
intermediate stages which had remained thin --- enclosed the Divine here, been
“glowed through” by its power of radiation! As can be seen from the position of the
image, the corpse was not in any way tightly wrapped. It [the cloth] rather rested
on it and was --- right up to and over the head --- also covered by it. And so does
the production of the picture-negative of sides of the body explain itself, and which
the sciences found inexplicable: The linen was just like a strip of film, through the
completely unique radiation emanating from it “exposed”. The picture was burnt
into it!
Some of the researchers who had been working on this came quite close to
this insight. In the previously mentioned book by Ian Wilson it is actually said:
Nevertheless, the impression is unavoidable, that the picture originated more
likely through the influence of rays, rather than through the application of
colouring matter ... so that whatever created it, had neither penetrated the fibres
nor had it trickled into the spaces between the fibres; it was insoluble and resistant
against acids ... the shroud was ... seemingly most likely scorched from inside
rather that outside....
Dr. Steinpach notes the effects of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima where some objects and even people had their “imprint” seemingly burnt in shadows on neighbouring backgrounds. He continues:
‘All of which proves: A type of radiation, which exceeds earthly parameters, is
well able to produce picture-like traces, and to leave them behind, in a way one
would otherwise not expect.
The formation of the image on the shroud appears explicable thereby. But it
still needs to cleared up, why the dating under the radio-carbon tests could
produce such surprising results.
If here too one takes the Divinity of Jesus into consideration, then the answer
follows quite logically:
A strengthened cosmic radiation causes, as we know, a higher content of
radio carbon in the air. But this radiation affecting the earthly region is only a
much, much weakened form of the all-creating Divine radiation. The latter must
therefore --- a totally permissible conclusion as to magnitude --- be even more
capable of producing the C 14 isotope. This assumption appears therefore almost
compelling:
Through the exit of the Divine core from the destroyed earthly body of Jesus,
further radiocarbon was created in the surrounding airspace.
Although: We are not yet finished with this forming alone. Any influence on
the dating can only happen if the shroud has actually absorbed this extra amount
of radio carbon. And here lies --- apparently --- the problem. Because only a living
organism is in a position to build up its radioactive carbon. But the linen cloth
which enveloped Jesus’ corpse was no longer any such. The plants which had been
used for this were totally separated from their life-functions and had been
processed for this material. Therefore, the question is: Could this material --- even
for a short period --- attain once more the necessary liveliness?
Already the experiences within our earthly world allow us to answer in the
affirmative. Because radiation is light --- and light is energy. It is --- when
describing it with the concepts of physics --- capable of animating the smallest
building blocks of our matter, the atoms, which means lifting their electrons up to a
higher “energy plane”.
But the effect of radiation goes further. Let us remind ourselves. Already in
the earlier quoted chapter from the lecture “Spirit Germs” from the Grail Message
it was said that the (last) cloak of a ripened spirit “strengthens and refreshes” its
homogeneous species. Refreshing however means enlivening. Again the conclusion
suggests itself: Must not the earthly body of Jesus, that very cloak which carried
Divinity within, convey even more new life-impulses to its surroundings? And do we
not find a highly impressive testimony of such an enlivening through Divine power
with the evangelist John (11: 29-45)? Lazarus, already dead four days in his grave,
returned at Jesus’ command again into his earthly body. This could only come
about thus: The radiation of this body must have been so strengthened through the
impulse given to it by Jesus, must have been so highly enlivened, that it could
attract and again take hold of the soul which was still connected to it through the
“silver Cord”.’
Reader: We have alluded to the “silver cord” in several places previous to this. In the later Discourse: The First Death, will be found detailed explanations of the nature and purpose of it. Now let’s rejoin Dr, Steinpach.
‘In the lecture of the Grail Message “I am the Resurrection and the Life, no
man cometh to the Father but by me!” it is written:
“Without the participation of the human spirits the anchoring of the Light
through the coming of an Envoy of God so strengthens the Power of the Light that
a purification takes place which then, in the last moment, pulls up the thus blessed
part of the World of Matter towards more luminous regions...
Even this extraordinary event swings completely in the Laws of Creation and
its effects do not deviate from them by a hair’s breadth. The compulsory
purification connected with the anchoring of the Light is the same as an absolutely
new birth!”
The final consequence of what is said here is just what the anchoring of
Divine Radiation on this earth is capable of. Becoming new, new life is its result!
If we summarise the result of these observations: After the earthly death of
Jesus, the freeing of Divine Radiation Power has suddenly changed the
environmental conditions more strongly than any fluctuation in cosmic radiation. In
its immediate surroundings additional radio carbon was formed, which was
imprinted onto the shroud. Thereby “its atomic clock” stepped out of uniformity
with the rest of the universe. Its hands were moved on --- as the test reports
showed --- by approximately thirteen centuries.
Ah, well, the doubters will say, all these are only assumptions. They are
unscientific, because who can still examine all of this today? And to that they are
probably right. Because scrutinising is essential for everything which wants to
claim to be regarded as scientifically safe. But that means admitting complete
helplessness, the inability of the sciences to ever achieving clarity here.
Because this becoming-human of God --- especially in that way, as was the
case with Jesus --- was a unique, unrepeatable event, a singularity in the scientific
sense.....
The result of the radio carbon test appears --- seen like that --- in a new light.
It does not deliver the proof of any falsification, it rather proves the authenticity of
the shroud! If --- as was expected --- the dating of the cloth had resulted as being
somewhere about the time of Christ, then this would have only confirmed its age
through one more circumstance. The question as to whose image it was and how
this came about, would also in future remained open. But just this contradiction of
all the other test reports, quite inexplicable in the “normal” way, carries within it
the mark of the singularity of this event, which was based on the Divinity of Jesus.
Therein lies the confirmation of the fact --- as far as this is at all possible --- that
this is not the shroud of just any scourged and crucified man, but was indeed that
of Jesus.
Now one must ask oneself: How can any church, which testifies that Divinity
had become human in Jesus, completely forget this decisive fact in its
deliberations” How can it pretend that this person was quite simply “Mr. Anybody”?
Through the overly hasty declaration that the “Turin Shroud” was a fake, this the
most precious “relic” which humanity still owns, as such the only true image of
Jesus, was stricken from its consciousness. The large number of crucifixes with the
Martyred Saviour, places only the gross-material-physical, the human suffering,
before us. The image on the shroud on the other hand, combines the traces of
suffering, which was borne for the sake of the Truth, with the expression of
radiance, with the timeless message:
“It is finished!”
Any faith, of course, which lets its intellectual doubts be removed simply by
the sciences, atrophies to become science-faithful!
But man is endowed with intuition, the language of the spirit, an instrument
which enables him, carefully weighing, also to recognise what lies beyond its
limitations of the earthly. Through an impression on our innermost [being], that is
where the genuine is separated from the false. In all the centuries, no artist has
had it in his power to creates such an image of Jesus, so full of kindness, of sadness
and of majesty, as Jesus himself bequeathed to us as the evidence of the Divine
being human. Whoever beholds it is deeply stirred in the recognition:
THIS WAS THE LORD!
Devoid of all feeling is he, who still talks of falsification.’
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Reader: Note once again that Dr. Steinpach’s sure and clear analysis is only possible because of the fact that The Grail Message of Imanuel, transcends far beyond human measure the low, just earthly, level of our ‘scientific’ knowledge.
We truly need to understand the blunt fact that a “Part” of The Creator of all that we can see and touch --- and the far greater part of Creation that we cannot --- in the “form” of His “Son” came all the way down to the home of human beings to bring the Living Truth to us so that we might have the knowledge of how we should live correctly, and thus permit us the way back to our true home in Creation. The “Image” of the “Burial Shroud of Jesus” thus stands forever as both a testament of, and an indictment on, our appalling stupidity and sheer arrogance. Well, we are certainly “beginning to pay the ferryman now”!
Science really needs to open itself to ‘forces’ and ‘processes’ that will rarely be found in earthly universities and laboratories. Pope Benedict XVI’s Address at the University of Regensburg on September 13th, 2006, correctly challenges empirical science to “wake up” to a lawful truth. It is one that would benefit science most of all, certainly very especially in this case.
“Modern scientific reason quite simply has to accept the rational structure of matter and the correspondence between our spirit and the prevailing rational structures of nature as a given, on which its methodology has to be based. Yet the question why this has to be so, is a real question, and one which has to be remanded by the natural sciences to other modes and planes of thought -- to philosophy and theology .”
A human spirit, even the most enlightened one, would not be able to leave behind such features on a cloth on exiting from the physical body in the death process, because spiritual power does not possess that requisite level of radiative-power. We must understand that the spiritual is a quite different species from The Divine, which latter is from God Alone. For this very reason, therefore, no human being is Divine or bears a part of The Divine within.
Given that empirical technology will probably never advance sufficiently to pronounce conclusive proclamations on these kinds of non-material events and processes, perhaps it is time for science to ‘intuitively-conclude’ that the “Being” around Whom this Shroud was wrapped, was not a mere ‘human spirit’; not an ordinary human prophet --- just a ‘son of Mary’ as Islam vociferously and implacably states --- but that He could only have come “from God”.
To recap: Numerous Prophets, Called ones, Messengers and Truth-bringers have been sent by GOD for many thousands of years. The singularly-unique phenomenon of the “Turin Shroud”, however, has direct resonance with just one particular Bringer of The Truth. We should therefore ask ourselves the deeper questions as to why this is so, and not hold solely to just scientifically observable facts. It is the purpose of science to assist in this, but we cannot use scientific answers as the only basis for any judgment here.
Despite Pope Benedict XVI’s public statement that empirical science must open itself to a very different and ultimately greater reality means that the sole basis for the search for true and final answers, however, can only lie in the knowledge of Creation-Law. Ian Wilson’s perhaps “spiritually-guided” insight is therefore a truly amazing one of, in my view, “Divine Grace”: One more “gift” for the “few” who will recognise –- and thus believe.
From the four Gospels in the Bible, we have the accounts or testimonies of Christ’s followers, and in the Turin Shroud we have visible proof of Christ’s identity and the wounds He bore. How, then, do we account for the phenomenon of people becoming stigmatised, and who therefore bear the wounds of Christ?
This is a question which both Christians and non-Christians need to seriously think about, for it is surely not without especial reason that this phenomenon actually does take place among certain individuals. In permitting such an event, the inviolable outworking of unassailable Laws is clearly trying to tell us something of crucial significance. The very fact that Stigmata does occur, even if only occasionally, means that such an event does not overstep clear and Natural Law, which ultimately derives from Divine Creation-Law!
THE PHENOMENON OF STIGMATA
In this Section, we look at the associated, “so-called”, scientific “mystery” that accompanies the reason for the “image” on the “Shroud”. To lead into this subject, let’s reacquaint ourselves with the words of Imanuel Who, whilst clearly acknowledging the reality of the phenomenon, nonetheless rebukes the emotional human notion that such occurrence should be feted as some kind of ‘divine grace’. In the short excerpt from the following Lecture, He makes it abundantly clear that Stigmata are not cause for “spiritual adulation” of those who suffer from it.
Rather, it is an especially damning karmic indictment on those very persons, and also on any religious authority that might deem it a “blessing”, for that would simply reveal their complete ignorance of The Divine Laws of Creation and how they work in Creation!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT
WHAT THEY DO!”
Such a view, of course, only originates in the false interpretation of Christ’s suffering on earth. Indeed it could not be otherwise! --------
Abd-ru-shin:
THE SON OF MAN!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
MUSLIM OPINIONS REGARDING STIGMATA
Since the Work is all about the real Spirit of Truth, it is imperative that Islam puts forth its views on Stigmata. To begin: From Islamic board.com
Originally posted by Grofica.
“Sorry, I have a few questions that I have been pondering over and
tried to look some up but I have not gotten very far on it so I thought I
would ask here. I mean no disrespect. These are honest questions. --------
I was wondering what the Islamic standpoint is on Stigmata. I know it’s
believed in some circles of most religions but I was wondering if anyone
could give any insight of stigmata in Islam?”
To which the “online” Imam replies:
‘Asalaamu Alaikum, Stigmata has to do with the belief of mainly
Catholic Christians in which they believe Stigmata can be blotches, sores,
or scars that duplicate the wounds inflicted on Jesus (As) during his trial
and crucifixion.
They believe these wounds are usually located on the hands and feet,
near the heart, and sometimes on the head, shoulders and back. Many
Christians also believe that they appear spontaneously, and are a
supernatural sign of holiness on saints or Christian believers. These
wounds are all self-inflicted so it is clearly a false belief which has no
relevance at all in Islam.
Also sister you should not waste your time or involve yourself in matters
such as this which do not concern you as a Muslim.
And Allah knows best in all matters.’
That is a fascinating but very Islamic reply to a follower of the Muslim faith who is simply seeking clarification to a phenomenon that actually does occur in some people, and which has been clearly documented. Reader, the hoary old argument by this particular “closed-minded” Imam that “the wounds are all self- inflicted so it is clearly a false belief which has no relevance at all in Islam”, is completely and utterly destroyed by the Spirit of Truth, Imanuel, Who gives the final, absolute answer to the most celebrated case of all. We will reveal that answer further on in this Discourse.
An online Muslim “chat room” gives us a brief ‘question and answer’ insight from a few everyday Muslims interested in Stigmata who are not Imams or Islamic scholars. Of course, it represents the tiniest fraction of the Muslim world, but is probably nonetheless representative of many of the faith who will at least have looked at this phenomenon. Please note that I have presented it as it is, “online”. Whilst the participants are probably young and well-educated, they are lazy in their grammar and punctuation etc. In addition, any kind of “deep reverence” to their faith does not show through at all in the “online” exchange. ----- From:
SHIACHAT.COM
The Largest Shia Community Since 1998
Muslims Opinions in regard(s) to STIGMATA[’S].
Guest AR Posted August 15, 2003
Salam
What do guys think about the phenomenon of stigmata .... I mean its pretty real
(they have shown it a lot on different channels) ... one of the most famous
examples is Padre Pio of Italy. There are many cases of stigmata in which those
markings appear according to the belief of Christians those were the exact same
spots Nab Isa (as) was supposedly “nailed and cut”.
Maybe the workings of jinn but they say doctors can’t find an explanation for this?
SadrasStudent Posted August 15, 2003
Maybe it’s a psycho-sematic deal? Maybe jinn at work? Maybe even a legitimate
mystical experience with Allah SWT humouring their misguided creed in light of
their pure intentions?
Husainshahid Posted August 16, 2003
SadrasStudent said:
I like your reply and reasoning. It might also suggest Crist (as) was crucified but
did not die on the cross. Often it’s thought that muslims don’t believe in the
crucifixion. My knowledge of Arabic is insufficient to determine if the Qur’an says
Isa Ruhullah (as) was not put on the cross or did not die on the cross.
It’s a good interesting point made about mystics ie devotion to Isa (as) is
rewarded with the stigmata occurrence, even though the person is fundamentally
misguided, but it arises from the Divine Grace nevertheless. This may also explain
some of the experiences of some Buddhist monks etc/ other mystics.
Guest AR Posted August 16, 2003
Salam
Hmmm ....... I like both of your answers.
This realm of mysticism sure is deep. astral projection, pyrokenesis (there is a
story that I heard regarding Salman Farsi (as) had pyrokenetic powers) telekensis
etc etc. this is a truly deep path. What we know is only a drop of islam. islam is
very deep, something most of us will not even understand let alone comprehend
about its inner most realms. out of all the universes (yes plural) that Allah
created, we only understand one. B)
Peace be upon all Islamic mystics in pursuit of trying to understand Allah (even
though they might try all their life they still won’t understand him just like the rest
of us cant)
wassalam
Reader, the clear reality of that exchange is typified by the word, “maybe”! Maybe it’s this, or maybe it’s that. If one has to use that word often in seeking an answer to a serious question, then the “questioner’s faith” possesses no knowledge from which the question can be answered. Islam does not possess that final, definitive and therefore readily-understandable Knowledge! When followers of Islam use the very notion of GOD in the superficial sense of “Allah SWT humouring their misguided creed” in a way that is supposed to indicate some kind of brilliant insight towards solving --- from the Muslim point of view --- the riddle of Stigmata, then the Islamic faith is in sorry state, indeed.
As an example, one reason why Stigmata might manifest is put forward as: “Maybe jinn at work?” According to the great Muslim scholar, M.M. Ali, some of the meanings of “jinn” are:
| as spirits of evil | 72:1 |
| as signifying leaders of evil | 6:112,11:13,17:88,34:41,37:158 |
| as applying to strange people | 34:12 |
| applied to foreigners | 38:38 |
| as leaders of some Jewish tribes | 46:30-31 |
| as applied to non-Israelite tribes | 34:14 |
Of those different applications in the affairs of men, “jinn” as “leaders of evil” are the clear winners, featuring in more Koranic verses than do the other meanings. So, from the Muslim perspective, “leaders of evil” are clear contenders for the manifestation of stigmata. Not, however, on the person of every “believer” in Jesus. Why not? After all, are not “the people of the book” enemies of Allah --- of God? For the connotation of “jinn” in the sense of being “leaders of evil” might be construed by Islam as a necessary “evil force” doing Allah’s will by “supporting” Islamic opinion and discrediting the Truth about Stigmata. Well, we will now see!