As far as debunking Christian folklore goes, it’s not nearly as dramatic or titillating as The Da Vinci Code. But it’s far more significant.

Scientists at the University of Pavia, Italy, led by Luigi Garlaschelli, have now proven beyond all reasonable doubt that the hallowed Shroud of Turin, widely believed to be the cloth that covered Jesus in his tomb, is nothing more than a 13th- or 14th-century fake.

And they did this by using materials and techniques that were readily available during that time to reproduce the purportedly miraculous, Christ-like image that graces the shroud.

Many still believe that the shroud has unexplainable characteristics that cannot be reproduced by human means… The result obtained clearly indicates that this could be done with the use of inexpensive materials and with a quite simple procedure.

(Luigi Garlaschelli)

The evidence mounts

iPINIONS contends that The Holy Blood, Holy Grail contains a more accurate account of the life and death of Jesus Christ than The Holy Bible. So this result only confirms the radiocarbon dating, which indicated in 1988 that the Shroud of Turin was just a relic from the Middle Ages.

Of course, it’s noteworthy that even though leaders of the Catholic Church were too sensible to ever buy into this forgery, they couldn’t resist exploiting it by claiming that the Shroud is:

… a powerful reminder of Christ’s passion.

No sh#t! It is no more authentic than the hollow rock in which apparitions of Mary allegedly appeared in mid-19th century to a poor, 14-year-old girl. Yet this powerful reminder of Christ’s passion has transformed the entire town of Lourdes into a holy shrine, where Christians now make pilgrimages that rival those of Muslims to Mecca.

The uncomfortable truth

I hope my Christian family and friends will forgive me for spreading the scientific gospel that many of the beliefs, rituals, and vestments of modern-day Christianity have little to do with Jesus Christ, and even less to do with the Almighty God.

Related commentaries:
Holy, Blood…vs. Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown … plagiarist?
The devil in Brown’s code…

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