Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence [Hardcover]

Mark Antonacci (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2000

In Resurrection of the Shroud , Mark Antonacci authoritatively and scientifically challenges radiocarbon testing and presents new evidence in determining the Shroud's true age.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The Shroud of Turin, which some claim to be the burial cloth of Jesus, has been surrounded in controversy, which this book is unlikely to settle. It will, however, provide an extensive, though not necessarily balanced, introduction to issues surrounding the Shroud. Attorney Antonacci reviews previous scientific investigations of the Shroud, examines the image embedded in it, and investigates theories that the image was produced by painting. He looks at archaeological artifacts and reviews scientific challenges to the issue of carbon dating. Antonacci concludes that Jesus emitted a kind of radiation "[that] did not harm [his] body or immediately affect his clothes. Interestingly, those are the same types of features that scientists have independently concluded could be the principal causes of the formation of all the unique features found on the body images and blood marks on the Shroud." Even if the Shroud is from the first century, it seems a bit of a jump to this reviewer that it actually draped Jesus. Nevertheless, patrons interested in this topic will find the book a very useful, interesting, and detailed presentation, and on that basis it is recommended.DDavid Bourquin, California State Univ., San Bernardino
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

An attempt to demonstrate the scientific authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, believed by some to be the burial shroud of Jesus.Drawing on the research performed by the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) in 1978, attorney and former law professor Antonacci assembles a superficially impressive body of evidence to discredit the 1988 carbon-dating of the Shroud, challenge the theory that the images on the Shroud were the creation of a medieval artist, and prove that the Shroud must have been imprinted during the Crucifixion. His refutation of the possibility that the Shroud was painted in the Middle Ages is engagingly presented and argued: the STURP scientists' examination of the Shroud's fibers found no trace of medieval paint pigments, and no attempts to replicate the Shroud using techniques available to medieval artists have succeeded so far. Antonacci also makes a strong case against the results of the 1988 carbon-dating, which assigned the Shroud's origin to the 14th century. Although the section is confusingly organized, he convincingly argues that the procedure violated existing protocols for carbon-dating, using a poorly chosen sample that compromised the results because it had sustained fire and water damage in 1532. He also provides some evidence that the carbon-dating methods available in the 1980s offered limited accuracy at best, especially when applied to textiles. There is a big difference, however, between calling for more research to explain the Shroud's anomalous features, and proving that those features resulted from miraculous forces. Antonacci attempts to fill this gap with hypotheses that he treats as facts, and with violent leaps of logic. The discussion of archaeological and historical evidence intended to establish the Shroud's compatibility with first-century practices and biblical accounts is riddled with inaccuracies, decontextualized information, circular reasoning, and unfounded assumptions.Antonacci's research will reinforce the faith of those who already believe in the Shroud, but is unlikely to win any converts among empirical-minded skeptics. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: M.Evans & Company; 1st edition (August 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871318903
• ISBN-13: 978-0871318909
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,144,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most comprehensive coverage yet!, October 15, 2000

By 

Robert S. Ogle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence (Hardcover)

Kirkus Reviews states that the author "assembles a superficially impressive body of evidence to discredit the 1988 carbon-dating of the Shroud" that is "is unlikely to win any converts among empirical-minded skeptics." Folks, there is absolutely nothing "superficial" about this book and the empirically-minded will only be impressed. (There are literally hundreds of notes documenting the findings.) This effort represents the culmination of almost twenty years of research by the author that summarizes an estimated 250 thousand man-hours of study of the Shroud over the past twenty-five years by many individuals. This linen is absolutely unique. There is no other naturally occurring linen like it nor does anyone know how to fabricate it. While you may or may not agree with the author's theory of how the image was formed, after finishing this book, you most certainly will known why this cloth holds such fascination for so many.

For those who have never read on this topic, you might want to consider first reading Ian Wilson's "The Blood and the Shroud" and perhaps Gilbert Lavoie's "Resurrected". Wilson's book provides an excellent overview of what is known regarding the Shroud and Lavoie's book contains some information regarding shadowing on the Shroud that I have seen nowhere else. Antonacci's book is a must read for the hardy because of its impressive coverage, but the print is quite small and the text is less than scintillating. If you start this book, but do not finish it, find one that you will complete so that you will know what all the fuss is about!

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that must not be ignored, August 18, 2001

By A Customer

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This review is from: Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence (Hardcover)

Bertrand Russell, a well-known atheist, was once asked what he would say if, after he died, he found that God indeed did exist. Unfazed in the least, Russell answered: "I would tell him: 'Not enough evidence, God. You didn't provide enough evidence.'"

Well, it's 2001, and scientists have been busy at work studying the Shroud of Turin for the past twenty years. But as usual, the mass media have told everybody "the scoop" about the Shroud: "It's a fake. Radiocarbon dating proves without a doubt---three well-respected international labs all agree---the cloth of the Shroud dates no earlier than 1260 A.D."

Read this book if you want to get the rest of the story. Antonacci does a fine job of reviewing all of the reasons why no skeptics have been able to demonstrate how the image on the cloth, which turns out to be an overlay of two different images, laid down at different moments---one relating to the blood flowing from over 140 wounds on the body, and the other relating to the 3-dimensional image of the body itself---could have been created by a medieval trickster. Even today, after the majority of the data hidden in the image has been revealed only by ultramodern techniques that no one in the Middle Ages could ever have conceived of, let alone anticipated by "painting" details onto the Shroud, the most dedicated and disinterested scientists who have spent years investigating the image are at a loss to explain a definitive mechanism that would account for the incredible wealth of details they can observe. These details, by the way, match eerily with the accounts handed down by the Gospels, discredited for so long by skeptics who argue only from textual inconsistencies, and who have never considered the Shroud---because it's so easy to buy into the simplistic dismissal that it must have been faked.

In company with Sherlock Holmes, Antonacci belongs to the school that believes "If you have eliminated all of the possible alternatives, then whatever remains---no matter how improbable---must be the truth." He does not flinch from the inevitable conclusion: those who have been arguing for centuries that Jesus' resurrection is a myth told by early Christians have never confronted the mass of evidence right before their very eyes, in the Shroud of Turin. The much-touted radiocarbon dating in 1988 established only that a single small piece of the cloth snipped from a border area that had been repaired in the 16th century, after being damaged by fire and water, had an "average" age somewhere in the 13th century. Antonacci makes a compelling case that the definitive dating test, based on samples drawn from all parts of the Shroud, has yet to be done, and so the question of the cloth's age is still open. (Were you aware that there was another radiocarbon dating done after the comprehensive examination of the Shroud in 1978, and that it showed one end of a fiber from the cloth was as old as 200 A.D., plus or minus several hundred years?) No? Well, that's why you should get the book and decide for yourself.

The book's print is unnecessarily small, but there are extensive endnotes documenting each finding established by prior research. In other words, you can start here and follow the leads as far as you want to go. And no one--skeptic or believer--should disagree with Antonacci's conclusion: much more can be done to investigate the clues provided by the Shroud, and so much more should be done. The fate of future research rests with the Vatican's bureaucracy. Let's hope that this book prods them into using the very best technology available to probe into the many mysteries that still remain in the Shroud. After all, how much can a skeptic ask for? Here is the one arguably genuine artifact we have of a miracle, and to say that the case is closed, that the dating process shows the Shroud is a fake, is to deny the reality of that ultimately highly disturbing image that contains so much microscopic detail of a brutal first-century torture---down to the more than 130 welts raised by the Romans' scourging, the clots formed in each welt, and the blood serum that leaked around the edge of each clot. No one could have detected this level of detail before 1978, and now that we can do so much more, there is no excuse for putting off further inquiries. May this book get the wheels turning!

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Honest Skeptic Converted!, November 28, 2001

By 

Grimmy "Grimmy" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence (Hardcover)

...

Kirkus Reviews once again exposes their rabid bias ... see their other "reviews" on similar topics. What is the source of their contempt? Is there just one anti-Christian reviewer assigned to books with religious implications? Does he worship at the altar of Spong? I'll have to take a look later.

At the beginning of the book the author shares his first encounter with the subject, as an agnostic. Intrigued, he continues his investigation, and ... surprise!

Keep in mind that among conservative Christians, the issue of the Shroud is somewhat contested. Last time I looked, Josh McDowell and others were skeptical of the Shroud. So for a nonbeliever to assess the evidence is an interesting ride in itself.

Among other topics, the author reviews different theories of image formation, discusses the different images on the Shroud, and offers a theory which seems to fit the facts on hand. He details the many factors which made the C-14 dating the least reliable indicator ... ironically, the only scientific result thus far to cast doubt on the authenticity of the Shroud. After reading this, why anyone would accept the C-14 results - a textbook example of shoddy science - as a reason to discredit the Shroud is beyond me, and can only be explained by a fear rooted in an emotional need to reject it.

All in all, a good review of all the evidence currently available, and a good look into an honest skeptic's journey towards a truth stranger than fiction.