The Shroud of Turin blog topics "E"

The Shroud of Turin blog topics #5
© Stephen E. Jones[1]

Topics "E"

This is the topics page "E" and part #5 of my "The Shroud of Turin blog topics" series. See the Index "A-Z" for more information about this series. I will add other topics beginning with "E" in the background as I come to them, working forward in time from my earlier posts.

[Above (enlarge): ENEA's Hercules-L XeCl excimer laser: ENEA FIS-ACC Excimer Laboratory Annual Report 2000-2001. Italy's National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development (ENEA) found that it would require a battery of excimer ultraviolet lasers drawing a total power of 34 billion watts to recreate the total Shroud image[2]. It goes without saying that this is beyond medieval technology and may even be beyond 21st century technology! This will be a future "E" topic.]

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Evolution. The authenticity of the Turin Shroud has the highest relevance to the creation/evolution controversy, because "evolution," in the all-important "standard scientific theory" sense of the word, assumes that Naturalism (see Naturalism) is true, that `nature is all there is' and therefore there is no supernatural, including God. And because there is no God, according to Naturalism, Naturalistic Evolution claims that, "God had no part in this process" (my emphasis) of bringing human beings and everything else into existence. Atheist Michael Shermer in 2002 lamented that only "a paltry 12 percent" of Americans in 2001 accepted the "standard scientific theory" of evolution that "God had no part in this process":

"Facing such a reality, perhaps we should not be surprised at the results of a 2001 Gallup poll confirming that 45 percent of Americans believe `God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so'; 37 percent prefer a blended belief that `human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process'; and a paltry 12 percent accept the standard scientific theory that `human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process.'"[3] (my emphasis).

But if Christianity (see Christianity) is true then Naturalism is false. The Shroud of Turin is empirical evidence that Christianity is true[4] and therefore that Naturalism is false. And if Naturalism is false, then there is no reason to think that Naturalistic Evolution is true, that "God had no part in this process" [30Jun07].

Notes:
1. This page, and each page, in my The Shroud of Turin blog topics series, is copyright. However, permission is granted to quote from one entry at a time within a page (e.g. "Shroud of Turin," not the whole page "S"), provided that it includes a reference citing my name, its subject heading, its date, and a hyperlink back to the page it came from. [return]
2. Tosatti, M., 2011, "The Shroud is not a fake," Vatican Insider, 12 December. [return]
3. Shermer, M.B., 2002, "The Gradual Illumination of the Mind," Scientific American, February. [return]
4. Habermas, G.R., 1984, "Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus," Thomas Nelson: Nashville TN, pp.158-159; Habermas G.R., 1987, "Affirmative Statement: Gary R. Habermas," in Habermas G.R., Flew A.G.N. & Miethe T.L., ed., "Did Jesus Rise From The Dead?: The Resurrection Debate," Harper & Row: San Francisco CA, p.28. [return]

Posted 23 June 2016. Updated 6 November 2023.