Saturday, September 29, 2018

`If Jesus had type AB blood it would mean... he had two separate human parents!'

© Stephen E. Jones[1]

Anonymous

This is my response in this separate post, to your presumed comments

[Above (enlarge): "The Annunciation" [by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary in Luke 1:26-38], by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937) in 1898[2]. It was shortly after this that Mary, a virgin, conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit, her first-born son, Jesus (Mt 1:18-20):

"30And the angel said to her, `Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ... 34And Mary said to the angel, `How will this be, since I am a virgin?' 35And the angel answered her, `The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God ... 38And Mary said, `Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her."]

of 18Sep18 at 7:07 AM and 18Sep18 at 7:53 AM on the same topic, less than an hour apart, under my posts, "Re: Shroud blood ... types as AB ... aged blood always types as AB, so the significance of this ... is unclear" and "Re: Shroud: I had a quick question regarding blood evidence." Your words are bold and prefaced by ">" to distinguish them from mine.

>However, it seems that everyone is missing the elephant in the room. You have consulted "everyone" on this? I must have missed your call! Every once in a while a commenter (who is presumably `young enough to know everything'!) on this my blog claims that he/she has discovered something against the Shroud and/or Christianity that no one else had thought of. But these are arguments from ignorance: `I don't know the answer to X, therefore no one else knows the answer to X'!

>If Jesus had type AB blood it would mean, unless he received Mary's complete chromosome makeup-as in two sets of 23, and she was type AB, Then he had two separate human parents!

No. Even if Jesus was merely a man (which He isn't-see above), He could not "have received Mary's complete chromosome makeup-as in two sets of 23." Even an XX male, requires chromosomes from a father and mother:

"XX male syndrome is a rare congenital condition where an individual with a female genotype has phenotypically male characteristics that can vary between cases. In 90% of these individuals the syndrome is caused by unequal crossing over between X and Y chromosomes during meiosis in the father, and results in the X chromosome containing the SRY gene, as opposed to the Y chromosome where it is normally found. When the X with the SRY gene combines with a normal X from the mother during fertilization, the result is an XX male"[3].
Parthenogenesis, where the offspring receive only their mother's chromosomes, is effectively impossible naturally in humans that survive more than a few days:
"Parthenogenesis in humans never produces viable embryos, though, because unfertilized eggs lack specific instructions about gene expression from the sperm. In general, our cells have two functional copies of each gene — one inherited from the mother and one from the father. For some genes, however, only one copy is ever used, while the other remains dormant. Some of the signals for which copies should be turned off come from the sperm cell. So, if there's no sperm, certain genes will be overexpressed, and the `embryo' will die when it is only about five days old"[4].
Even the "closest thing to a human virgin birth that modern science has ever recorded," a boy whose cells contain identical X-chromosomes all from his mother and Y chromosomes from his father, had a father[5].

As I stated in my reply comments of 18Sep18 at 2:55 PM and 18Sep18 at 3:10 PM: Jesus would have received Mary's 22+X chromosomes (including the blood type chromosome 9) and He would have received from God the Holy Spirit [see again above] (Mt 1:18,20; Lk 1:30-31, 34-35) 22+Y chromosomes (also including chromosome 9).

See human chromosome map (karyotype) below:

[Above (enlarge): "The 22 autosomes are numbered by size. The other two chromosomes, X and Y, are the sex chromosomes. This picture of the human chromosomes lined up in pairs is called a karyotype"[6].]

>So, the shroud I believe is really the shroud of Jesus, I assume that you are an Internet troll, pretending to hold the pro-authenticist position so that you can attack Christianity. One clue is that pro-authenticists tend to capitalise "Shroud" (which is also good English - the Shroud being a proper noun) but anti-authenticists tend to write "shroud," wrongly uncapitalised.

>but the science here is really bad. No. The problem is the philosophy of Naturalism (`nature is all there is-there is no supernatural'), which rules out in advance supernatural explanations.

>There are three possibilities regarding Jesus' DNA.

1. Jesus DNA consists of 46 chromosomes, two identical pairs of 23 from Mary, which would not produce a viable human You are setting up a strawman and then refuting that:

"A straw man is a common form of argument and is an informal fallacy based on giving the impression of refuting an opponent's argument, while actually refuting an argument that was not presented by that opponent"[7]
This is not even a possibility (see "Parthenogenesis" above).

>unless Mary's DNA was devoid of lethal recessive (the immaculate conception removed a lot more than just original sin!). The Immaculate Conception, that "Mary was sinless, or conceived without original sin" is an un-Biblical Roman Catholic doctrine, which was not even the latter until 1854[8]. As a Protestant I regard it as false.

>Also here Jesus would have been female. Yes. But see above on "strawman"!

>2. Jesus had only 23 chromosomes, again leaving lethal recessive uncovered unless Mary's DNA was devoid of lethal recessive- see #1. Here also, Jesus would have been female. There is no such thing as an "only 23 chromosomes" human. Again see above on "strawman"!

>3. Jesus somehow obtained another set of 23 human chromosomes to join with Mary's 23 chromosomes- human male chromosomes. This is claiming that Jesus was merely human (He is human but not merely human - see below) with a human father. Why all the `beating around the bush'? If you are a philosophical naturalist, then `nature is all there is-there is no supernatural', so that is your only real option. But as well as the Strawman fallacy, you are also committing the fallacy of False dilemma:

"A false dilemma is a type of informal fallacy in which something is falsely claimed to be an `either/or' situation, when in fact there is at least one additional option"[9].
And that additional option is what the Bible (and therefore Christianity teaches) summarised in the doctrine of the Incarnation:
"In Christian theology, the doctrine of the Incarnation holds that Jesus, the preexistent ... second hypostasis [Person] of the Trinity, God the Son ... taking on a human body and human nature, `was made flesh' and conceived in the womb of [the virgin] Mary ... The doctrine of the Incarnation, then, entails that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, his two natures joined in hypostatic union. In the Incarnation, as traditionally defined by those Churches that adhere to the Council of Chalcedon, the divine nature of the Son was united but not mixed with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus Christ, who was both `truly God and truly man'"[10].

That is, at the molecular biological level:

4. Jesus received a set of 23 chromosomes (22 + X) from His mother Mary and a set of 23 chromosomes (22 + Y) from God the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:18-20; Lk 1:30-35).

>The science is available to determine 1, 2, or 3. So, someone is covering it up. No one is covering anything up. See above on your argument from ignorance!

>Yes God can do anything, but, unless the Holy Spirit is a human male, This shows that all along you knew of Christianity's explanation. See above on you being a troll. But God doesn't have to be a human male for God the Son (Jn 1:1-2,14; Gal 4:4; Php 2:5-7; Col 2:9; 1Tim 3:16; Heb 2:9,14,17) to have "emptied Himself" (Php 2:5-7) into a human male sperm cell, which the Holy Spirit hen inserted into the womb of the Virgin Mary to form Jesus, the God-man. As you yourself admitted, "God can do anything" (Mt 19:26; Mk 10:27; Lk 1:37; 18:27)!

>something interesting and beyond human science has happened here! Indeed it did! See above.

Notes
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to quote from any part of it (but not the whole post), provided it includes a reference citing my name, its subject heading, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]
2. "File:Henry Ossawa Tanner - The Annunciation.jpg," Wikimedia Commons, 7 August 2018. [return]
3. "XX male syndrome," Wikipedia, 11 September 2018. [return]
4. Moyer, M.W., 2007, "Can a Virgin Give Birth?," Slate, 21 December. [return]
5. Cohen, P., 1995, "The boy whose blood has no father," New Scientist, 7 October. [return]
6. "How many chromosomes do people have?," Genetics Home Reference - NIH, 25 September 2018. [return]
7. "Straw man," Wikipedia, 9 September 2018. [return]
8. "Immaculate Conception," Wikipedia, 15 September 2018. [return]
9. "False dilemma," Wikipedia, 13 August 2018. [return]
10. "Incarnation (Christianity)," Wikipedia, 30 September 2018. [return]

Posted 29 September 2018. Updated: 7 November 2023.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Date index 2015: The Shroud of Turin blog

The Shroud of Turin blog
DATE INDEX 2015
© Stephen E. Jones
[1]

This is the date index to my 2015 posts on this my The Shroud of Turin blog. For further information on this date index series see the Main Date Index.

[Main index] [Previous: 2014] [Next: 2016]


2015

[Above (enlarge): Arizona radiocarbon dating laboratory staff and Rochester radiocarbon dating laboratory's Prof. Harry Gove (second from right) around the AMS control console computer terminal[2], just before or after it had, on 6 May 1988 displayed the alleged hacker's bogus radiocarbon age of the Shroud, "640 years"[3], which was then calibrated to "1350 AD"[4]. The alleged hacker, Timothy W. Linick, is the one in a black shirt standing most prominently in the fore-ground[5]. This is from my post of 31-Mar-15. Other posts where I used that photo were: 05Jul14, 13Aug14, 02Dece14, 31Mar15, 27Apr15, 27Aug15, 19Jan16. This latter post was the first in which it occurred to me that it was "presumably significant" that "The alleged leaker and hacker, Timothy W. Linick, is in the black shirt, most prominently in the foreground" but I did not say why. 22Feb16 This latter post was the first in which I stated what was significant about "Linick ... standing ... most prominently in the foreground" was that it showed that Linick was in charge of the AMS dating process of the Shroud at Arizona laboratory:

"That Linick is standing in front of his laboratory leaders and colleagues in the historic group photograph ... of the dating of the Shroud at Arizona laboratory, can only be plausibly explained by Linick having been in charge of the actual AMS computerised dating process, and those present were, by giving Linick the most prominent place in that historic photograph, acknowledging that."
29Mar16, 22Nov16. In footnote 24 of this latter post, I again stated:
"24. The 1989 Nature article in footnote 9 acknowledges that Linick wrote the paper which described in detail the AMS radiocarbon system at Arizona: Linick, T.W., et al., 1986, "Operation of the NSF-Arizona accelerator facility for radioisotope analysis and results from selected collaborative research projects," Radiocarbon, Vol. 28, No. 2a, pp.522-533. That Linick is standing in front of his laboratory leaders and colleagues in this historic group photograph ... of the first dating of the Shroud at Arizona laboratory, is evidence that Linick was in charge of the actual AMS computerised dating process at Arizona laboratory and those present were acknowledging that."
11Apr17, 25Mar18, 23Jun18 and 15Jul18.]

30-Dec-15: The 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Turin Shroud was the result of a computer hacking #5
27-Dec-15: Naked #9: The man on the Shroud: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
26-Dec-15: The man on the Shroud #8: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
10-Dec-15: Shroud of Turin News - November 2015
04-Dec-15: News articles #3: Uncovering the sources of DNA found on the Turin Shroud
24-Nov-15: News articles #2: Uncovering the sources of DNA found on the Turin Shroud
24-Nov-15: News articles #1: Uncovering the sources of DNA found on the Turin Shroud
17-Nov-15: The 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Turin Shroud was the result of a computer hacking #4
17-Nov-15: Carried their cross #7: Bible and the Shroud: Jesus and the man on the Shroud: Shroud of Turin quotes
10-Nov-15: Shroud of Turin News - October 2015
09-Nov-15: Were struck in the face #6: Bible and the Shroud: Jesus and the man on the Shroud: Shroud of Turin quotes
25-Oct-15: "Uncovering the sources of DNA found on the Turin Shroud" #2
20-Oct-15: Yarn #7: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
19-Oct-15: Were crowned with thorns #5: Bible and the Shroud: Jesus and the man on the Shroud: Shroud of Turin quotes
18-Oct-15: "Uncovering the sources of DNA found on the Turin Shroud" #1
15-Oct-15: Shroud of Turin News - September 2015
14-Oct-15: Were scourged #4: Jesus and the man on the Shroud: Bible and the Shroud: Shroud of Turin quotes
13-Oct-15: Jesus and the man on the Shroud #3: Shroud of Turin quotes
12-Oct-15: Bible and the Shroud #2: Shroud of Turin quotes
11-Oct-15: Main index #1: Shroud of Turin quotes
30-Sep-15: "Wasn't Jesus' body washed before putting it in the grave?"
29-Sep-15: "Wasn't Jesus wrapped like a mummy like Lazarus?"
28-Sep-15: "Why would Jesus have violated the 2nd commandment regarding religious images?"
22-Sep-15: The 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Turin Shroud was the result of a computer hacking #3
11-Sep-15: Selvedge #6: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
01-Sep-15: Shroud of Turin News - August 2015
27-Aug-15: "H": Turin Shroud Dictionary
24-Aug-15: Sidestrip #5: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
19-Aug-15: The 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Turin Shroud was the result of a computer hacking #2
18-Aug-15: "... why the radiocarbon date is exactly what one would expect it to be if the Turin Shroud were actually a fraud"? (Tipler, 2007)
11-Aug-15: Shroud of Turin News - July 2015
10-Aug-15: Topic index: The Shroud of Turin blog: "S-Z"
09-Aug-15: Topic index: The Shroud of Turin blog: "H-M"
30-Jul-15: "Gr-Gz": Turin Shroud Dictionary
23-Jul-15: The 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Turin Shroud was the result of a computer hacking #1
22-Jul-15: Topic index: The Shroud of Turin blog: "N-R"
16-Jul-15: Weave #4: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
10-Jul-15: Dimensions #3: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
09-Jul-15: Introduction #2: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
08-Jul-15: Main index #1: The evidence is overwhelming that the Turin Shroud is authentic!
30-Jun-15: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (10)
29-Jun-15: Topic index: The Shroud of Turin blog: "A-G"
23-Jun-15: Shroud of Turin News - June 2015
12-Jun-15: "Gn-Gq": Turin Shroud Dictionary
03-Jun-15: Locations of the Shroud: Turin 1918-Present: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (10)
24-May-15: "Ga-Gm": Turin Shroud Dictionary
17-May-15: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (9)
16-May-15: "Fn-Fz": Turin Shroud Dictionary
14-May-15: My Shroud of Turin books and articles
09-May-15: Shroud of Turin News - May 2015
03-May-15: Locations of the Shroud: Turin 1694-1918: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (9)
27-Apr-15: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (8)
25-Apr-15: "Fa-Fm": Turin Shroud Dictionary
08-Apr-15: Locations of the Shroud: Turin 1578 to the present: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (8)
07-Apr-15: "E": Turin Shroud Dictionary
31-Mar-15: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (7)
30-Mar-15: "D": Turin Shroud Dictionary
14-Mar-15: Locations of the Shroud: Chambéry 1471 - Turin 1578: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (7)
12-Mar-15: "C": Turin Shroud Dictionary
10-Mar-15: "B": Turin Shroud Dictionary
05-Mar-15: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (6)
04-Mar-15: "A": Turin Shroud Dictionary
16-Feb-15: Locations of the Shroud: Lirey c.1355 to Chambéry 1471 (6)
11-Feb-15: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (5)
04-Feb-15: Dimensions of the Shroud: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (5)
30-Jan-15: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (4)
29-Jan-15: Problems of the forgery theory: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (4)
22-Jan-15: Linen sheet: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (3)
21-Jan-15: Shroud of Turin: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (2)
20-Jan-15: Index A-Z: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia (1)
19-Jan-15: My de Charny family tree on Ancestry.com
14-Jan-15: "S": Turin Shroud Dictionary
13-Jan-15: Main index A-Z: Turin Shroud Dictionary


Notes
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to quote from any part of it (but not the whole post), provided it includes a reference citing my name, its subject heading, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]
2. Gove, H.E., 1996, "Relic, Icon or Hoax?: Carbon Dating the Turin Shroud," Institute of Physics Publishing: Bristol UK, p.176H. [return]
3. Gove, 1996, p.264. [return]
4. Ibid. [return]
5. Jull, A.J.T. & Suess, H.E. , 1989, "Timothy W. Linick," Radiocarbon, Vol 31, No 2. [return]

Posted: 24 September 2018. Updated: 28 April 2021.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Obituary (5): Dr. Alan Duane Whanger (17 July 1930 - 21 October 2017)

© Stephen E. Jones[1]

This is the final part #5 of my obituary of Dr. Alan D. Whanger (1930-2017). Emphases are mine unless otherwise indicated. Previous parts in this series are part #1, part #2, part #3 and part #4. See also 20Apr17 and 10Dec15.

Introduction The image of the man on the Shroud includes under-

[Above (enlarge)[2]: Composite photograph of Dr Alan Whanger's three-dimensional superimposed positive and negative photographs of the Shroud face (left), compared with an x-ray image of a human skull (right)[3]. As can be seen, this part of the Shroudman's image contains teeth and skull bones that are beneath the man's skin, which are only seen in x-ray radiographs or other modern imaging techniques. This alone is proof beyond reasonable doubt that the Shroudman's image is of Jesus at the moment of His resurrection (see below)!]

the-skin x-ray like images of his finger bones[4], hand bones[5], thumbs[6], teeth[7], skull[8], cheekbones[9], leg bones[10] and spine[11].

Fingers and hand bones In 1992 Whanger superimposed positive and negative photographic slides of the hand area of the Shroud[12]. He was aware of the controversy over why the man's fingers appear to be so long[13]. Whanger found that when the positive and negative photographs of the hand area were aligned one on top of the other, and then one of the photographs was moved slightly upward, it created a three-dimensional effect[14]. Whanger realized that he was seeing the skeletal structures of the hands and the wrist[15] and that the reason the fingers look too long is because the bones in the hand (metacarpals and carpals) were visible, as well as the bones in the fingers (phalanges)[16] (see below). Whanger, who was then a professor of

[Above: Positive (upper-enlarge)[17] and negative (lower-enlarge)[18] photographs of the hand area of the Shroud. As can be seen, like the skull (above), the man's under-the-skin finger and hand bones are visible as in a modern x-ray!]

psychiatry at Duke University[19], photographed the three-dimens-ional image on the screen and showed it to the head of skeletal radiology at the university, who agreed that the photograph did indeed look like an x-ray of hands and wrist[20]. Whanger was evidently then unaware[21] that in 1982, Giles F. Carter (1930-2010), a professor of chemistry at Eastern Michigan University, and a specialist in x-ray fluorescence analysis[22], had proposed that parts of the Shroud man's image were the result of:

"... x-rays emanating from the bones of the man in the Shroud ... absorbed by elements (e.g., sodium, silicon, phosphorus, potassium, calcium) at the surface of the body, which would then fluoresce and emit secondary x-rays of relatively long wavelength"[23].

Skull Whanger next superimposed positive and negative photographs of the Shroudman's head, and again by slightly moving one of the photographs a three-dimensional effect emerged (see above left)[24].

[Above: Positive (upper-enlarge)[25] and negative (lower-enlarge)[26] photographs of the head of the man on the Shroud. As can be seen, the man's under-the-skin skull bones: forehead, eye sockets (supraorbital or brow ridge), cheekbones and teeth (see also below) are visible as in a modern x-ray!]

The under-the-skin bony structures of the orbits of the eyes became apparent, as well as the nasal and sinus cavity bones and and rows of teeth with their roots (see below)[27]!

Teeth As already mentioned (above), under-the-skin x-ray like skull features discovered by Whanger included two rows of teeth with their roots[28] (see below)!

[Above (enlarge)[29]: Extract of a close-up positive photograph of the Shroudman's mouth area. As can be seen, under the skin of the man's lips are at least 4 pairs of upper and lower teeth with a bite line between them.]

The equivalent Shroud Scope negative photograph at maximum enlargement also shows upper and lower rows of under-the-skin teeth with a bite line between them [Above right (enlarge)[30].], but it is too small for a direct comparison.]

From his Polarized Image Overlay work on the sixth-century Christ Pantocrator icon at St Catherine's Monastery, Sinai [see 18Dec17], Whanger realised out these beneath-the-skin x-ray images of the Shroud man's teeth explained why the artist who painted that icon depicted Jesus' lips as chapped[31] (see below). Which is further

[Above (enlarge)[32]: Close-up of the lips of Jesus depicted in the Shroud-like sixth-century Christ Pantocrator icon at St Catherine's Monastery, Sinai. As can be seen the artist depicted Jesus' lips as chapped, which is inexplicable unless the artist saw the x-ray images of Jesus' teeth on the Image of Edessa/Shroud and interpreted them as chapped lips (since x-rays were unknown until 1891/1895).]

evidence that the Shroud existed in the sixth century [see "c.550"], as the Image of Edessa, doubled-in-four (tetradiplon) - seven centuries before the earliest 1260 radiocarbon date of the Shroud!

Thumbs It was John P. Jackson and Dr August Accetta who discovered the x-ray images of the man's left and possibly right thumbs flexed under the palms of the hands[33] (see below), but the Whangers agreed with it[34].

[Above: Positive (upper-enlarge)[35] and negative (lower-enlarge)[36] photographs of the hands of the Shroudman. As can be seen (pointed to by red arrows), at least one of the man's thumbs is visible, curved under the skin and bones of the left hand, again as in an x-ray!]

Spine and femur Whanger also did not discover, nor comment on, Giles Carter's discovery[37], confirmed by Accetta and Jackson[38], of x-ray images of the man's spinal column [see 20Apr17a] and his left femur [see 20Apr17b].

Anti-authenticist explanations Anti-authenticists had long claimed it as evidence against the Shroud's authenticity, that the man's fingers and hands were too long:

"The striking resemblance of the image of the man on the shroud to French Gothic art has not gone unnoticed by previous commentators. But none of all the shroud articles or books appearing in recent months has pointed out that the ... fingers on the right hand are unnaturally extended. Was Jesus deformed?"[39].

"And how shall we explain the strange anatomy of the figure on the Shroud? Again, a mere glance indicates that ... the hands and fingers [are] long and spidery"[40].

"In 1982, I was the first to point out that the image of Jesus on the Shroud had a number of physical abnormalities. Jesus' ... fingers were unnaturally thin and elongated ... Either Jesus was ... deformed, or the image of Jesus was characteristic of medieval Gothic art"[41].
But as far as I am aware, anti-authenticists have simply ignored this x-ray evidence, which explains why Jesus' fingers and hands appeared to be too long. Leading Shroud sceptic Joe Nickell in his book, "Inquest on the Shroud of Turin" (1987), does consider "X-rays" in the formation of the Shroudman's image:
"The two classes of radiation are electromagnetic and particle. The properties of the former vary with wavelength over a mind-boggling range from gamma rays and X-rays at the short end of the spectrum; through ultraviolet, visible, and infrared in the middle; and to microwaves and radio waves at the long end"[42].
But Nickell then rejects all forms of radiation as an explanation of the image, despite one (Jackson's "cloth collapse" theory) being the best explanation of the evidence, on the grounds that it "necessarily invokes the supernatural":
"There is one last, desperate [sic] conceptual solution: Posit that, as in a laser, the radiation emitted from each element of body (and hair) surface is collimated (that is, emitted only in parallel directions, in this case vertical). Then an image would be formed, independent of distance, without the use of an array of pinholes. In effect, the body surface would be composed of millions of lasers aligned more or less vertically. In principle, the resultant image could be of much better quality than the half-centimeter resolution of the shroud image. The problem is that this conceptual solution necessarily invokes the supernatural"[43].
This is naturalistic (nature is all there is - there is no supernatural) invincible ignorance:
"There does remain, nonetheless, a cast of mind which seems peculiarly closed to evidence. When confronted with such a mind, one feels helpless, for no amount of evidence seems to be clinching. Frequently the facts are simply ignored or brushed aside as somehow deceptive, and the principles [naturalism] are reaffirmed in unshakable conviction. One seems confronted with what has been called `invincible ignorance'"[44].
where a false naturalistic explanation is always preferred to a true supernaturalistic explanation!

Jesus' resurrection As we saw above, chemistry professor Giles Carter proposed that the Shroudman's bones emitted high-energy x-rays, which caused elements near the surface of the body to fluoresce and produce secondary, low-energy x-rays, which projected over the short distance from the body to the cloth and created the image of those bones on the Shroud[45]. To the question:

"But how did a dead body wrapped in a burial cloth emit strong Xrays? Carter suggested three options. Perhaps the person buried in the Shroud had lived in a cave that had radioactive walls due to the effects of certain materials. Or maybe this person had eaten food that was grown in naturally radioactive soil. Or, according to Carter, `There is a possibility of the unknown, a supernatural cause, if in fact this is the burial shroud of Jesus Christ'[46]. Concerning the likelihood of the last option, Carter held that if the Shroud turned out to date from Jesus' time, this would `provide proof of the resurrection,' which would `make some atheists awfully mad'"[47].
Another pro-authenticist chemistry professor, Alan D. Adler (1931-2000), dismissed Carter's x-ray theory as:
"... fine chemically, fine physically, yet bizarre biologically ... the man would have been so radioactive that he glowed in the dark. Not to mention he would have been dead long ago from the radioactivity"[48].
But the latter "radioactive" part of Adler's rejection only applies to Carter's first two options, which Carter himself rejected[49].

Nickell confirmed that "corpses do not emit any of these radiations" including "X-rays":

"The two classes of radiation are electromagnetic and particle. The properties of the former vary with wavelength over a mind-boggling range from gamma rays and X-rays at the short end of the spectrum ... However, needless to say, corpses do not emit any of these radiations..."[50].
But the man on the Shroud was a corpse (certified by medical examiners/pathologists Robert Bucklin[51], Frederick Zugibe[52] and James Cameron[53]), and his dead body did emit x-rays (as we saw above).

Then given that: 1) "the odds [are conservatively] ... 1 in 83 million that the man on the shroud is not Jesus Christ" [11Nov16]; 2) Jesus' apostles and over 500 of His disciples saw and heard the Jesus they knew resurrected after His death (1Cor 15:3-8; Mt 28:16-20, etc); and 3) it is evidence for the resurrection of Jesus that the image of the man on the Shroud has no style (05Sep16); is non-directional (29Oct16); is superficial (11Nov16); a negative (22Dec16); is three-dimensional (05Feb17); there was no decomposition (14Mar17); contains X-ray images (20Apr17); its blood clots are intact (04Sep17) and the blood was before the image (05Nov17); the only viable explanation remaining is that the Man on the Shroud is Jesus and His body emitted x-rays at the instant of His resurrection[54]!

Conclusion In part #1 we saw that Dr Alan Whanger invented a technique he called "Polarized Image Overlay" in which he compared a Shroud-like icon, coin or other image with the Shroudman's image. This seems to have been a genuine achievement by Whanger, but it is unclear if anyone else has used that technique.

In part #2 we saw that the Whangers' "Points of Congruence (PC)" claims have major flaws, including: 1) it is subjective; 2) their `14 points of congruence in a court of law' argument is both unsupported and fallacious; 3) their assumption that more is better (e.g. 145 points of congruence is better than 14 Vignon markings) is fallacious. It would have been better if Whanger had identified and published a smaller number of more definite comparative photographs of claimed points of congruence between images (icons, coins, etc) and the Shroudman's image. 4) many of the Whangers' PC claims lack realism and some are self-evidently false.

We saw in part #3 the Whangers' application of their points of congruence argument to the coins over the Shroudman's eyes. While I agree that there are images of coins over the eyes of the man on the Shroud (see 10May13), it is not clear that Whanger added anything of significance to the original findings of Fr. Francis L. Filas (1915-85). In fact, according to pro-authenticist numismatist Mario Moroni (1933-2017) (with whom I agree) both Filas and Whanger misinterpreted which Pontius Pilate lepton it was that they based their findings on. This was a especially a problem for the Whangers because they claimed to have found 74 points of congruence using the wrong coin!

In part #4 we saw Alan Whanger's most original contribution to pro-authenticist Shroud studies, namely his discovery of the images of 28 species of Jerusalem plants on the Shroud. This helped confirm the pollen findings of Max Frei (1913-83). They also built on the initial approach by Paul Maloney (1936-2018) (unacknowledged) to Israel's leading botanist Prof. Avinoam Danin (1939–2015), who confirmed the Whangers' Jerusalem flower identifications and identified many of his own!

Lastly, in this part #5 of Dr Alan Whanger's obituary, we saw Whanger's most important contribution to Shroud pro-authenticist studies, namely his confirming the original proposal of Prof. Giles F. Carter (1930-2010), that the Shroudman's image contains x-rays of some of the man's bones and teeth! The importance of this is that it added to the proofs beyond reasonable doubt that the Man on the Shroud is Jesus and His image is a "a literal `snapshot' of the Resurrection":

"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 ... its image ... becomes indelibly fused onto the cloth, preserving for posterity a literal `snapshot' of the Resurrection"[54]!

Notes
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to quote from any part of it (but not the whole post), provided it includes a reference citing my name, its subject heading, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]
2. Prather, J., 2018, "Autoradiography," Council for Study of the Shroud of Turin, 22 July; Whanger, M. & Whanger, A.D., 1998a, "The Shroud of Turin: An Adventure of Discovery," Providence House Publishers: Franklin TN, p.117. [return]
3. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, pp.116-117. [return]
4. Carter, G.F., 1982, "Formation of the Image on the Shroud of Turin by x-Rays: A New Hypothesis," in Lambert, J.B., ed., 1984, "Archaeological Chemistry III: ACS Advances in Chemistry, No. 205," American Chemical Society, Washington D.C., pp.425-446, 433; Wilson, I., 1998, "The Blood and the Shroud: New Evidence that the World's Most Sacred Relic is Real," Simon & Schuster: New York NY, p.29; Accetta, A.D., Lyons, K. & Jackson, J., 1999, "Nuclear Medicine and its Relevance to the Shroud Of Turin," in Walsh, B.J., ed., "Proceedings of the 1999 Shroud of Turin International Research Conference, Richmond, Virginia," Magisterium Press: Glen Allen VA, 2000, pp.3-8, 3; Ruffin, C.B., 1999, "The Shroud of Turin: The Most Up-To-Date Analysis of All the Facts Regarding the Church's Controversial Relic," Our Sunday Visitor: Huntington IN, p.151; Antonacci, M., 2000, "Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence," M. Evans & Co: New York NY, p.213. [return]
5. Carter, 1982, p.433; Whanger, 1998a, p.112; Whanger, A.D., 1998b, "Radiation in the Formation of the Shroud Image - The Evidence," in Minor, M., Adler, A.D. & Piczek, I., eds., 2002, "The Shroud of Turin: Unraveling the Mystery: Proceedings of the 1998 Dallas Symposium," Alexander Books: Alexander NC, pp.184-189, 187; Wilson, 1998, p.29; Antonacci, 2000, p.213; Wilson, I. & Schwortz, B., 2000, "The Turin Shroud: The Illustrated Evidence," Michael O'Mara Books: London, p.38; Oxley, M., 2010, "The Challenge of the Shroud: History, Science and the Shroud of Turin," AuthorHouse: Milton Keynes UK, p.241. [return]
6. Whanger, 1998b, p.187; Accetta, Lyons, & Jackson, 1999, p.3; Antonacci, 2000, p.214; Oxley, 2010, p.241. [return]
7. Carter, 1982, p.433; Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, p.117; Accetta, Lyons, & Jackson, 1999, p.3; Antonacci, 2000, p.214; Wilson & Schwortz, 2000, pp.37-38; Oxley, 2010, p.241. [return]
8. Carter, 1982, p.433; Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, p.117; Wilson, 1998, Antonacci, 2000, pp.213-214; Wilson & Schwortz, 2000, pp.38; Oxley, 2010, p.241. [return]
9. Carter, 1982, p.433; Wilson, 1998, p.29; Accetta, Lyons, & Jackson, 1999, p.3. [return]
10. Accetta, Lyons, & Jackson, 1999, p.3; Oxley, 2010, p.241. [return]
11. Carter, 1982, p.433; Antonacci, 2000, p.214. [return]
12. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, pp.111-112; Whanger, 1998b, p.187. [return]
13. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, pp.111-112. [return]
14. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, pp.112, 115; Whanger, 1998b, p.187. [return]
15. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, p.112. [return]
16. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, p.112. [return]
17. Extract from Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Durante 2002 Vertical," Sindonology.org. [return]
18. Extract from Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Enrie Negative Vertical," (flipped horizontally), Sindonology.org. [return]
19. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, p.144. [return]
20. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, pp.112-113; Whanger, 1998b, p.187. [return]
21. Whanger, 1998b, pp.184-185. [return]
22. Stevenson, K.E. & Habermas, G.R., 1990, "The Shroud and the Controversy," Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville TN, p.131. [return]
23. Carter, 1982, pp.425, 433; Borkan, M., 1995, "Ecce Homo?: Science and the Authenticity of the Turin Shroud," Vertices, Duke University, Vol. X, No. 2, Winter, pp.18-51, 42; Ruffin, 1999, p.151; Antonacci, 2000, p.213; Guerrera, V., 2001, "The Shroud of Turin: A Case for Authenticity," TAN: Rockford IL, pp.74-75; Oxley, 2010, p.241. [return]
24. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, pp.116-117. [return]
25. Extract from Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Face Only Vertical," Sindonology.org. [return]
26. Extract from Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Enrie Negative Vertical," Sindonology.org. [return]
27. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, p.117; Borkan, 1995, p.42; Wilson & Schwortz, 2000, p.38. [return]
28. Whanger & Whanger, 1998a, p.117; Borkan, 1995, p.42; Accetta, Lyons, & Jackson, 1999, p.3; Antonacci, 2000, p.214; Wilson & Schwortz, 2000, p.38. [return]
29. Extract from Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Face Only Vertical," Sindonology.org. [return]
30. Extract from Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Enrie Negative Vertical," (flipped horizontally), Sindonology.org. [return]
31. Whanger & Whanger, 1998, p.117. [return]
32. "Christ Pantocrator (Sinai)," Wikipedia, 12 September 2018. [return]
33. Accetta, Lyons, & Jackson, 1999, p.3; Antonacci, 2000, p.214; Oxley, 2010, p.24. [return]
34. Whanger, A.D. & Whanger, M., 1994, "The Shroud of Turin - New Evidence," Shroud News, No 83, June, pp.3-5, 3. [return]
35. Extract from Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Durante 2002 Vertical," (flipped horizontally), Sindonology.org. [return]
36. Extract from Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Enrie Negative Vertical," Sindonology.org. [return]
37. Carter, 1982, p.433; Stevenson & Habermas, 1990, p.131; Antonacci, 2000, p.214; Oxley, 2010, p.242. [return]
38. Accetta, et al., 1999, p.3; Oxley, 2010, p.241. [return]
39. Schafersman, S.D., 1982, "Science, the public, and the Shroud of Turin," The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 6, No. 3, Spring, pp.37-56, 44-45 (no longer online). [return]
40. Dutton, D., 1984, "Requiem for the Shroud of Turin," Michigan Quarterly Review, 23, pp.243-55. [return]
41. Schafersman, S.D., 1998, "Unraveling the Shroud of Turin," Approfondimento Sindone, Vol. 2. [return]
42. Nickell, J., 1987, "Inquest on the Shroud of Turin," [1983], Prometheus Books: Buffalo NY, Revised, Reprinted, 2000, p.91. [return]
43. Nickell, 1987, pp.91-92. [return]
44. Fearnside, W.W. & Holther, W.B., 1959, "Fallacy the Counterfeit of Argument," Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs NJ, 25th printing, p.113. [return]
45. Stevenson & Habermas, 1990, p.131. [return]
46. Jackson, E., 1983, "Prof Thinks X-Rays Caused Shroud Image," Christian Herald, February, Al, 5, in Stevenson & Habermas, 1990, p.131. [return]
47.Ibid. [return]
48. Zurer, P., 1983, "Archaeological Chemistry," Chemical & Engineering News, 21 February, p.35, in Stevenson & Habermas, 1990, pp.40-41. [return]
49. Stevenson & Habermas, 1990, p.136. [return]
50. Nickell, 1987, p.91. [return]
51. Bucklin, R., 1970, "The Legal and Medical Aspects of the Trial and Death of Christ," Medicine, Science and the Law, January; Bucklin, R., 1997, "An Autopsy on the Man of the Shroud," Third International Scientific Symposium on the Shroud of Turin, Nice, France, 12 May; Bucklin, R., 1982, "The Shroud of Turin: Viewpoint of a Forensic Pathologist," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 5, December, pp.3-10; Bucklin, R, 1998, "The Shroud of Turin: A Pathologist's Viewpoint," in Minor, M., Adler, A.D. & Piczek, I., eds., 2002, "The Shroud of Turin: Unraveling the Mystery: Proceedings of the 1998 Dallas Symposium," Alexander Books: Alexander NC, pp.271-279. [return]
52. Zugibe, F.T., 1988, "The Cross and the Shroud: A Medical Enquiry into the Crucifixion," [1982], Paragon House: New York NY, Revised edition, pp.132-134; Zugibe, F.T., 2005, "The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry," M. Evans & Co.: New York NY, pp.213, 221. [return]
53. Cameron, J. M., "The Pathologist and the Shroud," in Jennings, P., ed., 1978, "Face to Face with the Turin Shroud ," Mayhew-McCrimmon: Great Wakering UK, pp.58-59. [return]
54. Wilson, I., 1979, "The Shroud of Turin: The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ?," [1978], Image Books: New York NY, Revised edition, p.251; Wilson, 1998, p.234. [return]

Posted: 16 September 2018. Updated: 2 March 2021.

Friday, September 14, 2018

Date index 2014: The Shroud of Turin blog

The Shroud of Turin blog
DATE INDEX 2014
© Stephen E. Jones
[1]

This is the date index to my 2014 posts on this my The Shroud of Turin blog. The posts are listed in reverse date order (more recent uppermost). For further information on this date index series see the Main Date Index.

[Main index] [Previous: 2013] [Next: 2015]


2014
27-Dec-14: Lirey (1): Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #13(1)]

[Right (enlarge)[2]: The Vignon markings. See my post of 14-Apr-14 for the explanation. For more on the Vignon markings, see my posts of: 25Jul07, 11Feb12, 16Feb12, 23Feb12, 18Mar12, 23Apr12, 22Sep12, 14Apr14, 27Apr14, 15Feb16, 13Mar16, 04Aug16, 08Oct16, 07Dec16, 24Jan17, 24Feb17, 21Jun17, 27Jul17, 23Sep17, 29Oct17, 11Nov17 & 18Dec17.]

21-Dec-14: Index "L": Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #12]
20-Dec-14: It is "totally impossible" that the Turin Shroud is authentic yet has a radiocarbon date of 1260-1390 (Prof. Edward Hall)
19-Dec-14: Chronology of the Shroud (1): Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #11]

[Right (enlarge)[3]: The Vignon markings numbers superimposed on the Shroudman's face. Again see my post of 14-Apr-14.]

18-Dec-14: Entry number index: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #10]
13-Dec-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (3)
08-Dec-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (2)
02-Dec-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (1)
01-Dec-14: Does the long hair of the man on the Shroud of Turin contradict 1 Corinthians 11:14?
23-Nov-14: Servant of the priest (3): Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #9(3)]
15-Nov-14: Servant of the priest (2): Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #9(2)]
06-Nov-14: Servant of the priest (1): Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #9(1)]
26-Oct-14: My critique of Charles Freeman's claim that the Turin Shroud was made for a medieval Easter ritual
21-Sep-14: Shroud: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #8]
08-Sep-14: Dimensions of the Shroud: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #7]
03-Sep-14: Index "D": Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #6]
03-Sep-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #9
29-Aug-14: Crispino, Dorothy (1916-2014): Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #5]
28-Aug-14: Index "C": Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #4]
27-Aug-14: Dorothy Crispino (1916-2014)
22-Aug-14: Lynne Milne's "A Grain of Truth: How Pollen Brought a Murderer to Justice" (2005)
19-Aug-14: Is N.T. Wright a Shroud pro-authenticist?
13-Aug-14: My reply to the anti-authenticist editor of the British Society for the Turin Shroud Newsletter, Hugh Farey
04-Aug-14: Shroud of Turin: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #3]
23-Jul-14: Index "S": Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #2]
21-Jul-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #8
20-Jul-14: Main index "A-Z": Turin Shroud Encyclopedia [entry #1]
10-Jul-14: Stephen E. Jones' home page WON'T harm your computer!
05-Jul-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #7
24-Jun-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #6
13-Jun-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #5
08-Jun-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #4
03-Jun-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #3
30-May-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #2
24-May-14: My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #1
18-May-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #5
11-May-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #4
08-May-14: "The Letter from Alexius Comnenus": My response to Dan Porter
04-May-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #3
25-Apr-14: "How Valid are the Vignon Markings?": My response to Dan Porter
25-Apr-14: Some Advice from Stephen Jones: My response to Dan Porter
25-Apr-14: Of Pro-Authenticists and Anti-Authenticists: My response to Dan Porter
18-Apr-14: "Okay, we will need to wait several weeks": My response to Dan Porter
14-Apr-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #2 (Vignon markings)
14-Apr-14: Danusha Goska's original essay, "The Shroud of Turin???"
13-Apr-14: Danusha Goska's Shroud of Turin Talk, at the Catholic Campus Ministry Center, WPUNJ, Wayne / Haledon New Jersey, Wednesday, April 30th, Six PM.
12-Apr-14: The Shroud of Turin: A gift to our proof-demanding era?
06-Apr-14: Shroud of Turin depicts a Y-shaped cross?
31-Mar-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Further to my replies to Dr. Timothy Jull and Prof. Christopher Ramsey
29-Mar-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #1
13-Mar-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: My replies to Dr. Timothy Jull and Prof. Christopher Ramsey
07-Mar-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Summary
01-Mar-14: Holy Shroud to be exhibited April 19-June 24 2015
27-Feb-14: The Shroud of Turin: 3.7. The man on the Shroud and Jesus were buried (2)
22-Feb-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker? (3)
20-Feb-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker? (2)
18-Feb-14: Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker? (1)
14-Feb-14: Shroud of Turin: Could Ancient Earthquake Explain Face of Jesus?
09-Feb-14: Off-topic: Archaeologists Carbon-Date Camel Bones, Discover Major Discrepancy In Bible Story?
05-Feb-14: The Shroud of Turin: 3.7. The man on the Shroud and Jesus were buried (1) [part 25]
09-Jan-14: The case for fraud in the 1988 radiocarbon dating of the Turin Shroud #1: Introduction
02-Jan-14: 2013 Favs: New Tests Date the Shroud from the Time of Christ


Notes
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to quote from any part of it (but not the whole post), provided it includes a reference citing my name, its subject heading, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]
2. Wilson, I., 1978, "The Turin Shroud," Book Club Associates: London, p.82e. [return]
3. Shroud Scope: Durante 2002 Face Only Horizontal (cropped and rotated right 90°). [return]

Posted 14 September 2018. Updated 24 March 2024.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Obituary: Paul C. Maloney (April 9, 1936 - August 27, 2018)

© Stephen E. Jones[1]

This is my obituary of Paul Maloney, split off from my August 2018 Shroud of Turin News.

Paul C. Maloney (April 9, 1936 - August 27, 2018)[2]. Paul Clifton Maloney[3] [Below (enlarge)[4].] was an archaeologist[5], specialising in the Near East[6]. Maloney was a professor of Anthropology, Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies at Vennard College in Iowa and United Wesleyan College in Allentown, Pennsylvania[7]. He was at one time the Director of Ancient Near Eastern Researchers[8]. Maloney was the founder and Director of ASSIST (Association of Scientists and Scholars International for the Shroud of Turin)[9].

Maloney supported the pollen on the Shroud findings of Max Frei (1913-83). In 1983 Maloney sent Israel's leading pollen expert, Prof. Aharon Horowitz of Tel Aviv University, a copy of Frei's 1982 article in Shroud Spectrum International[10]. Horowitz replied stating that Frei's materials and conclusions lead him to believe that Frei's work was sound, that the spectrum of the pollens on the Shroud as identified by Frei was comparable to those of Israel[11], and he agreed with Frei that the pollen on the Shroud was not contamination by wind transport[12]. Maloney then invited Horowitz to join ASSIST which he did[13]. It was Maloney who first approached Prof. Avinoam Danin (1939–2015) in the early 1980s asking him to evaluate Frei's Shroud pollen findings[14]. This was the first that Danin had heard of the Shroud[15]. Danin agreed on the condition that the pollen grains be determined by a pollen morphology specialist expert in the pollen of the Middle East[16]. But the frequency of correspondence and practical steps along this path decreased until they ended completely and Danin forgot about it[17]. It wasn't until 1995 that Danin heard about the Shroud again when Alan and Mary Whanger visited him in Jerusalem [see 05Jun18] [18].

In 1988 ASSIST acquired from Frei's widow twenty-seven sticky tapes on which were Frei's pollen samples from the Shroud[19] [Below (enlarge)[20].], together with the manuscript of Frei's pollen research which he had been on the point of publishing at the time of his death in 1983[21]. At a workshop on the study of the pollen at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, leading anti-authenticist Walter McCrone (1916-2002) affirmed that the pollens collected by Frei were indeed from the Shroud[22].

By photographing under a microscope the pollen on one of Frei's Shroud tapes and moving the microscope stage in tenths of a micrometre squares, Maloney discovered that there were hundreds of pollen grains per square centimetre on the Shroud[23]. Dr. A. Orville Dahl (1910–2003), professor emeritus of palynology at the University of Pennsylvania, proposed that the unusually high number of floral pollen types on the Shroud had been laid down on it in a liturgical context[24]. So Maloney, noting that Dr. Alan D. Whanger (1930-2017) had identified the images of 27 Spring flowers on the Shroud [see 06Apr13 and 05Jun18], proposed that the early church had commemorated Jesus' Spring death and burial [see "AD30"] in an Easter ceremony by laying Palestinian Spring flowers on the Shroud[25].

Maloney also pointed out that the high number (more than 275) of pollen grains found on tape 6Bd near the forehead [Left (enlarge)[26].] implies a longer exposure to the air and a liturgical setting[27]. This supports Ian Wilson's theory that as the Image of Edessa (the Shroud "doubled in four" = tetradiplon), the face of the Shroud was exposed while the rest of the cloth was hidden[28].

One discovery alone of Maloney's proved beyond reasonable doubt that Frei's identification of Shroud pollen was non-fraudulent (as alleged by anti-authenticists[29]) and largely correct:

"Carefully examining one of the Frei slides, researcher Paul Maloney discovered a cluster of many pollens from the same plant. These pollens were identified by palynologist Dr. A. Orville Dahl as Cistus creticus [native to Israel and the Mediterranean[30]]. (see below) ... Years earlier, Frei had identified pollens from this same plant on his sticky tape slides. At the time he took the sticky tape samples, he was unaware of the images of flowers on the Shroud, but it so happened that the tape Maloney was observing had been taken over the center of the same Cistus creticus flower that Alan had already identified. Thus Frei, Maloney with Dahl, and Alan, all working separately and at different times and using different methods, found the presence of Cistus creticus on the Shroud"[31]!

[Right (enlarge): Location of flower parts on the Shroud (frontal)[32]. The Cistus creticus flowers are located at "(2)".]

In 1993, due to Maloney's ongoing health problems (chronic fatigue syndrome[33]) the Frei pollen collection was formally handed over by ASSIST to the Whangers' CSST (Council for Study of the Shroud of Turin)[34].

In 1998 at a symposium in Dallas, Texas, Maloney gave a landmark one-hour presentation on the history of Shroud research conducted over the past 100 years[35, 36].

As an archaeologist Maloney was critical of Turin's unilateral decision to reduce the number of radiocarbon dating laboratories from seven, using two different methods, to three using the one AMS method [see 11Dec17] [37].

See also: "Paul C. Maloney - Obituary," Centre Daily Times, Quakertown, PA, 31 August 2018.

Notes:
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to extract or quote from any part of it (but not the whole post), provided the extract or quote includes a reference citing my name, its title, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]
2. "Paul C. Maloney," Visitation & Funeral Information, Naugle Funeral and Cremation Service, Quakertown, PA, 7 September 2018. [return]
3. "Proceedings of the Board of Regents," University of Michigan Ann Arbour, July Meeting, July 14 and 15, 1960, p.1235. [return]
4. Ibid [return]
5. Minor, M., "Paul C. Maloney," in Minor, M., Adler, A.D. & Piczek, I., eds., 2002, "The Shroud of Turin: Unraveling the Mystery: Proceedings of the 1998 Dallas Symposium," Alexander Books: Alexander NC, p.15. [return]
6. "Advisor to the School of Botany: Paul Maloney," Academic Advisors, Shroud University, Shroud of Turin Education Project: Peachtree City, GA, 2014. [return]
7.Ibid. [return]
8. Morgan, R., 1984, "The New Group - ASSIST," Shroud News, July, p.11; Crispino, D.C., 1984, "News & Activities Around the World," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 10, March, pp.43-44, 44; Borkan, M., 1995, "Ecce Homo?: Science and the Authenticity of the Turin Shroud," Vertices, Duke University, Vol. X, No. 2, Winter, pp.18-51, 48. [return]
9. Wilson, I., 1983, "Overseas News and ACCSST," BSTS Newsletter, No. 6, September/December, p.6; Wilson, I., 1984, "X-Ray Photographs, ASSIST and The Atlanta Center," BSTS Newsletter, No. 7, July , pp.4-5, 5; Guerrera, V., 2001, "The Shroud of Turin: A Case for Authenticity," TAN: Rockford IL, p.96. [return]
10. Frei, M., 1982, "Nine Years of Palinological Studies on the Shroud," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 3, June, pp.2-7. [return]
11. Petrosillo, O. & Marinelli, E., 1996, "The Enigma of the Shroud: A Challenge to Science," Scerri, L.J., transl., Publishers Enterprises Group: Malta, p.204; Iannone, J.C., 1998, "The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin: New Scientific Evidence," St Pauls: Staten Island NY, p.20; Ruffin, C.B., 1999, "The Shroud of Turin: The Most Up-To-Date Analysis of All the Facts Regarding the Church's Controversial Relic," Our Sunday Visitor: Huntington IN, p.77. [return]
12. Wilson, 1983, p.6. [return]
13. Ibid. [return]
14. Danin, A., 2010, "Botany of the Shroud: The Story of Floral Images on the Shroud of Turin," Danin Publishing: Jerusalem, Israel, p.10. [return]
15. Ibid. [return]
16. Ibid. [return]
17. Ibid. [return]
18. Ibid. [return]
19. Dayvault, P.E., 1998, "The Frei Collection Digitization Project," Originally presented at the Third International Congress on the Shroud of Turin, Turin, Italy, June 6, 1998, in Minor, Adler & Piczek, 2002, p.215; Wilson, I. & Schwortz, B., 2000, "The Turin Shroud: The Illustrated Evidence," Michael O'Mara Books: London, p.82; Guerrera, 2001, p.96. [return]
20. Schafersman, S.D., 1998, "Unraveling the Shroud of Turin," Approfondimento Sindone, Vol. 2. [return]
21. Wilson, I., 1989, "Paris - The Symposium Scientifique," BSTS Newsletter, No. 23, September, pp.2-7, 3-4; Wilson & Schwortz, 2000, p.82. [return]
22. Guerrera, 2001, p.96; Maloney, P.C., 2014, "Walter C. McCrone and the Max Frei Sticky Tapes of 1978: A Background Study," July 14. [return]
23. Maloney, P.C., 1999, "A Contribution toward a History of Botanical Research on the Shroud of Turin," in Walsh, B., ed., 2000, Proceedings of the 1999 Shroud of Turin International Research Conference, Richmond, Virginia, pp.241-266, 250; Guerrera, 2001, p.96; Maloney, 2014. [return]
24. Maloney, P.C., 1990, "The Current Status of Pollen Research and Prospects for the Future," ASSIST Newsletter, Vol. 2., No. 1, June, pp.1-7, 5; Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, pp.204-205; Maloney, 1999, p.264; Maloney, 2014. [return]
25. Wilson, 1989, p.4; Maloney, 1990, p.5; Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, p.205; Maloney, 1999, p.264; Maloney, 2014. [return]
26. Baima Bollone, P., and Gagli, A., 1984, "Demonstration of Blood, Aloes and Myrrh on the Holy Shroud with Immunofluorescence Techniques," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 13, December, pp.2-8, 2. [return]
27. Maloney, 1990, p.6. [return]
28. Ibid. [return]
29. Nickell, J., 1994, "Pollens on the 'shroud': a study in deception (Shroud of Turin)," Skeptical Inquirer, June 22 (no longer online); Schafersman, 1998. [return]
30. Danin, A., Whanger, A.D., Baruch, U. & Whanger, M., 1999, "Flora of the Shroud of Turin," Missouri Botanical Garden Press: St. Louis MO, p.16; Danin, 2010, p.54. [return]
31. Whanger, M. & Whanger, A.D., 1998, "The Shroud of Turin: An Adventure of Discovery," Providence House Publishers: Franklin TN, pp.78-79; Whanger, A., 1996, "Pollens on the Shroud: A Study in Deception," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 97, September, pp.11-18, 17. [return]
32. Danin, A., 2003, "Contribution of the Plants in Determining the Authenticity of the Shroud," Flora of Israel Online. [return]
33. Morgan, R., 1996, "Update from Paul Maloney, USA," Shroud News, No 99, December, pp.18-19, 19. [return]
34. Whanger & Whanger, 1998, p.128; Wilson & Schwortz, 2000, p.82. [return]
35. Piczek, I., 1998, "Planning for the Shroud of Turin in the 21st Century: Meeting in Dallas, Texas, November 6-8, 1998," BSTS Newsletter, No. 48, December. [return]
36. Maloney, P.C., 1998, "Researching the Shroud of Turin: 1898 to the Present: A Brief Survey of Findings and Views," in Minor, Adler & Piczek, 2002, pp.16-47. [return]
37. Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, p.51. [return]

Posted 9 September 2018. Updated 20 April 2022.