BOOK REVIEW: Shroud of Turin Book Appears Just in Time for Relic's April 10-May 23 Exhibition in Italy
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
Of all the relics of Jesus Christ, the shroud of Turin is one of the most perplexing and controversial. Many believe it to be the genuine burial shroud of Jesus, as he was buried under Jewish custom. Others suggest that it's a fake, proven through carbon dating tests more than 20 years ago to be an extremely clever forgery.
Robert K. Wilcox ("Target: Patton") updates his 1977 book about the shroud with "The Truth About the Shroud of Turin: Solving The Mystery" (Regnery, 252 pages, $16.95), which contains all the information about the relic which will be displayed for the first time in decades from April 10 through May 23, 2010 at the church in Turin, Italy where it has been preserved for centuries. Two million people are expected to view the shroud.
Wilcox writes that he first began exploring the mysteries of the 14 1/2-foot-long by 3 1/2-foot wide linen relic in 1973. He approached the subject as a reporter; he's been one for the New York Times, the Miami Herald, and the Catholic Digest. A reporter is expected to be skeptical and I found Wilcox -- whose book about the strange automobile "accidental" death of Gen. George S. Patton to be a truly outstanding investigative effort -- a properly skeptical journalist.
After reading and reviewing his Patton book in December 2008 (link: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/columns/081218-kinchen-columnsbookreview.html) I'm convinced that someone in a position of power wanted the often loose cannon that was Patton permanently out of the way -- and used the minor traffic accident in which no one else was injured as a way to accomplish this goal.
In The Truth about the Shroud of Turin: Solving the Mystery, Wilcox investigates every aspect of the shroud’s history, from the ancient Egyptian weave of the cloth to the possible role of radiation in forming the image on its surface. Drawing on evidence collected over thirty years of travel, interviews with experts, and painstaking research, Wilcox presents the full story of the shroud in astonishing detail. The shroud of Turin—a clever hoax or the authentic burial cloth of Jesus Christ?
Wilcox is thorough, doing something previous authors haven't done -- talking to Jewish experts about Jewish burial customs of 2,000 years ago. Jesus was a Jew, of course and a rabbi, so it would seem logical for anyone writing about the shroud of Turin to probe that aspect of the relic.
What about the Carbon 14 tests performed on the shroud in 1988 -- tests which demonstrated to many observers that the relic was a clever fake? Wilcox writes that the tests were performed on a part of the shroud that dated back to the 13th century, not on the original linen of the shroud.
Using the latest photographic science and the science of radiation, Wilcox reveals that the shroud's mysterious photographic properties are such that no medieval or modern forger could create. Furthermore, he says the images were formed from real blood, giving credence to the believe that the shroud covered a real human being who was tortured in the same brutal way as the historical Jesus.
Wilcox says technology of today even shows that the shroud shows evidence of the type of thorns left around Jesus' head and the flowers placed on his body -- plants found to bloom only in Jerusalem at the same time of the year and day when Jesus was purportedly crucified by the Roman occupiers of the country.
Summing up, Wilcox writes clearly and movingly about a subject that has intrigued him for decades. Searchers after the truth about the shroud must read this book to find out the latest evidence of its authenticity.
About the author: Robert K. Wilcox is an author, journalist and screenwriter living in Los Angeles. In addition to "Target: Patton", he's the author of "Wings of Fury," "First Blue" and "Scream of Eagles" among many books and articles. His web site is www.RobertKWilcox.com.