Terence Hines - Pseudoscience and the Paranormal

It appears, from Nickell’s (1999) analysis, that the image on the shroud was not just painted on. To paint such an image would be very difficult. How, then, was the image produced? A simple rubbing technique was used in which a piece of cloth is placed over a bas relief and pigment is then applied. Using just such a simple technique, Nickell (1978 1999) has been able to produce images that look exactly like the image on the shroud. They even duplicate the “photographic negative” quality of the shroud image that proponents of the authenticity of the shroud state could not have been produced by any artistic means. The rubbing technique was known to artists as early as the 1100s (Mueller 1981–82), more than two hundred years before the shroud appeared.

The shroud appeared at a time when the manufacture, sale, and collection of Christian relics was big business (Nickell 1983; MacRobert 1986). It has been said with considerable truth that there were enough pieces of the True Cross floating around Europe at the time to build the ark. Wealthy nobles and merchants collected relics. There were many other shrouds to be found in Europe; the Shroud of Turin is simply the most famous.

The conclusion from the historical and scientific analysis of the shroud is clear: It is a fake relic created sometime in the early or mid-1300s. In 1989 this conclussion was dramatically confirmed by carbon dating of the shroud (Damon et al. 1989). Until that time the church had not permitted any such testing of the shroud. The results dated the shroud to the year 1325, plus or minus sixty-five years.

There are many Web sites that provide updated information on the various topics discussed in this book. Rather than attempt the certainly futile task of listing them all, I’ve provided below a list of the major sites and organizations that support them. Going to these sites and clicking on the relevant links will easily take you to specific topics of interest.

• The Australian Skeptics: www.skeptics.au

• The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal: www.csicop.org

CSICOP publishes the excellent bimonthly magazine Skeptical Inquirer .

• The James Randi Educational Foundations: www.randi.org

• The Museum of Hoaxes: www.museumofhoaxes.com

The NCSE supports the teaching of evolution in public schools. Its Web site contains information to counter creationist arguments.

• The National Council Against Health Fraud: www.ncahf.org

• Quackwatch: www.quackwatch.org

This is a major site on the Web for critical analyses of the claims of New Age, “alternative,” and quack medical practitioners, including chiropractic.

• Skeptic magazine: www.skeptic.com

• Skeptical Dictionary: www.skepdic.com

Run by Robert Carroll, this site is a treasure trove of information.