Page 81 - BV6

personal testimony to Jesus. Now, in the providence of One dare say that, by this deliberate act, Jesus, knowing
God, the tomb has been opened and the once private in- all things and a full realization of the latter day
scriptions found on some of its ossuaries lead us to apostacy, set His own seal against this and any other
believe that some of the first Disciples of Jesus were bogus relic, rebutting in advance the view expressed by
buried here. Unknowingly, they have given us the earli- the late Pope Paul: "We can claim from the shroud new
est written record of Christianity in existence. stimulus for faith and adoration."

Because they pre-date the writing of the Gospels, these Nicholas Lash, Professor of Divinity at Cambridge
dedications prove that our faith today is founded on the University -- reffered to in the Radio Times -- who
same creed held by the first Disciples of Jesus Christ sets his sights on "the day the Turin Shroud will be ac-
nearly 2,000 years ago. cepted as proof of the Resurrection itself" has mani-
festly no time for "the many infallible proofs" of Acts
The Shroud of the Scriptures 1:3; and the entire Bible record of the risen Lord and
His second coming.

It is amazing to see the lengths to which the advocates The Divinity Professor is surely in for the shock of his
of the authenticity of the Turin Shroud will go, in their life when, probably quite soon, our Lord Jesus Christ
quasi-scientific lingo, to support their "three dimen- personally returns to this earth in power and great
sional information enclosed within the image" (Radio glory to refute these purveyors of error.
Times). No such juggling can alter the fact that the
Gospel record of the empty Tomb and of our Lord's -- Gladys M. Smith
resurrection from the dead manifestly destroys the va-
lidity of their claim.
The Art of Writing -- At and Before
The apostle John tells how the disciples came to the the Time of Moses
sepulchre and "saw the linen clothes (plural) lie, and
the napkin that was about His Head, not lying with the Until quite recently many Bible critics have pressed
linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by it- the theory that the first six books of the Bible could
self." How, then, came facial imprints on the shroud of not have been written either by Moses or Joshua, be-
Turin which is in one piece covering the head like a cause there was no evidence that the art of writing was
hooded cloak? in existence at that time. On this assumption, they ar-
gued that the matter contained in those books must
Though the back of the shroud was not shown, there have been handed down orally over a long period (with
was much play on the television presentation showing the inevitable error and distortion which usually ac-
the type of Roman scourge used to flog Jesus, which companied such a method of transmission) and that
was in the back (Isaiah 50:6; Matt. 27:26). these "traditions" were collated by some later Hebrew
scribe and incorporated in the accredited Scriptures.
It is inconceivable that Joseph of Arimathea and Ni-
codemus would prepare their Lord for burial wearing Archaeological discoveries in Palestine during the past
the humiliating mockery of the crown of thorns as the twenty years have completely rebutted this theory, and
television account suggests. There is no evidence that have shown that the Hebrew script was positively in
Jesus wore it on the cross. Smith's Dictionary of the general use there at the time of Joshua.
Bible says that He wore it before the crucifixion. The
raising of Lazarus from the dead proves the extant The Lachish Bowl, a most important archaeological
method of wrapping a corpse -- "bound hand and foot find, has been described by Dr. Langdon, Oxford Pro-
with grave clothes, and his face about with a napkin" fessor of Assyriology, who deciphered the Sinai-
(John 11:44). Hebrew script. He states that this is "the most impor-
tant discovery of modern times in respect to Biblical
The first act of the risen Christ was significant. Clearly criticism" and adds that it is "entirely believable that
He tidily folded the napkin from His Head and re- literature, before Moses, also existed in alphabetical
moved it from the rest of the grave clothes, placing it script."
apart from them, "by itself." -- Wake Up! July, 1979.

81