Monday, April 20, 2015
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Chapter 18 The Challenge of the Shroud
The Cross receives the living Saviour and gives
Him back dead; the shroud receives the dead Saviour and gives him back alive.
Introduction.
The authenticity of the Shroud as the burial cloth of Jesus Christ
and the image that lends support to the account of his Resurrection pose challenges
not just for skeptics but also for science and the Church ‑ particularly Pope Francis
and those who will succeed him to the papacy. They also pose a challenge to all
of humanity, facing as it does the Apocalypse of Selfishness.
The challenge to the Catholic Church, Pope Francis and his successors
is to realize that the Church holds possession of the Shroud not just for Roman
Catholics, but for all Christianity, and ultimately, all humanity.
The challenge to science is to complete to the greatest extent possible
examinations of the Shroud and an analysis of the results of those examinations.
The challenge to humanity is to recognize that the selfishness which
crucified Christ is the same selfishness, inherent in our evolved nature that is
driving the human race to extinction. One does not have to be Christian to understand
that only through selfless action can humanity survive.
A. The Challenge to Pope Francis and the Catholic Church.
"We Roman Catholics have been its custodians for the
last eight hundred years after stealing it from the Greeks (i.e. Orthodox) who performed
that function for the first twelve centuries. But in truth, it belongs to no one
denomination - maybe not even to Christianity. Rather, it is in actuality ’God’s love letter in linen to all mankind.’"
Fr. Anthony Delessi
Monastery of the Holy Spirit
Who owns the Shroud of Turin?
On March 18, 1983, the exiled King of Italy and head of the House of Savoy,
Umberto II died. In 1946, a plebiscite had ended his brief reign as king. However,
there was a treasure of the House of Savoy that had remained in Turin , Italy :
the Shroud. In his will, Umberto left the Shroud in perpetuity to the Pope and his
successors on condition that it remain in Turin .
The first Pope to become the "owner" of the Shroud was John Paul II. The
results of his administration of his trust were mixed at best.
John Paul was elected to the papacy on October 16, 1978, five years
before Umberto’s death. As this book describes in Chapter 10, in 1983 the movement
to carbon date the Shroud was gaining impetus. In his memoir, Harry Gove revealed
the close cooperation between the President of the Pontifical Academy of Science,
Carlos Chagas, and the carbon dating labs in their efforts to exclude STURP from
further examination of the Shroud.[3]
Ironically, it was the exclusion of STURP from the carbon tests that resulted in
the choice of the most inappropriate location for sampling the Shroud. As this book
has previously explained in Chapters 10 to 12, that error impeached the carbon dating
results. Be careful what you wish for.
Despite the botched carbon dating, both Popes John Paul II and his
successor Benedict XVI had reverence for the Shroud. Now a new pope “owns” the Shroud.
Without rehashing old controversies, it seems quite clear that a new regime in relation
to the Shroud is essential and it may be that Francis is just the person to understand
that.
For one thing, Francis has taken unprecedented steps to recognize
the universality of the Christian message, even for those who are neither Catholic
nor Christian. His washing the feet of a young Muslim girl on Holy Thursday 2013
is one simple gesture of that. So too is his virtual camaraderie, not just with
the senior ranking prelate of the Orthodox Church, but with high ranking Moslems
and Rabbis.
The Shroud challenges Pope Francis to employ the same universality
in respect to the Shroud. The recent conference at the Vatican over climate
change which cast such a wide ecumenical net is perhaps a good template. The openness
of that process was of paramount importance. A new group of experts from a wide
range of scientific disciplines must be gathered to examine the Shroud; and when
gathered, harnessed for the project. Its proceedings and decisions must be open
and transparent. Fortunately, Francis has at hand a scientist who both represents
five centuries of dedication to the Shroud and has expressed a commitment to such
an international effort.
Professor Bruno Barberis, the current head of Turin Centro, should
play an important role in any new tests. As noted in Chapter 13, at the 2012 Valencia conference,
he set forth an ambitious program for future Shroud research emphasizing the importance
of an international scope for the scientific research team. In effect, he proposed
a new STURP, but one with a broader membership which would utilize the most advanced
analytical tools available. Barberis’ 2012 Valencia presentation is available on
shroud.com.[4]
The first task of such a group would be to plan for a new series of
tests and experiments that, while preserving the integrity of the Shroud, would
provide even greater revelation of the information that the Shroud might hold concerning
Christ’s death and Resurrection.
One examination that ought to be given priority is Multispectral Digital
Imaging (MDI) as was used on La Bella Principessa and
the Mona Lisa. It is described in detail in Chapter 14. Properly executed,
MDI can produce definitive answers as to the composition of the entire Shroud
and whatever differences there may be. It would provide minute details of the blood
residue, the Shroud image and the miscellaneous items such as the limestone traces
with far more detail than any other process. The limestone was of a particular type
(travertine aragonite) that is found in Jerusalem
on the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross.
The results of an MDI examination of the Shroud would
be a detailed database of the Shroud's composition which could be distributed to
appropriate institutions for study throughout the world. By allowing the database
to be ubiquitous and not confined to any one place, the survival of the Shroud would
be guaranteed for millennia to come.
The results of such an international effort ought to be regarded as
the intellectual property of humanity.
Lessons for the present from the STURP experience
The STURP’s 120 hours of scientific examination in Turin were unique in the history
of the Shroud, both in the breadth of the examinations and the results published
in peer reviewed journals. Yet, STURP subsequently foundered, a victim both of its
success and the fact that it was essentially an ad hoc organization. Its very successes
engendered forces that colluded to deny it continued access to the Shroud. Because
STURP was ad hoc, it had no permanent portfolio at the Vatican .
Father Peter Rinaldi
In science, a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without
itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. In a great many different contexts,
that word is now applied to a person or thing that causes an event to happen. There
were several human catalysts in the story of the scientific study of the Shroud,
but none was more important than Fr. Peter Rinaldi whom this book first discussed
in Chapter 6.
It was Fr. Rinaldi’s
1934 article in the Sign magazine which
ignited a surge of Shroud interest in the United States . He wrote that piece when
he was still a young seminarian in Turin .
One result was the establishment of a Holy Shroud center in Esopus , New York
which evolved into the U.S. Holy Shroud Guild.
Eventually, Fr. Rinaldi aided a diverse
group of individuals in their work on the Shroud. Ian Wilson directed David Rolfe
to Fr. Rinaldi at the beginning of his Silent
Witness film project. Eric Jumper and John Jackson wrote to the Guild for a
better photograph of the Shroud and were taken under Rinaldi’s wing.
It was Rinaldi’s
Turin connections
which opened doors for both STURP and Rolfe. Rinaldi was the catalyst that connected
the dots, but he was not omnipotent. The carbon labs connected with Shroud skeptic
Chagas and Pope John Paul II sanctioned the butchering of the scientific protocols
and the exclusion of the STURP from the process. Had the protocols been followed,
carbon dating tests might have retained their credibility and quite likely the results
would have been different.
Rinaldi died while the carbon dating
results were not yet impeached. In Chapter 10, this book noted his final reported
remark on the subject: “I might
be persuaded to accept the results of the test only when someone will demonstrate
beyond all question, how a medieval artist produced so extraordinary an image as
that of the Shroud.”
There is no Fr. Rinaldi now with familial
connections in Turin .
Pope Francis has much on his plate. He like Benedict and John Paul II reveres the
Shroud. Yet now the Shroud is his responsibility. His greatest task might be to
protect the Shroud from those in the Church who are content with a holy icon but
are threatened by an authentic Shroud. This era of selfish apocalypse needs more
than an icon. That leads us to the next challenge: the challenge to science.
B. The Challenge to Science
The Skeptical Failure
The initial reaction of many agnostic or atheistic scientists to the
1988 carbon dating tests indicating a medieval origin of the Shroud was a sigh of
relief. To pseudo-skeptics, an authentic Shroud, especially one that gives circumstantial
support to the Resurrection, is a troublesome thing. The announced results of the
carbon dating provided an easy out for the skeptical community. Pay no attention
to that Shroud behind the curtain in the Turin Cathedral.[5]
Richard Dawkins was at one point ambiguous about the carbon dating
of the Shroud, recognizing the criticisms of it, but then later declaring the results
“rock solid.” Another example of a skeptic placing undue weight on the carbon dating
is contained in an aside in Carl Sagan’s final book that was published posthumously:
“If
we can measure the amount of radioactive parent material and the amount of daughter
decay product in a sample, we can determine how long the sample has been around.
In this way we find that the so-called Shroud of Turin is not the burial shroud
of Jesus, but a pious hoax from the fourteenth
century (when it was denounced by Church authorities)…”(Emphasis added)[6]
The basis of Sagan’s curt brush-off of the Shroud was the D’Arcis memorandum
discussed in Chapter 4. As noted, it is doubtful that the memorandum was ever delivered
to Pope Clement and it was entirely based upon a hearsay statement uttered years
before. D’Arcis claimed that his predecessor as bishop was told by an artist that
he had painted the Shroud. Yet, the Shroud is not a painting. If there is a hoax
at work, it is the claim that the Shroud is a painting. That hoax has been thoroughly
debunked.
The scientific evidence that the Shroud is not a painting is overwhelming.
It is obvious that those who still claim it is such have not taken the time to review
the evidence with an unbiased eye.[7]
Prof. Barberis’ Valencia
proposals provide a framework for future scientific research. What is needed, however,
is determination by Pope Francis that it be done. The most important challenge to
science is to solve the mystery of the process by which the image was created. That
may be the final, most important, unrevealed revelation of the Shroud of Turin.
C. The Challenge to Humanity
“For in the final analysis, our
most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe
the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal."
John
F. Kennedy
June
10, 1963
An Apocalypse Humanity Avoided
In October 1962, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war of
apocalyptic consequences. The survival of humanity rested ultimately in the hands
of two men: Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy. They faced alarmingly similar
problems, including military leaders who were all too willing to let loose the dogs
of war.
There can be no doubt that a nuclear exchange between the United States and the USSR would have been catastrophic for
those two countries: an actual apocalypse. What was not widely understood at that
point is that it would have ultimately extinguished all human life and that of many,
if not all other species.
Nuclear Winter
While both Kennedy and Khrushchev heroically put the interests of
the citizens before their own selfish interest in preserving their power, they could
not have appreciated in 1962 just what the real stakes of the Cuban Missile Crisis
were. It wasn’t just the tens of millions of casualties in the United States and the USSR that were at risk; it was the survival
of the entire human race.
It was not until twenty years later that scientific studies began
to hypothesize the likelihood that a major nuclear exchange would lead to the extinction
of all human life and quite possibly all other life on earth itself.[8]
Extinction would come in two stages in the aftermath of a nuclear
war. First, there would be a nuclear winter where combustion debris thrown into
the atmosphere from hundreds, if not thousands, of nuclear bomb generated fire storms
would shield the mass of the Earth from the sun’s warmth. Ironically, that would
be followed by a second punch: global warming on a massive scale. As the particulate
matter thrown-up by the fire storms inevitably dissipated, the atmosphere would
be left with massive infusions of methane and carbon created by the firestorms.
Our universal responsibility
The problems we face are daunting and some damage has irretrievably
occurred. We can only ameliorate future effects, but ameliorate we can – and must.
Andrew Revkin who writes on environmental issues for the New York Times blog attended the 2014 PAS-PASS
Vatican Conference on the environment. He was tapped to summarize the conference
on its last day. His summary was reprinted in full on May 11, 2014 on the N. Y. Times blog.[9]
Among other things, the conference dealt with the challenge to both individuals
and society posed by the deteriorating environment and the ominous fate looming
for humanity:
“The physical and biological sciences, along with revolutionary advances
in technology – from satellites to supercomputers – have provided a clarifying picture
of human-driven environmental changes. Psychological and sociological studies have
revealed deeply ingrained human traits; many shaped by our evolutionary history
as a “here and now” species, that prevent us from acting rationally in the face
of threats with long time scales, dispersed impacts and inherent complexity. Possible
paths have been delineated in recent decades using ever more sophisticated models.
But that is where science’s task ends. It
is up to individuals and societies to choose which paths to pursue.” (Emphasis
added)
The United Nations is the most obvious instrumentality to serve the
interests of the whole of humanity. However, until now, despite some progress, the
actions by the world community have been but a drop in the proverbial bucket. The
sound of the apocalyptical hoof beats is growing ever louder.
Worldwide, September 2014 was the hottest month on record and 2014
is on track to be the hottest year for which any records exist.[10]
Because of shifting wind patterns, some areas may actually feel cooler. But those
are anomalies; the climate crisis is both deepening and accelerating.
Our leaders will need the same kind of courage that Kennedy and Khrushchev
displayed in order to steer humanity away from the fast approaching Apocalypse of
Selfishness. But the task today is more complex. The disciples of selfishness have
amassed enormous wealth. They control many of the instrumentalities for disseminating
information to the mass of humanity. What they don't own, they often buy – and sadly
that often includes political leaders.
It is a difficult challenge to defeat the Antichrists of selfishness.
It is a challenge we must not evade, but must rather embrace. Churchill quoted Scripture
when the United States finally
entered World War II at Britain ’s
darkest hour. “The lion of Judah
picks up his sword and laughs.” Christian martyrs sang hymns on their way to the
Roman arenas.
D. God is not dead
Nietzsche, an apostle of selfishness, declared that “God is dead.”
It’s not God that is endangered now; it is humanity. The issue is whether humanity
can overcome the selfish instincts that drove evolution or yield finally to them
and lose itself in an orgy of selfish conduct. It is the advances of science that
have propelled humanity forward, but it is selfish abuses of the gifts of science
to humanity that are now driving humanity to extinction. Science appears as both
Christ and Antichrist.
Advances in the study of consciousness and the quantum are opening
the door to new realities of existence. Scientists have found intriguing, and to
some inexplicable, relationships between consciousness and existence. This book
has defined God as the primordial consciousness from which our existence sprang.
We can theorize God’s existence but left to ourselves we cannot truly comprehend
it. We can comprehend the existence of Jesus Christ for he was a real human being
who shared in our existence. His existence also opens a pathway through the quantum
to the primordial consciousness, which He also shares, that is God. That pathway
is love, because simply put, God is love.
The power of the selfish conduct which drove humanity forward through
evolution is now driving humanity to extinction. It is in our power to resist that,
but our resistance must be through acts of selfless love both collectively and individually.
Humanity may survive another 100 years or perhaps another 100 million.
Because of the triumph of selfishness, it may end when the world becomes a poisonous,
toxic rock unsuitable for any habitation. Or, humanity could be extinguished when
a massive meteorite or asteroid plummets to earth starting a chain of events that
will render human life untenable. Whether we, collectively or individually, find
our lives overwhelmed by selfish power, we can survive no matter how beleaguered
we may feel or become, remembering always that God is love.
Every human being is gifted with a reflective consciousness that removes
us from the mundane and opens the path to the eternal consciousness. That will never
change. And we have the Shroud that in the words of Fr. Delessi, is “God’s love
letter in linen to all mankind.” In this time of peril, let us embrace it.
Joyfully!
END NOTES
[1] Dreisbach,
Ecumenical Implications, Appendix, p.
10
[2] As
quoted by Dreisbach, supra.
[3]
Marinelli Valencia ,
p. 15
[4] http://www.shroud.com/pdfs/barberisv.pdf
[5] Kindly
excuse the author’s paraphrase of an immortal line from the Wizard of Oz.
[6] Carl
Sagan, p. 21, Billions and Billions: Thoughts
on Life and Death and the Brink of the Millennium (Random House, New York 1997)
[7] The
evidence is thoroughly discussed in Chapter 9: "The Blood of the
Lamb"
[9]
Andrew Revkin, "Can a Pope Help Sustain Humanity and
Ecology?"
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/can-a-pope-help-sustain-humanity-and-ecology/
[10] "Global Analysis - September 2014," National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOOA) (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/)
Friday, January 16, 2015
Ordering The Coming of the Quantum Christ
If you wish to order The Coming of the Quantum Christ:
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A hard copy full color version can be order from CreateSpace:
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Smashwords
There are eight different formats that you can download on Smashwords and actually read a free sample.
Epub can be read by Nook and Adobe Digital Editions. Mobi can be read by Kindle.
Labels:
apocalypse,
Catholic Church,
Consciousness,
Einstein,
love,
Near death experience,
noosphere,
Pagels. Kennedy,
Pope Francis,
Quantum,
Richard Dawkins,
Shroud,
Shroud of Turin,
STURP,
Teilhard de Chardin,
Wesselow
The Coming of the Quantum Christ has Arrived
It's here. It has finally arrived. The Coming of the Quantum Christ: The Shroud of Turn and the Apocalypse of Selfishness is now available in a hard copy four color edition published by CreateSpace and in multiple E-Book formats.
Read some of the reviews:
Editor, shroud.com
Documenting Photographer, 1978 Scientific Examination of the Shroud
"Meticulously researched, thoughtfully written and handcrafted with love and respect for the subject matter, this book is a must read for anyone fascinated by the Shroud of Turin and what it might mean to the world."
Daniel Porter,
Editor, shroudstory.com
"It is the best book ever written about the Shroud. Actually, it is not just about the Shroud. The Coming of the Quantum Christ is about what the Shroud is about. It is about the confluence of streams of human understanding that meet in the study of the Shroud. Religion converging with science is one. Our history meeting our future is another. This book makes us think."
David Rolfe, Independent Movie Producer
Winner, BAFTA Award for The Silent Witness
"John Klotz brings a lawyer's mind to an analysis of the Shroud and what, if genuine, it might mean for us. His assembly of the evidence for authenticity is meticulous and he relays it in an unfolding chronicle which also reveals the twists, turns and human frailties that have bedeviled the Shroud’s reputation and left it in limbo to anyone who has never taken the time and trouble to dig a little deeper. It is far reaching in its scope and conclusions. Hold on to your hats.”
Joe Marino
Author, Wrapped Up in the Shroud
"John Klotz has made a most impressive case for the argument that the Shroud of Turin is the actual burial cloth of Jesus. He thoroughly summarizes the history of the Shroud, including the politics involved in the controversial 1988 C-14 dating, as well as the scientific evidence that has been gathered since the late 19th century, including how the latest cutting-edge theory of quantum mechanics applies to the cloth. Heavily footnoted and lavishly illustrated with both color and black & white photos, this book should be in the collection of anyone interested in the Shroud, whether a novice or a trained scientist."
Annette Cloutiér,
Author, Praey to God: A Tasteful Trip Through Faith
"Rarely does a book centered on one specific subject, in this case the Shroud of Turin, mirror a true integration of life. John Klotz’s genius in writing The Coming of the Quantum Christ is that he carefully and freely managed to integrate the whole of our current society and wrap it around the Shroud of Turin. The result of which The Coming of the Quantum Christ is the most exhilarating book ever written thus far on the investigations and the implications of the Shroud of Turin vis à vis the human condition. It is a clear and concise literary masterpiece, a must read for everyone interested or even just curious about the Shroud of Turin, Christ, and Life itself."
Labels:
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Wesselow
Sunday, October 19, 2014
A critcal response to a critic
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As an author, I suppose that I should not be too sensitive to criticisms. It comes with the territory. However, Hugh Farey's criticism posted on shroudstory.com that I did not devote enough space and energy to explaining why Picknett-Prince theory that DaVinci forged the Shroud 100 years after it was first exhibited in Lirey, France is nearly as supercilious as the theory itself (which Hugh apparently rejects also).
CreateSpace
A hard copy full color version can be order from CreateSpace:
Smashwords
There are eight different formats that you can download on Smashwords and actually read a free sample.
Epub can be read by Nook and Adobe Digital Editions. Mobi can be read by Kindle.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As an author, I suppose that I should not be too sensitive to criticisms. It comes with the territory. However, Hugh Farey's criticism posted on shroudstory.com that I did not devote enough space and energy to explaining why Picknett-Prince theory that DaVinci forged the Shroud 100 years after it was first exhibited in Lirey, France is nearly as supercilious as the theory itself (which Hugh apparently rejects also).
The complete first paragraph of Chapter One which Hugh cites
in part reads:
"There have been more than 1,000 books written about the
Shroud of Turin from many different perspectives. Some claim to have determined
that the Shroud of Turin is a fake. Many of those insist that it was painted,
the usual suspect being Leonardo da Vinci. It has even been claimed that the Shroud
is a photograph created by da Vinci who managed to insert his own face onto the
cloth.[i]
That is fiction. Da Vinci was born
approximately 100 years after the first documented exhibition of the Shroud in
Lirey France .
Although the clearly documented history of the Shroud dates to 1350 CE and its
exposition at Lirey, there are various accounts which would indicate its
existence at much earlier times." (Emphasis added)
I think that given the
fatuousness of the Pinkett-Prince theory, that was enough.
Quantum Christ is
not a book about "wingnut" theories.[ii]
It focuses on the physical facts of the Shroud and the inferences that can be
drawn from those facts. If anyone has any need to research deeply into their
wingnut theory there are ample resources on the web. Let me suggest one: http://www.shroud-enigma.com/investigation/Forger/Forger-shroud.htm
There have been two comments published thus far on the
Amazon Page for Quantum Christ. One was a five out of five star review and the
other was four out of five by Judith Underwood.
Ms. Underwood's review was enlightening and helpful to me:
"Excellent account of the
history of Shroud research and presents a very good case for its authenticity!
I was a bit disappointed that it did not delve into how the findings of quantum
physics may provide a possible mechanism for the image formation."
I will be preparing a
revision to answer Ms. Underwood's comment and if anyone has already purchased
the book, I will provide the revision gratis. Actually, the revision of the one
chapter will include a discussion of a 2010 presentation by Andrew Sullivan and
Nigel Kerner[iii] which
argues that consciousness was an elemental power that along with gravity
pre-existed the universe and engendered it. That's my very brief summary and/or
conclusion.
I was drawn to the presentation
by a remark by Dr. Silverman at the recent St. Louis Conference just concluded
that conscious was a preexisting force as was gravity. (My interpretation).
That's a "wow"
philosophically speaking.
Let's see, consciousness
that along with gravity that preexisted in what I have labeled the "cosmic
chaos" from which our universe emerged. None dare call it God.
[i]
Picknett, Lynn; Prince, Clive L, Turin Shroud: In Whose
Image? The Shocking Truth Unveiled, BloomsburyLondon, 1994.
[ii] I am
afraid that "wingnut" may be an "Americanism" like "wanting
something in the worst way." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingnut_(politics)
Friday, October 17, 2014
Ebola, Protocols and the Shroud of Turin
The
terrible fears engendered by the spread of Ebola have been caused in part by
the insufficiency of the protocols for dealing with the disease. But instances
of scientific failures engendered by the failure to promulgate, and abide by,
effective protocols are not new. It’s the gravity of the Ebola plague that
brings the issue front and center. Another example of failure to adopt and
abide by sufficient protocols relates to the carbon dating of the Shroud of
Turin.
Let’s not
get ahead of the story – and the problem. First let’s look at the C-14 process and
why it can be labeled a legitimate fiasco. To do that, we must look at the
importance of protocols to scientific investigation for the errors of the C-14
process are directly linked to the issue of the use, or rather misuse, of
appropriate protocols.
Excerpt from Chapter 10, The Coming of the Quantum Christ
“The carbon dating of the Shroud will probably go down
in history as one of the greatest fiascos in the history of science. It would
make an excellent case study for any sociologist interested in exploring the ways
in which science is affected by professional biases, prejudices and ambitions,
not to mention religious (and irreligious) beliefs.”
Thomas de Wesselow[i]
Thomas de Wesselow[i]
Checklists, Protocols and Science
Anyone
who has ever received medical treatment, whether at a doctor’s office or a
hospital, has benefited from the use of checklists or protocols by their
physicians or nurses. Protocols represent the required steps of any procedure,
which experience has shown are necessary for the protection of a patient. At
times, it may seem they are merely unnecessary red tape, but behind each step
in a prescribed medical protocol there is usually a story, or often many
stories, of things gone wrong if proper procedures were not followed.
Take
the example of medicine gone awry when doctors in 1886, sought to treat bullet
wound suffered by U. S. President James A. Garfield at the hands of Charles
Guiteau.[ii] Today,
medical experts are unanimous in the opinion that Garfield should have survived. Easily.
His death was caused by massive infections
that finally battered his body into submission. From the outset, steps were
taken that today would be unthinkable. Foremost perhaps, doctors probed for the
assassin’s bullet without washing their hands. While the use of sterilized
procedures had been instituted in Europe by then, such procedures had yet to
take hold in the United
States . Today, the steps taken to prevent infection
are detailed in lengthy protocols; and medical personnel, whether in the
doctor’s office or the hospital, violate those protocols at their own peril. It
is unthinkable.
Another example where protocols save lives is aviation.
Commercial airlines fly more than two billion passengers a year. The actions of
the pilot and crew before take-off, during the flight and prior to landing are
governed by checklists which are also protocols. Each individual airport will
have procedures set forth in protocols to govern the take-off and landings of
aircraft adjusted for the discrete circumstances of the particular airport and
its environs.
As a result of the checklists and
protocols, the number of commercial aviation deaths in any given year is but a minuscule
fraction of the number of passengers carried. In 2011, 2.9 billion passengers
traveled in commercial airlines and there were only 402 fatalities.[iii] That is .000000014 of a
percent.[iv]
Protocols are also of utmost importance in scientific
research. In the case of clinical trials for the testing of drugs and other
medical procedures, including medical research, the World Health Organization has
adopted a number of forms and recommended protocols.[v]
In the final analysis, the results of any
scientific investigation can only be judged in light of its protocols. There
are two fundamental questions: Were there adequate protocols and were the
protocols followed in practice? If the answer to either of these questions is
no, the results of the study are rendered unacceptable or futile.
There was, and may still be, a common
belief that dating of the Carbon atom isotopes in an object is a fool proof
scientific method of determining the age of an object. When it comes to the
Shroud, nearly everybody wanted to carbon date the Shroud “in the worst way”
and that is precisely what happened. The protocols were supposed to map the way
to the truth. Instead, the truncated protocols adopted led the carbon
scientists over a cliff.
You can read the whole story
in Chapter 10 of my book: The Coming of the Quantum Christ: The Shroud
of Turin and the Apocalypse of Selfishness. It was published this month and
is currently available on available on KINDLE and NOOK
[i] de Wesselow, Thomas, The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of
the Resurrection (p. 172). (Penguin Group New York , 2012) ( Cited hereafter as “de
Wesselow”)
[iii] “Airplane
deaths at record low in 2011: report,” N. Y. Daily News, January 1, 2011
[iv] 401 divided by .2,900,000,000.
[v] http://www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/format_rp/en/index.html
[vi] de Wesselow, Thomas, The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of
the Resurrection (p. 172). (Penguin Group New York , 2012) ( Cited hereafter as “de
Wesselow”)
Thursday, October 2, 2014
The Coming of the Quantum Christ
If you wish to order The Coming of the Quantum Christ:
CreateSpace
A hard copy full color version can be order from CreateSpace:
CreateSpace
A hard copy full color version can be order from CreateSpace:
Smashwords
There are eight different formats that you can download on Smashwords and actually read a free sample.
Epub can be read by Nook and Adobe Digital Editions. Mobi can be read by Kindle.
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