Welcome to the second question-and-answer section on our newly launched website. You may remember Carol used to ask me a question each month which I answered.
This time I will be asking a question for my good friend Tony Cunliffe to answer. I have known and worked with Tony for many years he was my Master of Ceremonies at the book launch of my book Blog 51 in November 2019.
Tony: when I was an undergraduate at Manchester University reading ‘Theology and Religious Studies’ one of the course units incorporated a study of Archaeology. It sought to establish credibility and support for the authenticity of the Bible in several ancient findings such as the Temple Buildings, Hezekiah’s Tunnels, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospel of St John’s manuscript as found in the Ryland’s Library in Manchester to name a few.
Many ancient and modern findings, including the Shroud of Turin, can be argued to undermine or substantiate the credibility of the Bible. During this period of Lent leading up to Easter, we become more aware of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.
So Tony can you share with us your background and an overview of your book The Case of the Missing Body –an Investigation into the Mysteries of the Shroud of Turin.
Tony Replies:
Thank you Graham for your question and having the opportunity to share with your readers a bit about my life and interests and the publication of my latest book. I am a retired financial adviser, Christian author, and Public Speaker.
Some of my family members and close friends are not Christians, and some years ago I believe God gave me a nudge to write my first book Heaven How to Get There and What to Expect – a Personal View.
This tells the story of how my Mum who was terminally ill, became a Christian at age 87, shortly before I believe she went to Heaven!
The book also charts my spiritual journey from the Catholic Church to No church to a Protestant Church and seeks to explain to non-Christians what Christians believe about Heaven and how to get there!
Case of the Missing Body
My interest in the mysteries of the Shroud of Turin started following a chance conversation on a Sunday walk with my friend David Thomas. David, probably the most knowledgeable person I know, told me about the full-size body image of a man, front and back, superimposed on a burial cloth that science can’t explain. He described a radiation experiment involving a protective Faraday cage, which must have been what sparked my curiosity!
I then immersed myself in the subject, read several books, watched a film and a variety of YouTube presentations, clicked on several websites, joined the British Society for the Turin Shroud (BSTS), met Michael Kowalski, editor of the BSTS newsletter, and made contact with Father Eamon Kelly, who used to conduct tours of the Shroud of Turin Exhibition, at the Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem.
The more research I did, the more enthusiastic I became about the Shroud.
Looking back, I knew very little about the Shroud, and unsurprisingly, most people I have spoken to since, particularly young people, know little or nothing about the Shroud either.
This prompted me to think of ways of sharing the story of the Shroud, another nudge from God, resulting in The Case of the Missing Body.
In writing, I assume readers know nothing about the Shroud of Turin, and I invite them to join me in my investigation.
We have a close look at the Shroud itself, examine the science, identify the mysteries, study what the Bible says, follow the history, review what could have caused that image my friend David told me about, and consider an explanation.
Whatever the readers’ beliefs, I encourage them to keep an open mind as we examine together the evidence the Shroud of Turin provides about the missing body.
The book was written from a scientific perspective to be of interest to the general public and feedback from those who have read it has been very encouraging.
The story of the Shroud of Turin provides another opportunity to share my Christian beliefs as it includes Biblical accounts of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection.
The following in italics are extracts from my book.
“Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalen came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him”! Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.
The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped to look in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Peter arrived and went inside.
He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side. Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw and believed, for until then, they hadn’t realised that the Scriptures said he would rise from the dead.”
“The linen wrappings were left as If Jesus had passed right through them. The cloth that covered Jesus’ head was still rolled up, and it was about the right distance from the wrappings that had enveloped Jesus’ body. The cloth that wrapped the head was believed to have been removed before the body was covered in the Shroud. It would have been left in the tomb because it contained Jesus’ blood, so Jewish burial customs required it to be buried with the body.
A grave robber couldn’t have made off with Jesus’ body and left the linens as if they were still shaped around it. As further proof that the disciples did not fabricate the story, we find that Peter and John were surprised that Jesus was not in the tomb. When John saw the linen wrappings from which Jesus had emerged, he believed that Jesus had risen.
“It Is most likely that John was present at the crucifixion, helped take the body down from the cross, carried it to the grave and observed the burial”.
“Author Conan Doyle once said through the lips of Sherlock Holmes, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”.
At the end of my talk “The Case of the Missing Body Live!” I conduct a Secret Ballot asking the same questions I ask at the end of the book.
“Is the Shroud of Turin the authentic burial cloth of Jesus and evidence of his resurrection, an elaborate hoax, or something else?”
I deliberately do not declare what I believe, and anyway, my faith is not based on whether the Shroud is authentic or not.
If you would like to order a copy of The Case of the Missing Body or Heaven How to Get There or if you live in the Northwest of England and would like to invite me to speak about The Case of the Missing Body Live, go to:
Happy Easter
Tony Cunliffe
Selah: (Pause to think calmly on what has just been read) and check out A Time to Worship
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