Faith, Reason, And The Shroud Of Turin

Image of Shroud of  Turin showing positive and negative displays by source: Dianelos Georgoudis, CC BY-SA 3.0 https:creativecommons.org licenses by-sa3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

As the “science guy” in school, I got a lot of questions. They weren’t science questions, unless it was for answers on the high school chemistry exam. (And they were asked during the actual taking of the exam!) No, my friends usually asked me questions about science fiction.

That irked me.

OK, so here’s something many people didn’t know about me back then. As much of a Trekker that I was (and still am – but only for Star Trek: TOS), I was no fan of science fiction. Sure, I liked 2001: A Space Odyssey (the movie, I hated the book). Yes, I read Isaac Asimov’s I Robot (during catechism class at St. Pius because I was bored, and it was on the bookshelf I sat next to).

But, in general, I found most science fiction too dystopian, too depressing, and, well, too nerdy.

In short, I hated it. And I hated when people asked me questions about it.

And don’t get me started about my opinion of science fantasy!

There was another kind of science question folks often asked me. These could be categorized as the “science vs. religion” question. As a budding astronomer, you could imagine why I would get all these questions. For example, a favorite was, if you believe in the Big Bang theory, does that mean you don’t believe God created the universe?

It took me a while before I could believe I could answer that question. At its very essence, it questioned whether I placed greater confidence in my faith or my reason. It was as if the two represented a tug-of-war, a dichotomy where only one could win.

Two things happened that would change my view (and allow me to finally answer the question).

The first came from the world of science.

Remember those Scholastic Book sales the school would regularly offer? I usually bought all the astronomy (and meteorology) books. Early in high school, I picked up a book called Red Giants and White Dwarfs by Robert Jastrow. Jastrow, an astronomer, wasn’t afraid to bring God into things. In fact, when it came to the Big Bang, he specifically said it could only be explained if a Creator exists.

And that gave me my answer: How could I believe in God if I also believe in the Big Bang? It’s simple. Yes, God created the universe. The astronomer’s job is to try to understand and explain how He created it.

Had I been paying attention in religious class (rather than reading Asimov), I might have found the answer to the faith vs. reason question sooner.

It turns out Thomas Aquinas addressed this issue centuries ago. He said faith and reason aren’t incompatible but are two peas of the same pod. Well, he didn’t really introduce vegetables, but he said, while they were different, they were the same. Think of them as similar to Yin and Yang in Taoism.

Not only did Aquinas ignore his vegetables, but he also ignored the Big Bang theory. You can’t blame him for that since Alexander Friedmann didn’t create the mathematical derivation of an expanding universe (a.k.a., the “Friedmann equations”) until 1922. Of course, ardent readers of this column know the term wasn’t coined until 1948 during a BBC radio appearance by Fred Hoyle.

Despite his ignorance of this 20^th century theory, Aquinas says reason would assemble a set of facts that would lead to the conclusion that only God could have created the universe.

Hmm, did Jastrow read Aquinas’ Summa Theologica?

The Catholic Church formally adopted the doctrine of faith/reason symbiosis at the First Vatican Council in April, 1870, stating, “not only can faith and reason never be opposed to one another, but they are of mutual aid one to the other.” Other Judeo-Christian religions have adopted similar doctrine, although they are more along the line that reason can provide evidence of faith.

Now, here’s where the whole faith/reason thing gets tricky. What if science “proves” your faith is “wrong”? The leading example here is Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. His On The Origin of Species, published in 1859, sparked a “science vs. religion” controversy in Victorian England. Perhaps this is why Rome came out with its 1870 statement.

It wasn’t until 1950 that Pope Pius XII issued an encyclical stating “The Church does not forbid that … research and discussions… take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution.” Pope John Paul II went further in 1996 when, in an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, said, “…new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than a hypothesis.”

Speaking of John Paul II, credit goes to him for finally clarifying things about Galileo. In 1992, more than 360 years after the Church condemned Galileo, the Vatican formally reversed its position. The Pope concluded, “the purpose of your Academy [the Pontifical Academy of Sciences] is precisely to discern and to make known, in the present state of science and within its proper limits, what can be regarded as an acquired truth or at least as enjoying such a degree of probability that it would be imprudent and unreasonable to reject it. In this way unnecessary conflicts can be avoided.”

Which brings us to the Shroud of Turin. Long believed (faith) to be the actual shroud Jesus was buried in, a controversial study in the 1970s suggested it was no older than the 14^th century when it first appeared at a collegiate church in France. Radiocarbon dating (reason) in the 1980s concluded the cloth could not have existed before the mid-13^th century. Other studies tended to confirm a historical range within a century of its first appearance.

Reason (science) seems to contradict faith regarding the Shroud.

Until now. A new study using X-ray analysis concludes the cloth is indeed from the time of Christ. Researchers say it doesn’t prove the image is that of Christ, but it could be. Religious leaders say the Shroud is not needed to prove the story of Christ.

This provides us with two important lessons and a bonus question:

1. Reason requires us to admit science is ever changing (improving) and never “settled.”
2. Faith is eternal.

Bonus question: If it really is Christ’s burial shroud, and that really is His blood, can we get His DNA?

And if we can get that DNA, what would the clone of Jesus do?