Hi C.DRIGS I am starting to wounder if my writings are legible, or that they are not being read accurately ? Yes of course CHRIST had given up HIS spirit to THE FATHER as HIS heart broke prior to the thrust of the spear, hence HIS spleen had more than likely had swollen from Pint to 1.7 pints + the 240ml of blood his heart would have held gushed out, I would have gone into more detail of this by now. but got bogged down in a disspute of opinion In my opinion the point you made about doubting Tom is irrelevent as he came to believe, now you could argue that those who believed prior to witnessing Christs resurection, haveing seen JESUS went on to believe more than Tom . But I will argue that Tom, haveing asked for proof, and upon receiving it, went on to be as believing as the others{ tho be it by his shame of his doubt } as is the case with me and who's to say the others had not dought before they laid eyes on our LORD And besides who are we to decide how GOD should call his children out of darkness and into HIS light ? I asked GOD to give me proof, HE did,{ and know I know, as before I believed } I would hardly have asked GOD to remove my doubt, had I not believed in HIM in the first place, where would the truth be in that GOD bless
Your posts are legible and your enthusiasm is much more palpable. I'm happy for you. You believe that this shroud is the one that was used to wrap our Savior's body because of expert analysis and your PERCEPTION that God used this shroud to reveal Himself to you. God could have very well revealed Himself to you by using this shroud. But just because He might have done so doesn't make this shroud genuine. The picture depicting Jesus that you found by the shore might have been used by God to reveal to you the reality of His existence; however, this doesn't mean that the picture you found is a picture of Jesus Himself. Both the picture and the shroud seem to be about our Lord, but this doesn't make them genuine. The Quran mentions Jesus Christ, but this mention doesn't make the Arab holy book true! The Book of Mormon, the holy book of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, mentions Jesus Christ. This mention of our Lord in this book DOES NOT MAKE the Book of Mormon TRUE.
As believers in the word of God, we consider it to be the authority in matters of faith. The three-witness settling of an issue must come from the Bible itself. This means that if you talk about THREE witnesses regarding this shroud, these three witnesses MUST BE found in the Bible. The experts you mentioned cannot be considered witnesses in this matter. If you desire to accept their conclusions, it's your right and choice.
But just because these experts "publicly attested" that the linen clothes were those of our Lord does not PROVE that this is the cloth that was used to wrap the body of our Savior. Just as it is your right and choice to believe these men's conclusions, it's our right and choice to believe the witness of scripture OVER these men's conclusions any day of the week. Don't allow this to become an idol in your heart.
Just because the shroud of Turin isn't authentic doesn't mean that it takes away from how God apparently used it to reveal Himself to you. You are lightning quick to call others False Witnesses. As far as I could read, nobody here has passed judgment on you or persecuted you. Not to join you in believing the authenticity of the shroud does not equate to persecution So, if someone disagrees with you, he or she is a false witness??? My, my!!! What my brothers and sisters here are TELLING YOU is to use the Word to see if this is true.
Be practical as you also are but flesh. Use only the word of God to test the spirits. You must not hang your faith on pegs like this shroud or a place where Mary made an alledged apparition to where Catholics flock to worship her, and so on and so forth. Be careful or you're gonna end up with a collection of relics that have no place in the heart of a child of God.
The point Drigs made about Thomas IS RELEVANT because "BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HAVE NOT SEEN, AND YET HAVE BELIEVED." Can you SEE IT Dean? Jesus was saying that Thomas was not blessed as those who had believed WITHOUT SEEING!
Regardless of whether this shroud is genuine or fake, the all-important truth on which you should hang your faith is the fact that Jesus died for us and was resurrected by His and our Father and now lives to intercede on our behalf. We don't need a shroud TO HELP US BELIEVE in the death and resurrection of our Savior!