>Folks,
> Like the Shroud of Turin itself, I find this discussion to be far more
>fascinating than any Lutheran (which I am) properly should. Nonetheless,
>what is fundamentally so engaging about this topic is the
>faith/reason/scientific inquiry nexus. Why should the claims made for the
>Shroud of Turin as the authentic burial shroud of Jesus be seen as
>inimical, or irrelevant, to Christian faith? It seems to me that the same
>response could be tendered to those who are concerned to demonstrate the
>validity of claims about God-as-Creator, whether they be YEC, OEC, TE, ID
>theorists, or otherwise. Why should we not view those Christians who are
>drawn to questions about God-as-Creator as simply misguided and
>superstitious? To put it another way: Why should skepticism regarding the
>Shroud be treated any differently from skepticism about Genesis? Are they
>not both objects of faith? Or are they both objects suitable for rational
>and scientific analysis? If God could bestow on us the gift of his
>authoritative presence by means of a written text, could he not also bestow
>on us the gift of his authoritative presence via an artifact such as the
>Shroud? What's the basis for the tacit acceptance of the former, and the
>tacit suspicion of the latter? I don't understand why Genesis, with its
>portrayal of God-as-Creator, is to be seen as a legitimate object of
>devotion, while the Shroud as a possible historic testimony to
>God-as-Redeemer, is to be seen as less legitimate. What's going on here?
Tom,
I admit, I do find a need to explain Genesis and am quite obsessed about it
while I find the Shround a curious object but not worthy of my time to
investigate the truth of it. This is just my initial, off the top of my
head, reaction; Genesis is the inspired Word of God and thus very worthy
of our attention and we should seek to understand it. I am not skeptical
of Genesis at all, I believe it to be the Word of God. God has provided us
in his Word all we need to know to "worship and glorify God" properly. The
Shroud though, has been shrouded in secrecy for century, didn't appear
until quite late. For myself it may or not be real and either way it
wounldn't really change the my faith but how I understand his Word will so
I do seek to understand it better. Again, I feel that some think that God
may have specially preserved certain objects to be special "miracle" for
today as if what we read in his Word isn't enough to convict man today and
God has saved some extra info for today. Hey, maybe God stepped in and
said, "things aren't going along as I planned and so I better step in an
add another item of proof so as it redirect the progress of man in his
understanding of me." Sorry, that is in fun for the ID crowd.
Joel Duff