A film-maker who brought the Shroud of Turin to public attention is offering a $1 million challenge to the British Museum, calling on it to prove the relic is a medieval forgery by recreating it today. David Rolfe, whose 1978 documentary 'The Silent Witness' won a Bafta, argues that new discoveries have reopened the question of the shroud's authenticity, despite carbon-14 tests in 1988 dating it to the 13th or 14th century.
Rolfe claims the carbon dating, carried out under the direction of the British Museum and Oxford University, was flawed. He says the sample used was too small and taken from a corner likely repaired over the centuries. 'If they believe the shroud is a medieval forgery, I call on them to repeat the exercise, and create something similar today,' Rolfe said. 'If this is a forgery it's the most ingenious forgery in history.'
The shroud, kept at Turin Cathedral, is revered by many as the cloth in which Christ's body was wrapped after crucifixion. Rolfe became interested after writer Ian Wilson contacted him. His documentary posed questions about how the image of a crucified man appeared on the cloth, but did not claim authenticity. The image was more pronounced in photographic negatives, which Rolfe described as 'almost as though it had been created for the photographic age'.
Rolfe's new film, 'Who Can He Be?', argues that the 1988 tests were politically influenced. 'Five protocols were agreed on, but they were all abandoned,' he said. However, sceptics like Richy Thompson of Humanists UK note that even if the shroud dates from Christ's time, it does not prove resurrection. 'What many non-religious people would say is, where is the evidence?' Thompson said.
