Episode 86 with Barrie Schwortz

 

Barrie Schwortz was raised as an Orthodox Jew. He was a member and imaging expert of the Shroud of Turin Research Project in the late 1970’s.

In the 1970s, a team of scientists from many walks of life were invited to investigated the Shroud. They found that it was not a painting or a photograph. The calibre of the team included people like Don Linn, who was a NASA imaging expert.

Mr. Schwortz has an excellent website at shroud.com. 

The Official Shroud Photographer

Mr. Schwortz was a photographer and worked in aerospace and medical arenas, and had done contractual work at the Los Alamos laboratory.

Because of his vast experience he was invited to be part of the STURP team. The team included Jews, Christians, atheists, and agnostics. Their mission was to scientifically study the Shroud of Turin. He originally thought the group would study and take photographs and would quickly and easily confirm that the Shroud was a painting.

This was not to be the case. 

Blood and 3D Imagery on the Shroud

One stumbling block for him was the red blood on the Shroud, and he said Dr. Allen Adler helped sort that out for him years later.

He discusses that and also an unexplained feature is the three dimensionality of the Shroud. If the body was closer to the linen it was darker, and areas several centimeters away were less dense in the imaging. This is why he feels that Dr. Mattingly’s hypothesis is not correct, and Mr. Schwortz feels that currently there is no adequate explanation for this phenomena. 

The Problem with Carbon 14 Dating

He discusses in detail why the Carbon-14 dating was incorrect, and that there are many unanswered question on the Shroud.

Also explains is his thoughts on the superimposition of the Shroud and the Divine Mercy Image, as well as the lack of smudging on the Shroud and the lack of moving of the body after is was wrapped in the linen. 

The Jew and the Monk

The Shroud of Turin has impacted him and his walk of faith. Years ago he was speaking to a monk about conversion, and the monk told him, “Jews don’t need to convert. They need to accept.”

The website is thorough and for more information go to www.shroud.com.