From WhodaThunk

If God can make a donkey speak to get His point across, He can certainly use anything to bring one back to faith.

I thank God He brought you back to faith, which is far more important in the scheme of things.

You stated that the Catholic church doesn't claim that the shroud is positively the one Jesus had on Him.  Certainly they would be stating that for sure if they had the evidence to do so.  The enormous amount of money they put into investigating the Turin relic has left them only with the vague statement "it could be" answer.  I honestly think that they uncovered some evidence to indicate that it was not the true shroud of Jesus, but for political inter church reasons, they didn't want to say so.

That evidence that would prove the Turin shroud must be still available to be discovered, so to avoid having the Catholic Church from being made a fool by declaring it authentic, they wrap themselves in ambiguity.

Personally, how can one blame them ... they have made great use of the shroud by inferring that it could be authentic.  I have Catholic friends from which I get the "Catholic on the streets" view of the controversy.

Basic knowledge acquired from the scripture is my guide.  I am not swayed by the reports of big scientific guns for hire, nor those scientists who set out to prove it's authenticity in the place of allowing the scientific and Biblical evidence to lead them to the truth, so they can prove their religion, or other motivations.

Thus, My hope is not built on the relics of the past, but on Jesus Christ and His righteousness.  It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the truth of faith to each individual.  And though the shroud of Turin may have been a part of your returning to faith, it is the Holy Spirit that ultimately can take credit for that event.

So, I rejoice with your return to faith, I rejoice with you!  And I trust that your return to faith is a return to faith in Jesus Christ, because believing the shroud of Turin is authentic basically gets you NOTHING!

Relationship with Jesus Christ is EVERYTHING!

Thanks for sharing!

WhodaThunk