Shroud of Turin Education Project, Inc.
For Immediate Release
Date:

____________________________announces that it will be host to the highly acclaimed presentation, THE MYSTERY OF THE SHROUD A Multi-Media Encounter (Shroud Encounter).

Shroud Encounter is presented by Russ Breault, President of Shroud of Turin Education Project, Inc. and founder of www.ShroudUnversity.com. Using over 150 images, the presentation is a fast moving, big-screen experience.

Russ Breault is an international lecturer and researcher who has been featured on several national documentaries and has presented at many universities including Duke, West Point, Auburn University and others. Mr. Breault also hosts www.ShroudEncounter.com.

The Shroud of Turin is a 14-foot long linen cloth in Turin, Italy that bears the faint front and back image of a 5'10" bearded, crucified man with wounds and bloodstains whose wounds match those of Jesus as recorded in the Bible. Millions of people today and over the centuries believe it is the actual burial shroud of Jesus. The Shroud currently resides in Turin, Italy but the historical trail tracks back through France, modern day Turkey and seems to have originated in the Middle East according to textile evidence and First Century Jewish burial practices.

Despite much scientific analysis, the Shroud remains a mystery. A team of 40 scientists in 1978 determined it was not the work of an artist. They found no significant trace of paint, pigment, dye or other artistic substances on the cloth. Other discoveries have defied explanation such as why the image shows up better in a photographic negative. The image also contains 3-D or distance information indicating that the cloth must have wrapped a human form at the time the image was created. The blood is AB positive with human DNA. Skeptics have mounted numerous attempts to show how a medieval artist could have produced the image but all have been inadequate to fully explain how the mysterious image was formed. The cloth appears to have wrapped a corpse but there are no stains of decomposition suggesting that the body could not have been in the cloth longer than three days.

The Shroud was largely dismissed in 1988 when three carbon dating labs indicated a medieval origin. However new chemical research now shows that the single sample cut from the outside corner edge was not part of the original Shroud material. In violation of the sampling protocol, only one sample was used for dating and was cut from the most handled area of the cloth that should have been avoided. The sample appears to have been part of an area repaired sometime during the Middle Ages. Based on this new evidence, many scientists now believe the carbon dating result is irrelevant and should nolonger be considered valid.

Adding strength to the Shroud’s authenticity, scientists from Hebrew University confirmed the presence of pollen from plants that grow only in Israel. The mystery continues. National Geographic called it "One of the most perplexing enigmas of modern times."