Left Is Right

Preface

This research, first published on August 6, 2022, is an appendix to the UBtheNEWS: Shroud of Turin Report, which was published in 2008. You may find the introductory page to that report helpful for understanding the context of this appendix.

Overeview

The image on the Shroud of Turin shows a notable blood stain on one side of the torso. Is the blood stain on the left side or the right side? That is the question.

My research into this topic led me to consider the possibility that the image formed on the outer or far side of the linen, thus creating a true, not a reverse, image. As far as I know, the alternative logic presented here has never been put forth before from either a Christian or a Urantia Book perspective, at least not explicitly. But, as we shall see, perhaps the early artistic depictions hint at it.

Neither the New Testament account by John nor the prophecy of Zechariah specify a side of the body for the Roman soldier’s pierce:

John 19  ³³ But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
³⁴ But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
³⁵ And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
³⁶ For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
³⁷ And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

Zechariah 12  ¹⁰Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

If one believes The Urantia Book, we have an answer—the left side:

(187:5.7)  Because this was the preparation day for both the Passover and the Sabbath, the Jews did not want these bodies to be exposed on Golgotha. Therefore, they went before Pilate asking that the legs of these three men be broken, that they be dispatched, so that they could be taken down from their crosses and cast into the criminal burial pits before sundown. …

(187:5.8)  When these soldiers arrived at Golgotha, … they found Jesus already dead, much to their surprise. However, in order to make sure of his death, one of the soldiers pierced his left side with his spear. …

However, commonly held beliefs about the Shroud of Turin put the blood stain on Jesus’ right side, contradicting The Urantia Book account. This belief is based on the presumption that the image formed on the side of the linen that was touching the body, thus rendering a reverse image. And the tendency to think this way is bolstered by the fact that the image itself appears similar to a photographic negative.

And yet, early artistic images of Jesus and the Shroud of Turin indicate that Christians believed the pierce occurred on the left side.

If the image was formed on the far side of the Shroud of Turin, it is consistent with inferences that can be drawn from The Urantia Book‘s explanation of what happened. Additionally, a far side image addresses inconsistencies within the Christian tradition AND makes better sense of the New Testament record.

This review covers:

• reflections on key passages from The Urantia Book and my theory on how the image was created,
• consideration of the “blood and water” phrase from John 19:34,
• analysis of the blood stains, and
• reflections on early Christian artistic representations of the Shroud of Turin and Jesus’ crucified body.

Review

Urantia Book considerations

From a celestial administrator’s perspective, what are the implications of orchestrating and humanly unsolvable mystery? This question is important because a sentimentally motivated, post resurrection request by the chief of archangels led to the immediate dissolution of Jesus’ body.

(189.2.1)  At ten minutes past three o’clock, as the resurrected Jesus fraternized with the assembled … personalities from the seven mansion worlds …, the chief of archangels—the angels of the resurrection—approached Gabriel and asked for the mortal body of Jesus. Said the chief of the archangels: ” … [W]e would have his mortal remains put in our custody for immediate dissolution. We do not propose to employ our technique of dematerialization; we merely wish to invoke the process of accelerated time. It is enough that we have seen the Sovereign live and die on Urantia; the hosts of heaven would be spared the memory of enduring the sight of the slow decay of the human form of the Creator and Upholder of a universe. In the name of the celestial intelligences …, I ask for a mandate giving me the custody of the mortal body of Jesus of Nazareth and empowering us to proceed with its immediate dissolution.”

(189.2.8)  The mortal remains of Jesus underwent the same natural process of elemental disintegration as characterizes all human bodies on earth except that, in point of time, this natural mode of dissolution was greatly accelerated, hastened to that point where it became well-nigh instantaneous.

Being granted permission to enact an accelerated elemental disintegration of Jesus’ body needed to be managed with respect to the circumstances. Details are provided to help us understand what happened. And this allows us to appreciate why some type of additional plan needed to be devised to handle the Shroud of Turin and other items.

(189:2.3)  After the chief of archangels had been granted this request, he summoned to his assistance many of his fellows, together with a numerous host of the representatives of all orders of celestial personalities, and then, … proceeded to take possession of Jesus’ physical body. This body of death was a purely material creation; it was physical and literal; it could not be removed from the tomb as the morontia [spirit/angelic] form of the resurrection had been able to escape the sealed sepulchre. By the aid of certain morontia auxiliary personalities, the morontia form can be made at one time as of the spirit so that it can become indifferent to ordinary matter, while at another time it can become discernible and contactable to material beings, such as the mortals of the realm.

(189:4.6)  … By this hour there was just enough of the dawn of a new day to enable Mary to look back to the place where the Master’s body had lain and to discern that it was gone. In the recess of stone where they had laid Jesus, Mary saw only the folded napkin where his head had rested and the bandages wherewith he had been wrapped lying intact and as they had rested on the stone before the celestial hosts removed the body. The covering sheet lay at the foot of the burial niche.

The reasoning behind providing us with all of these details is explained. The revelatory standards and wisdom governing the presentation of this material includes the following:

(101:4.2)  … the historic facts and religious truths of this series of revelatory presentations will stand on the records of the ages to come …

(101:4.5)  … revelations are of immense value in that they at least transiently clarify knowledge by:

(101:4.6)  1. The reduction of confusion by the authoritative elimination of error.
(101:4.7)  2. The co-ordination of known or about-to-be-known facts and observations.
(101:4.8)  3. The restoration of important bits of lost knowledge concerning epochal transactions in the distant past.
(101:4.9)  4. The supplying of information which will fill in vital missing gaps in otherwise earned knowledge.
(101:4.10)  5. Presenting cosmic data in such a manner as to illuminate the spiritual teachings contained in the accompanying revelation.

Reasons for providing detailed information about historical events is one thing. But what about reasons for choosing to create a humanly unsolvable mystery in the first place?

The sentimental interests of our celestial hosts WERE ALLOWED TO CAUSE a noteworthy cultural phenomenon, involving mysteries (and, therefore, disagreements) that only revelation can answered. From a Urantia Book perspective, early Christians were destined to get the particulars of what happened wrong. Then, based on their misunderstandings of what happened, they would draw some incorrect theological and cosmological inferences. Presumably, as part of their job, our celestial administrators foresaw the problematic issues attached to the chief archangel’s request and wanted to do something to help make up for those problems.

Christians do not have teachings about why Jesus was not supposed to leave behind potentially idolatrous relics, especially writings. Because The Urantia Book does provide wisdom on this subject that was given in advance of the bestowal mission by Immanuel, many Urantia Book readers are inclined to reject the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.

(120:3.7) “6. To the end that you may not unnecessarily contribute to the creation of subsequent stereotyped systems of Urantia religious beliefs or other types of nonprogressive religious loyalties, we advise you still further: Leave no writings behind you on the planet. Refrain from all writing upon permanent materials; enjoin your associates to make no images or other likenesses of yourself in the flesh. See that nothing potentially idolatrous is left on the planet at the time of your departure.

Consider that The Urantia Book, as a book claiming nonhuman origin, is somewhat at odds with the spirit of the above teaching. Adam and Eve’s presence as eight-foot tall glowing violet immortals invited undue reverence. Epochal revelations present challenges that need to be faced, not avoided. Even still and more importantly, if sentimental interests of the celestial hosts set the whole series of events into play in the first place, then, apparently, creative decisions needed to be made that would be useful to humanity for God knows how long, if you will, until a truer and more detailed picture of events could be provided.

We needed a Master Plan! And we got one!

Consider how avoiding the slow decay of Jesus’ now dead body, which “spared the memory” of angels, could be enacted in a manner that preserved an image of how Jesus died, which has long fanned the flickers and flames of faith. Perhaps this outweighs misdirected human beliefs and sentiments about relics, all things considered.

Providing specific information about the crucifixion, resurrection, and immediate dissolution of Jesus’ body is consistent with all above listed purposes for providing this epochal revelation. Providing details allows for, invites even, speculations about what else happened and why.

Injecting our modern-day understanding of photographic negatives into our speculations is understandable. People tend to apply what they do know to things about which they do not know. But this tendency can cut both ways.

Consider that the photographic negative effect on the Shroud of Turin is inconsistent with a situation where some type of energetic shielding would be involved. The shielding perspective that can be inferred from details provided in The Urantia Book encourages speculations about a different process for image production than that which is associated with photography.

If the Shroud image was created because electrons became super-excitation during the time-accelerated elemental disintegration of Jesus body, perhaps some type of shielding had to occur between the body and the rest of the world. What was not going through a time-accelerated “elemental disintegration” needed to be energetically shielded from what was going through that process—Jesus’ body. Of course, they could have simply taken Jesus naked body outside to conduct the necessary procedures. But then, that would not preserve a record of what they did that could be used as a mutually validating relic in conjunction with the next epochal revelation.

One of the peculiarities associated with the Shroud of Turin is that the image is vertically distorted. This distortion is similar to distortions created in nuclear medicine imaging. See Figures 12 and 13. From “Nuclear Medicine and It’s Relevance to the Shroud”:

“Ninth, isometric projection (V-P-8) of our generated images, yielded a striking similarity to the VP-8 image of the Shroud at the fall off of the left fingers. Knowing this is due to a 75-80% drop in signal intensity on our image, its relevance to the same phenomenon on the Shroud should not be overlooked and seriously considered to be a function of a similar effect i.e. a dosimetric sudden fall off of signal or radiation.”

The paper ends with the following summary:

“The radiation model described in this study characterized much of what we see in the Shroud image in terms of the behavior of radiation being emitted from a human source. We believe the nuclear medicine model is the best currently available to aid in our understanding of the Shroud image. We feel our results effectively demonstrated plausibly that the Shroud image resulted from an organized emission and/or organized collection of radiation from the body and/or cloth respectively.”

Watch “Through A Glass Darkly” to see what Jesus’ face on the Shroud of Turin looks like after the vertical distortion is removed.

If some type of protective shielding around Jesus’ body was used to limit the effect of the acceleration of time, perhaps the side of the Shroud of Turin in direct contact enjoyed the most energetic shielding from the radiant energy being emitted from the process of time-acceleration. And how much blood on the near side of the Shroud of Turin would have also undergone the accelerated dissolution process? This question will become more relevant below with examination of blood stains.

Blood and water

Note the emphasis John places on the testimony of the soldier.

John 19  34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

The record of “blood and water” raises the question of whether the water was pericardial fluid, which accumulates around the heart as a protective shield. Traumatic injuries, not surprisingly, cause this protective layer of fluid to increase.

Consider the context under which guards were dispatched to manage an end to the three crucifixions before the beginning of Passover. Jesus had become a social phenomenon. Roman and Jewish leaders were all feeling the pressure of the moment. In all likelihood, a most trusted centurion and highly experienced soldiers were sent to do the job. They would be familiar with the gruesomeness of life and death struggles; they would know how to determine whether someone is alive and how to make sure someone is dead. Ninety percent of us are right handed, which ergonomically aligns with a pierce on Jesus’ left side. Piercing the heart rather than the abdomen would be both fatal and minimize unpleasant odors—a practical consideration worth noting.

Humans and angels have a sentimental relationship towards Jesus. Just as the angels wanted to be spared the slow decay of Jesus’ body, people who believe in Jesus do not like think that his heart was pierced, even if he had already expired on the cross. But humanity needs to face the facts of how Jesus was treated and what happened during those times.

Both the New Testament account and The Urantia Book support the belief that pericardial fluid (water) was released along with the blood by the soldier’s pierce.

Blood stains

Perhaps one of the most curious and overlooked aspects of the Shroud is how the blood stains appear on the linen.

Take a moment and step back from it all. Forget this is a discussion about the Shroud of Turin. Forget the debate about the age of the linen. For the sake of establishing an analytical starting point, presume that it is not old, that age and circumstances are not at issue. And now ask yourself, does it look like blood is seeping through from behind or does it look like blood first touched the linen from the side you are seeing?

Note how consistently the dark red color shows up between the threads in contrast to on top of them. And dark red on top of the treads only shows up where there is also dark red between the threads.

So, the commonsense conclusion would be that this blood soaked through from the other side. With this as a starting point, circumstances are required to make wrong what otherwise seems obvious. Because there are only two choices here, the circumstances need to actually recreate the opposite from the obvious. Whatever one believes about the authenticity and history of the Shroud of Turin, by all accounts it is hundreds of years old and has survived a fire. Would age and fire and some occasional unfolding for display make the blood stains consistent with a blood stain made recently from the back side?

When I spoke with Barrie Schwortz about the photographs he took and the possibility that the image was created on the side away from the body, he explained that an extra layer had been applied to the side without the image to stabilize this delicate artifact. This is why there are no pictures of the side that does not have the image; it’s been made completely uninteresting. He also said that my perspective was a novel idea to him.

When I brought up the issue of how threads appear to have the blood coming in through the back, he asserted that the blood had flaked off over time on the most upper portion of the threads, apparently in a way that makes it look just like the blood soaked through from the back. Maybe, sometimes, too much group-think is bad for solving mysteries.

Early artistic renderings

Illustrations from the early 1500’s and 1600’s provide a perspective on how people saw the Shroud of Turin before the development of photography. This is not to say that the concept of negative and reverse images was lost on these earlier artisans and others. Even still and not surprisingly, both the negative and reverse imaging aspects of photographic technology readily get associated with speculations about how the Shroud of Turin image might have formed. STURP was formed a few generations after photography was developed.

I have not come across any writings that address whether early Christians thought blood on the torso was on Jesus’ left or right, which is not to imply they do not exist. Nonetheless, we can make inferences from the artistic representations of the Shroud of Turin made hundreds of years ago.

These images are instructive, notwithstanding the lack of attention to a certain detail. (Images are sourced from Ray Downing’s website.) Notice the inconsistency regarding the crossed hands in relationship to which side the pierce would have occurred. Even still, the images indicate that there is a history of associating the torso blood stain with the left side of the body, which would be consistent with the written narrative in John.

Notice how the oldest of the images highlights the torso blood along with how blood collected at the girdle line.

Presumably, during the middle ages, artisans and religious leaders understood that “blood and water” was evidence of piercing the heart. By today’s standards “pericardial fluid” is a scientific term, not necessarily on the minds of the average to educated person. Today, people do not live as close to the earth, animals, and violent death of all kinds as they did several hundred to a couple thousand years ago. Being scientifically underdeveloped compared to modern times does not mean that people did not have a practical and direct understanding of biology. In truth, pre-modern people necessarily had all kinds of practical and direct understandings of life that are lost to the modern world.

From a believer’s perspective, science has its place but cannot be expected to explain all the details. If an artifact is believed to be related to resurrection, scientific mysteries turn into cosmological mysteries. At least to some extent, when it comes to a divine and mysterious process being involved with the creation of the Shroud of Turin, the Christian and Urantia Book perspectives are differences without a distinction. Whether the image occurred as part of the resurrection process or to spare angels from experiencing the slow decay of Jesus’ physical body, both perspectives involve believing in the divinity of Jesus and that a mysterious artifact related to the resurrection was allowed to be created. In other words, God’s creativity was manifest in a mysterious way.

Is it for the faithful to define the creative options and limitations of God? If the body, Shroud of Turin, and face napkin (Sudarium of Oviedo) can be managed away from the bandages, what else is possible? And why? Why were the bandages and other items left in the manner in which they were placed. What is the wisdom related to the divine management of these resurrection artifacts?

While it may not be possible to reach a scientific consensus on mysteries related to the Shroud of Turin, the assertion made in The Urantia Book about the soldier’s pierce, along with specific information about the fate of Jesus’ body, provides a foundation for a new theory about on which side the image appeared—a theory that aligns well with The Urantia Book, the New Testament account, analysis of how the blood stains appear on the linen, and images from over four hundred years ago.

Additional links:

Researching this topic led to a wonderful conversation with Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) photographer Barrie Schwortz. Barrie took the now famous photographs of the Shroud of Turin back in 1978. He passed away on June 21, 2024. For many years, he updated and maintained shroud.com. Here’s a link to the interview I did with Jim Watkins on Urantia Radio. It includes commentary on the two-hour conversation I had with Barrie.