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Rating: 
Summary: Another Honest Skeptic Converted!
Review: ...Kirkus Reviews once again exposes their rabid bias ... see their other "reviews" on similar topics. What is the source of their contempt? Is there just one anti-Christian reviewer assigned to books with religious implications? Does he worship at the altar of Spong? I'll have to take a look later. But I think we can accurately describe the last third of the "review" as standard, vague, boilerplate, fundamentalist atheist drivel. Thankfully, not all atheists are so closed-minded. At the beginning of the book the author shares his first encounter with the subject, as an agnostic. Intrigued, he continues his investigation, and ... surprise! Keep in mind that among conservative Christians, the issue of the Shroud is somewhat contested. Last time I looked, Josh McDowell and others were skeptical of the Shroud. So for a nonbeliever to assess the evidence is an interesting ride in itself. Among other topics, the author reviews different theories of image formation, discusses the different images on the Shroud, and offers a theory which seems to fit the facts on hand. He details the many factors which made the C-14 dating the least reliable indicator ... ironically, the only scientific result thus far to cast doubt on the authenticity of the Shroud. After reading this, why anyone would accept the C-14 results - a textbook example of shoddy science - as a reason to discredit the Shroud is beyond me, and can only be explained by a fear rooted in an emotional need to reject it. All in all, a good review of all the evidence currently available, and a good look into an honest skeptic's journey towards a truth stranger than fiction.
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Summary: It's Amazing...
Review: After reading Antonacci's book, you may well conclude, as I did, that the Shroud of Turin was a gift from God in some ways intended specifically for those of us living in our times. Without today's sophisticated scientific equipment, much of the evidence imprinted on this ancient relic could not be observed, much less understood. At first I wondered why an ATTORNEY was writing such a book. Then I recalled that, in spite of all the tacky lawyer jokes, it is attorneys who are trained to sift through available evidence and present it in a logical manner. Mark Antonacci has done just that - presented all the evidence in a wonderfully logical manner that even the non-scientific layman can understand. He could not have done a better job of putting the needed references and citations for anyone interested in further study. In our world of today where we demand to see scientific proof of miracles, we can truly see the finger of God in the results of the scientific study of the Shroud. It is a gift for our times and an humbling experience. Forget what you THINK you know about the Shroud. Read the book.
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Summary: The Shroud - A Gift for Our Times
Review: After reading Antonacci's book, you may well conclude, as I did, that the Shroud of Turin was a gift from God in some ways intended specifically for those of us living in our times. Without today's sophisticated scientific equipment, much of the evidence imprinted on this ancient relic could not be observed, much less understood. At first I wondered why an ATTORNEY was writing such a book. Then I recalled that, in spite of all the tacky lawyer jokes, it is attorneys who are trained to sift through available evidence and present it in a logical manner. Mark Antonacci has done just that - presented all the evidence in a wonderfully logical manner that even the non-scientific layman can understand. He could not have done a better job of putting the needed references and citations for anyone interested in further study. In our world of today where we demand to see scientific proof of miracles, we can truly see the finger of God in the results of the scientific study of the Shroud. It is a gift for our times and an humbling experience. Forget what you THINK you know about the Shroud. Read the book.
Rating:
Summary: A book that must not be ignored
Review: Bertrand Russell, a well-known atheist, was once asked what he would say if, after he died, he found that God indeed did exist. Unfazed in the least, Russell answered: "I would tell him: 'Not enough evidence, God. You didn't provide enough evidence.'" Well, it's 2001, and scientists have been busy at work studying the Shroud of Turin for the past twenty years. But as usual, the mass media have told everybody "the scoop" about the Shroud: "It's a fake. Radiocarbon dating proves without a doubt---three well-respected international labs all agree---the cloth of the Shroud dates no earlier than 1260 A.D." Read this book if you want to get the rest of the story. Antonacci does a fine job of reviewing all of the reasons why no skeptics have been able to demonstrate how the image on the cloth, which turns out to be an overlay of two different images, laid down at different moments---one relating to the blood flowing from over 140 wounds on the body, and the other relating to the 3-dimensional image of the body itself---could have been created by a medieval trickster. Even today, after the majority of the data hidden in the image has been revealed only by ultramodern techniques that no one in the Middle Ages could ever have conceived of, let alone anticipated by "painting" details onto the Shroud, the most dedicated and disinterested scientists who have spent years investigating the image are at a loss to explain a definitive mechanism that would account for the incredible wealth of details they can observe. These details, by the way, match eerily with the accounts handed down by the Gospels, discredited for so long by skeptics who argue only from textual inconsistencies, and who have never considered the Shroud---because it's so easy to buy into the simplistic dismissal that it must have been faked. In company with Sherlock Holmes, Antonacci belongs to the school that believes "If you have eliminated all of the possible alternatives, then whatever remains---no matter how improbable---must be the truth." He does not flinch from the inevitable conclusion: those who have been arguing for centuries that Jesus' resurrection is a myth told by early Christians have never confronted the mass of evidence right before their very eyes, in the Shroud of Turin. The much-touted radiocarbon dating in 1988 established only that a single small piece of the cloth snipped from a border area that had been repaired in the 16th century, after being damaged by fire and water, had an "average" age somewhere in the 13th century. Antonacci makes a compelling case that the definitive dating test, based on samples drawn from all parts of the Shroud, has yet to be done, and so the question of the cloth's age is still open. (Were you aware that there was another radiocarbon dating done after the comprehensive examination of the Shroud in 1978, and that it showed one end of a fiber from the cloth was as old as 200 A.D. (plus or minus several hundred years)? No? Well, that's why you should get the book and decide for yourself. The book's print is unnecessarily small, but there are extensive endnotes documenting each finding established by prior research. In other words, you can start here and follow the leads as far as you want to go. And no one--skeptic or believer--should disagree with Antonacci's conclusion: much more can be done to investigate the clues provided by the Shroud, and so much more should be done. The fate of future research rests with the Vatican's bureaucracy. Let's hope that this book prods them into using the very best technology available to probe into the many mysteries that still remain in the Shroud. After all, how much can a skeptic ask for? Here is the one arguably genuine artifact we have of a miracle, and to say that the case is closed, that the dating process shows the Shroud is a fake, is to deny the reality of that ultimately highly disturbing image that contains so much microscopic detail of a brutal first-century torture---down to the more than 130 welts raised by the Romans' scourging, the clots formed in each welt, and the blood serum that leaked around the edge of each clot. No one could have detected this level of detail before 1978, and now that we can do so much more, there is no excuse for putting off further inquiries. May this book get the wheels turning!
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Summary: A book that must not be ignored
Review: I found Mr. Antonacci's presentation of information very informative and thought provoking. He presents three major points: 1)known details regarding the image seen with detailed arguments refuting it as a forgery, 2) specific reasons to contest the accuracy of the carbon 14 dating (which asserted the Shroud was a forgery of the 1300's), and 3) theory of possible mechanisms of encoding the image seen. As a whole, the arguments were compelling.
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Summary: most complete shroud book
Review: i have read several books on the shroud and this is by far the most comprehensive. mark antonacci makes convincing arguements for the authenticity of the shroud. as a layman i can only believe what i read about scientific processes like carbon-14 dating, but mr. antonacci makes a strong case that the last round of test were unreliable. as i mentioned i have read 3 other books on the shroud and i learned some information from this book that you never see on the tv shows or read in the less detailed books. very good read, especially if you are intrigued by the shroud. i stayed up late and lost sleep reading this book.
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Summary: EXCELLENT AND THOROUGH
Review: If you've never been exposed to Shroud material before, "The Resurrection of the Shroud" is a worthy introduction. Mark Antonacci provides an exhaustive introduction to several shroud theories, from several different scientific fields. There are, for example, the Mandylion theory from international art history, the VP-8 3 D theory, from high tech imaging, the paint theory, from microscopic examination, the pollen theory, from botany ... Antonacci writes well, but there are places where his prose could have benefited from a careful copy editor. Compared, though, to the often execrable writing found in many best selling books today, Antonacci's prose is just fine. There are a couple of places where he makes minor errors of fact, for example, when he refers to Veronica's veil as one of the fifteen Stations of the Cross. There are fourteen Stations of the Cross. The insurmountable problem is, of course, that shroud scholarship is very much alive. Visit Barrie Schwortz's excellent website www.shroud.com, and you will read active, living exchanges between high powered scholars who are convinced that diametrically opposed points of view are correct. Are there traces of paint on the shroud, or aren't there? One can find opposite opinions, firmly attested, by equally prominent scholars. In short, the mystery of the shroud *is not* something that will be solved for you by this book. You will merely be introduced to a mystery that has gripped minds for over one hundred years, since it was first revealed, through the first photographs of the shroud, that what the naked eye sees when viewing the shroud is a blurred shadow compared with what the camera reveals in its *negative* images of the shroud. What does all this mean? I came to Antonacci's book knowing that no definitive answer has yet been produced, and that scholars in hard sciences better qualified than I to assess evidence are convinced of the fantastic premise that the shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus. Even though I know that the issue is not settled, Antonacci's book was a real page turner for me. I read late into the night, hoping that I would hit upon that one bit of evidence that conclusively proved either that the shroud is a fantastic forgery, or an even more fantastic artifact. That final, conclusive bit of evidence has yet to surface, but that did not interfere with my considerable enjoyment of this book. I do recommend it, to skeptics and believers alike.
Rating: 
Summary: more proof of survival
Review: More well-reasoned documentation that Jesus indeed survived the crucifixion. It's refreshing to be living in a time when science is able to help create understanding where there was once only myth.
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Summary: Best Evidence For the Resurrection
Review: Science itself has proven that the greatest mystery in human history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is still an unsolved mystery. The author is neither a theologian, clergyman, scientist, nor fiction writer. He is an attorney, which makes him uniquely qualified to gather facts from different experts and present his case before the reader. He has done an outstanding job with this book. Antonacci begins the book by proving historically that the shroud is much older than the carbon dating that was performed on it. Then he moves into the scientific realm, explaining how biology can disprove the dating. Alot of time is spent in disproving all of the theories of how the image got on the cloth and at times is a little tedious but very thorough. The climax at the end of the book is when the image is explained by nuclear physics. This is when it really gets interesting and leaves us wondering if the Biblical account shouldn't be taken at its word. The author clearly makes the point that the shroud should be the most important relic in Christendom, for here we have the greatest proof that the resurrection of Christ really did occur as it is recorded in the Bible.
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Summary: EXCELLENT AND THOROUGH
Review: The Shroud of Turin is the most thoroughly researched artifact in the history of the world. Because of its wealth of astonishing attributes, the Shroud of Turin has draw over a quarter million hours of research by research scientists (mostly at personal expense) between 1977 and 2000--for good reason. All this rigorous attention is due soley to the merits and rewards they have reaped as they continue discovering its wonders. Of all the books I have read about the Shroud of Turin, this is by far the most excellent, thorough, well researched, and well documented. Yochanan (John) records in his gospel that the miracles recorded of Yeshua (Jesus) were only the tip of the iceberg (John 20:30; 21:25). Back in those days people had different opinions about the miracles: some rejected them, some doubted, some believed (but took it all for granted), and some were appreciative and glorified God. Everyone must draw their own conclusions about the Shroud--don't let others and media spin masters make up your mind for you. When it comes to the Shroud, the powerful amazement of it lies in its details. If you do not know the details, you are missing the boat. This is the book to find those details. The more technology grows, the more they research the Shroud, the more powerful and impressive it is. Quantum leaps in technology uncover, corespondingly, quantum leaps in hitherto hidden mindboggling aspects about the Shroud. It seems evident to me that Yeshua has left this as a special sign, especially for our generation. We are the first generation to have the scientific technology to fathom the wonders of the Shroud. You owe it to yourself to investigate for yourself and draw your own conclusions. This is the book to give you the best coverage and analysis of the details among all the books I have read. My commendations to the author, Mark Antonacci, for his excellent work, resulting from 20 years of writing and research!
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