Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 352
352 AHMADIYY AT His wisdom would progressively manifest historical evi- dence in support of the truth, so that the world might gain sure knowledge of the reality. So it has come about. By now a mass of evidence has been accumulated which goes to establish the accuracy of the thesis set forth by the Promised Messiah. In recent years interest has been stimulated in the central issue in this thesis, namely, whether Jesus did or did not die on the cross. A striking piece of evidence upon which attention has progressively centred more and more, is whether the piece of linen cloth in which the body of Jesus was wrapped up when it was taken down from the cross, which is now known as the Holy Shroud, furnishes evidence of a type which can help in the final and conclusive deter- mination of the issue, one way or the other. The research so far carried out tends to lend strong support to the thesis that the body that had been wrapped in the linen cloth was that of a person who was alive and was not dead. The Holy Shroud has for some centuries been preserved in the chapel of the Dukes of Savoy in Turin Cathedral, and is exposed to public view at intervals of thirty-three years. The next public exhi- bition of the Holy Shroud is due in April 1978, and it is expected that permission might at. last be granted by the relevant authorities to permit a small piece of the Holy Shroud, no more than a few square centimeters, to be detached for the purpose of further scientific research which might enable the age of the shroud to be determined within a matter of fifty years, one way or the other. Hitherto, scien- tific research into the mystery of the Holy Shroud has been carried out only on the basis of enlarged photographs of the Shroud. The possibility of submitting a piece of the Shroud itself to radio exposition has aroused great interest in the result of such research. As it seems likely that, if such research becomes possible, its results would become available by the middle of May 1978, the Ahmadiyya Movement has announced its project of holding a conference in London, in the first week of June 1978, when the subject of the deliver- ance of Jesus from the cross will be brought under discussion.