An Excerpt from The Clone:
PROLOGUE
(June 18, 1969)
In the beginning, the idea struck like lightning—a rare
instance of inspiration much like what must have come to
Newton when he saw the falling apple. Dr. Bartholomew
Christian had just removed the first of what was to be three
five-centimeter swathes from the Shroud, in the area of
the “small of the back.” He was suddenly overwhelmed with
the memory of a scene from the film King of Kings: Jeffrey
Hunter as a blue-eyed Jesus, lifts the cup and commands his
disciples to “Drink ye all of it for this is my blood…” The
blood of Christ! My God! Would it be possible? Inconceivable
at first, the impulse germinated from concept to scheme in
nanoseconds. After cutting two more sections, he sliced a
narrow fourth strip from the edge of the area from which he
had removed the others. He sealed each of the swathes in a
glass vial of distilled water, placing three in the tray for
documentation and processing, and slipping the fourth into a
trouser pocket.
That evening, on the balcony of his room, he gazed at
the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, its domed edifice
looming over the clutter of neighboring apartments and
shops, and pondered the astounding effrontery of his
actions. What in the name of the Almighty had possessed
him? Was it divine inspiration or satanic inducement? Or
perhaps it was just ego; a selfish attempt to promote his
own legacy, to carve his own personal niche among the
great scientific minds of history. His treatise on the
molecular structure of DNA as related to genetic
properties had been well received by academia, even if a
few skeptics ridiculed his postulate that human cloning
was theoretically possible. Despite these critics, his
selection as a
member of the team of “experts” approved by Cardinal
Michele Pellegrino to study the Holy Shroud was
universally hailed as just. This was due to Dr.
Christian’s recognized expertise in the fields of
microbiology and molecular genetics, but it must also have
been a consequence of papal diplomacy: He was the only
non-European, non-Catholic member. It was
his commission to once and forever establish what the
rust-colored “stains” represented: blood or paint pigment.
How ironic that it would be an American Jew named
Christian who either discredited or validated one of
Christianity’s holiest icons!
Sitting now, he poured several fingers of Absolut Red into
a tall glass of crushed ice, added a slice of lime, and
then, without taking a drink, set the glass down. He
suddenly felt exhausted, awash with a torrent of emotions.
Initially, he had been taken aback by the size of the
linen (14 1/2 feet by 3
1/2 feet). But what staggered him the most were the
images: subtle ventral and dorsal impressions of a
scourged, crucified man, roughly 71 inches tall, muscular,
and weighing approximately 175 pounds. The hair was
shoulder-length, the face narrow, the nose long and
prominent, and oddly a beard, trimmed and forked in the
middle.
Hauntingly, the eyes at first glance appeared to be open
and staring. But on closer inspection, they were closed
with rounded objects placed on them. There was evidence of
severe trauma: puncture wounds to the scalp, abrasions to
the tip of the nose, and a swollen right cheek. There was
a penetration wound over the right pectoral area. The arms
were
crossed over the lower abdomen, as if the man was
sheepishly covering his genitalia. The left hand crossed
the right wrist. Both wrists were punctured, but the
wounds were not overlaid, indicating that the trauma was
sequential; first one, then the other. The cranial
puncture wounds extended around the occipital portion of
the scalp (the storied crown of thorns?). Scourge wounds
were evident across the shoulders, lower back, buttocks,
and the back of the calves. Abrasions were also apparent
on the shoulder blades, suggesting that a heavy object,
such as a beam, denuded the skin. There were puncture
wounds through the heel of the left foot and the instep of
the right, indicating that the left had been crossed over
the right and then,“pinned” together.
In total, the image was a remarkable confirmation of the
“Passion” as depicted in the Gospels. And yet he was
nagged with doubt. Picking up the glass, he drained it in
one gulp, his mind racing with conflicting sensations.
There was the account of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish
historian who, around 34 CE, wrote The Antiquities of the
Jews in which he detailed the physical appearance of the
historic Jesus:
Both his nature and his form were human: for he was a man
of simple appearance, mature age, short growth, three
cubits [about four and one-half feet] tall, with scanty
hair, but having a line in the middle of the head after
the fashion of the Nazarenes, eyebrows meeting above the
nose so that spectators could take fright, with a long
face, a long nose, and with an undeveloped beard, dark
skin, and a hunchback.
To Dr. Bartholomew Christian, this did not accurately
describe the man on the Shroud. Although there were some
similarities (the long face, long nose, and undeveloped
beard), he was most disturbed by the striking discrepancy
in height and the hunchback deformity. He recalled reading
that archaeological excavations revealed that the average
height of first-century Jewish males was approximately
five feet, yet the Shroud image was nearly six feet
tall—an imposing, if not giant figure for the time. At
four and one-half feet, Jesus would have been undersized
even for the first century. Today, he would be viewed as a
dwarf and, with the humpback, perhaps even as an object of
pity—a modern Quasimodo.
However, many scholars doubt the veracity of Josephus’s
account, contending that the physical description
originated from later sources (circa 100–300 CE) who
translated The Antiquities into the Greek and embellished
the account, perhaps to better coincide with the Hebrew
prophesies of Jesus: “he hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should
desire him. He is despised
and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was
despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:2–3)
Gazing at the deep crimson of the setting sun, he splashed
in more Absolut and again drained the glass in a single
gulp. This was indeed a Christian Paradox, he mused, a Dr.
Bartholomew Christian paradox. He had been so mesmerized
by the Shroud that he had done the unthinkable, and yet
what did he have? A discolored swathe of linen, carbon
dated to
around 1350 CE; in effect, he had no more than a tattered
fragment of a rag. Surely the stains from a six-foot image
could not be the blood of a four and one-half foot Christ.
If Jesus had been that tall, then Judas’s infamous
identifying kiss would never have been necessary!
He re-filled the glass and sipped the Absolut. Closing his
eyes, he forced his mind to focus on the Shroud image.
This, he felt, was definitely a man crucified in the exact
manner described in the Gospels. Who else could it be?
Okay, he resolved, I’ve crossed the Rubicon. I will honor
my commission and determine if these stains are indeed
human blood. And if
they are, then…
(October 15, 1969): Excerpt from the New York
Times
“Dr. Bartholomew Christian published his conclusions from
the analysis of samples taken from the Shroud of Turin
during the recent (June 16–18)
Vatican-approved inspection by a symposium of
international experts to determine the validity of the
sacred icon. Among the revelations tendered by Dr.
Christian is the somewhat stunning assertion that,
“without doubt, human hemoglobin of the blood type AB is
present, testing positive for a high quantity of serum
bilirubin, indicating trauma prior to death. In
composition, the globules are six parts pulmonary fluid
and one part blood with traces of albumin. In addition,
male DNA is evident.”
(April 20, 1970): Excerpt from the Wall Street Journal
“Solomon Rashide, retired CEO of El Al and international
financier, announced the incorporation of ‘ResClone,
Inc.,’ a genetic research organization that will be led by
Dr. Bartholomew Christian ‘in an unyielding effort to
finally understand the Divine human blueprint. The initial
focus,’ Mr. Rashide continued, ‘will emphasize the isolation of
individual DNA molecules to identify the contribution of
each to human characteristics and traits.’ Plans call for
the construction of a facility on a 120-acre wooded tract
in Anderson County, just outside the town limits of
Palestine, Texas, which, when completed, will accommodate
Dr. Christian and a staff of twelve research ‘disciples.’
”
(January 4, 1976): Excerpt from the Palestine Herald
“Dr. Bartholomew Christian and his wife, Ruth, announced
the finalization of adoption proceedings for the male
infant that Dr. Christian found abandoned outside the
gated entrance of the ResClone research facility on
Christmas Eve three years ago. Mrs. Christian, who is
expecting the couple’s first child in August, stated that
she was elated beyond
expression that the long legal process was finally
resolved ‘because I have loved this child as if he were my
own from the moment that my husband
first brought him into my arms. We had been trying to
conceive for years without success, and that particular
Christmas Eve, I was feeling very low, very depressed, and
very barren. Then, with the simple opening of the front
door, my prayers were answered; for unto me was given a
savior! I named
him Jesus, to honor the Lord for the Christmas gift, but
also perhaps because my husband and I both have biblical
names. But whatever my inspiration, I know that the name
is appropriate, for on that divine night, I became whole.
And this August, when I am again blessed, if our child is
a boy, we shall name him Simon, the brother of Jesus’.
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