One place to start is the Shroud of Turin. The first and last paragraphs from a document online entitled Blood on the Shroud of Turin: An Immunological Review are quoted below [2]:
The Shroud of Turin is an approximately 14 feet by 3.5 feet linen cloth that bears the image of a man that has been beaten, scourged, and crucified. Here, the scientific evidence for the presence of human blood on the Shroud is evaluated, with particular emphasis on the methodology used to support various conclusions, including blood typing and species classification. The data are specifically considered within the context of immunology as many of the experimental techniques used to study the bloodstains on the Shroud utilize products of the immune system as experimental tools in their design. Moreover, the bloodstains themselves represent cellular and fluid components of a once functioning immune system and provide clues to their origin.
. . .
In summary, the preponderance of current scientific evidence indicates that: (i) there is blood on the Shroud of Turin; (ii) the blood is of primate, i.e. human origin; and (iii) the blood type is most likely AB as determined by forward typing methods, specifically mixed agglutination and immunohistochemistry techniques. Expression of the Rh factor (AB positive or AB negative) remains to be determined.
Between these paragraphs is a technical discussion that this blogger does not understand in the least, nor does he pretend to fully understand the conclusions drawn. They are quoted only for the purpose in presenting the high likelihood that the blood type of Christ is AB.
From another article online entitled iT TAkeS ALL TYPeS TO SAVE LiVeS are quoted the first two paragraphs (in part) [3]:
As an AB blood donor, you have a unique opportunity to enhance your generous “gift of life”. People with AB Negative (.6% of the population) and AB Positive (3.4%) are potential universal plasma donors. . . .
In addition to being the most rare blood type, AB Plasma is universal and can be used for all patients regardless of their blood type. Plasma is used to treat clotting disorders, burn, and shock victims. . . .
The same article cited above also provides information regarding compatible blood types, quoted below in part:
AB- can receive AB-, B-, A-, O-
AB+ can receive AB+, AB-, B+, B-, A+, A-, O+, O-
From the information on AB blood plasma and AB blood type, this blogger concludes definitively, where the first article cited did not, that Christ's blood type is AB positive.
His conclusion is not based on science but on faith. Having AB+ blood type, Christ is a universal donor of blood plasma and a universal receiver of blood types. In other words, having AB+ blood type, Christ is able to absorb the blood of all sinners and purify it, and having AB+ blood plasma, Christ is able to give the "'gift of life'" to all sinners regardless of blood type.
The next article below is more specific as to the differences between blood type and blood plasma, part of which is quoted below [4]:
Blood performs very important functions in the body. The main functions are listed below:
- Supply of oxygen (which is bound to haemoglobin in the red blood cells) and other important nutrients to tissues.
- Removal of carbon dioxide and other waste products away from the tissues.
- Circulation of white blood cells important for immunological functions.
- Clotting at sites of injuries or cuts.
- Regulation of temperature and pH of the body.
Plasma is the fluid component of blood and thus performs all the same functions. It specifically helps in:
- Maintaining the electrolytes and fluid balance of the blood.
- Serves as the protein reserve for the body.
- Aids in clotting.
- Immune functions.
- Transport of carbon dioxide, essential nutrients (organic, inorganic components and plasma proteins), hormones (bound to plasma proteins), waste (urea, uric acid and creatinine) and other substances (example drugs and alcohol) to and from the tissues.
Beyond the blood type of AB that Christ has, there is another identifier--the genetic configuration. The article below, including title and author, is quoted in its entirety without hyperlink (italics and emphasis in bold original) [5]:
Lacrymations of the blood in the Pouilles at Alberobello (Italy)Sourced from http://www.pdtsigns.com/icons.html
Examination of DNA delivers extraordinary results
Images of the Madonna and Jesus shed blood and the scientists say:
"AN EXTRAORDINARY AND AMAZING PHENOMENON"
By Renzo Allegri
Every now and then one reads in the news that some Image of the Madonna is weeping. Sometimes these tears are blood and the news are then much more impressive. The skeptics smile; the ecclesiastical authorities evaluate the event with great prudence, with good reason, and they avoid making definite judgments; science does not get involved, and if it does, it is at the level practiced by amateurs. Then, as time passes, the event becomes less interesting, fades from memory, and is soon forgotten. Only in very rare cases is the event of such importance that it is acknowledged as true and real and is then certified as authentic and of a supernatural origin. An example is the research that was carried out on the "Weeping Madonna of Syracuse." [It was declared authentic and of supernatural origin.]
We will now tell you of a recent similar event, still unknown, which reveals itself to be truly astounding because the first judgment released came from science, science at the highest level, a judgment that opens viewpoints to amazing hypotheses.
The event involves two Sacred Icons that shed tears of blood on two separate occasions. The two Icons belong to Padre Pietro Maria Chiriatti, 59 years old, a priest since 1990, founder of a small Congregation called "The Missionnaries of Our Lady of the Quarry," who lives in a modest dwelling in Alberobello, Puglia, Italy. Padre Pietro tells us:
"It was on the 3 of May 2003, around 6 in the evening, I had gone to my room totake some medication when I noticed that the Icon which represents the Madonnawith Child, hanging above my prayer kneeler, had spots on its face. Because Ihave poor eyesight I touched the Image and felt that it was wet. I called myfellow members (Confreres) and all of us could see that she was shedding tears."
The phenomenon lasted thirty minutes and was witnessed by other persons whom Padre Pietro had immediately called. This event was recorded on video tape. Padre Pietro wiped the blood with a handkerchief and sent it to a laboratory to be tested.
Approximately one year later, on the 27 May 2004, the phenomenon repeated itself on another Icon of Padre Pietro that represents the Face of Jesus as it appears on the Shroud of Turin. This time it was more than a weeping Icon, it was a bloody sweat. The Face of Jesus was striped by seven streaks of blood that trickled down from the forehead, along the cheeks, over the beard, and running over the picture frame of the Icon. Padre Pietro, frightened, called out to all who were in the house to come and see; he then telephoned the police, the parish priest and the doctor. This phenomenon lasted for one and a half hours and was witnessed by about 50 persons.
Once again, Padre Pietro collected some of the blood and sent the sample to the same laboratory where he had previously sent the blood that had appeared on the Face of the Virgin. And it was here, in this scientific laboratory, where the extraordinary characteristics of these related events became known. It must be made very clear that this laboratory is one of the most prestigious in Europe. It is the Genetics Forensic Laboratory of the University of Bologna, equipped with the most modern sophisticated equipment with a team of researchers, doctors and biologists University Professors. This laboratory specializes in everything related to DNA. It works with Secret Services and Police of many nations and is in contact with other similar laboratories of other countries...
This laboratory has Scientific Authority, therefore a verdict released by this laboratory is of indisputable [unquestionable] value.
After carrying out all the tests, the laboratory researchers sent Padre Pietro an official document stating, in resume, "the blood is human blood, of group AB, male, and was found to be identical in the two samples tested, the blood from the tears from the Icon of the Virgin and the blood that appeared of the Face of Jesus are the same." But there is more, the document continues from its evaluations to something that seems really incredible: "the configuration of the genetic features found in the Y chromosome does not correspond to any of the configurations present in the world wide data bank where the data of 22,000 male subjects from 187 different populations is kept."
And further on we read: "This blood is so rare that it must be considered as almost unique. By calculation, the statistical probability of finding, in the course of millennia, a typology of the same blood type, is almost nil, the mathematical probability of this happening is in the order of 1 in 200 billion possible cases." [In other words 1 on 200,000,000,000.]
What does all this mean? In the first place, the data obtained excludes in an absolute manner any case of fraud, deception or deceit: there is no one in the world who could be in a position to produce blood with similar characteristics. On the other hand, because we are dealing with a unique type of blood, the data indicates that it belongs to only one single Person and to no other person in all of humanity's history. Therefore it comes from a Man who has no ancestor and no descendant [offsprings]. Therefore it becomes quite clear and if we go to the Gospels and see what is written there about Jesus, [we learn there that He was] a Man unlike all others (unique) with these characteristics. While on this subject, it is quite significant that the blood which appeared on the Image of the Virgin is identical to the blood which appeared on the Face of the Image of Jesus. We could say from these results that we possibly could have for the first time ever the scientific data concerning the physical Person of Jesus: the DNA of Jesus, God Incarnated in a Body that is and will remain unique.
It is still too early to arrive at a final conclusion, but the verdict from science is, for all purposes, precise, public and without ambiguity. The scholars [researchers] who released this information did it in a cold [controlled], mathematical, but very clear language. They have specifically affirmed that they found themselves in front of something unique. And they are the ones, accustomed to scientific precision, to show with wonder, the extraordinary nature of these results. In a private letter to Padre Pietro, one of the researchers wrote: "these are results to stun with amazement even a statue." And again: "faced with the results of these analyses is incredible to me, and that is not saying much to say this, I could not even succeed in hiding my tears." And another one told him: "This is real human blood, but it seems to really come from another world."
The ecclesiastical authorities are naturally aware of these facts and are presently investigating and evaluating them. Their prudence [caution] will be tremendous, and with good reason, for it is right that it should be so. But the scientific results lead one to think that we are perhaps faced with a supernatural Sign of exceptional importance.
See original text in italian at medjugorie bolzano.it
The reader has a choice to believe or not. This blogger believes and does not consider the above to be proofs but affirmations.
[1] http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/26 at 26-28.
[2] https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/kearse.pdf
[3] http://thebloodconnection.org/about-blood/blood-education/blood-types/ab-positive/
[4] http://www.diffen.com/difference/Blood_vs_Plasma
[5] http://www.jnsr.be/uk_lacrymations.htm
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