Shroud of Turin (Jesus), In Italy

Fact or Fiction?

 

If you want to know everything about the Shroud of Turin, we provide a complete analysis of this extremely unique artifact here.​​

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1. What Is It?

2. Is the Shroud found in the Bible?

3. Why Is It Called the Shroud of Turin?

4. Where Is the Shroud Located Today?

5. Has the Shroud always been a Catholic Relic?

6. How Was the Shroud Wrapped Around the Body?

7. What Is Its Historical Timeline?

8. What Are the Arguments Supporting the Shroud's Authenticity?

9. What Are the Arguments Against Its Authenticity?

10. Conclusion

11. Faith Lesson for Us Today

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What Is It?

1. The Shroud of Turin is a 2,000-year-old linen cloth bearing the image of a man who suffered injuries consistent with crucifixion. Many believe it to be Jesus' burial linen cloth, as found in the four gospels in the Bible.

 

2. The cloth measures about 14.5 feet (4.4 meters) long and 3.5 feet (1 meter) wide. 

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3. It is the most studied and researched artifact today. It defies science and is a historical artifact that continues to captivate people worldwide. It has been a subject of religious devotion and scientific scrutiny for years.

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4. The Shroud has two amazing factors. First, the image is just two or three microns thick and disappears if you get closer than about 8 feet (2.5 meters) to the Shroud. This baffles scientists and confirms it's not a work of art or man-made. Second, the image is just on the surface and was created by a tremendous burst of light, amounting to around 34 trillion watts of energy, taking 1/4th of a billionth of a second to leave the image on the Shroud. Otherwise, it would have scorched the image and destroyed it.​

 

5. Science shows that the blood on the Shroud was there first, and then the image was created from the massive energy that came later. The Shroud is estimated to have several pints of blood on it. What is fascinating is that the Shroud shows evidence of the crucifixion and resurrection of the man in it.

 

6. To date, around 102 different scientific disciplines have spent over 600,000 hours studying the Shroud, and they virtually all agree it defies science and is unexplainable by natural laws. 

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7. Many photos seen of the Shroud's image are photo negatives. This image reproduces bright portions of the photographed subject as dark and the dark parts as light. A natural image doesn't show the details like a negative image.

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8. The negative image also has 3-dimensional properties that are unexplainable.

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9. As of the time of this filming, there is an offer of 1 million dollars to anyone who can replicate the Shroud. No one has been able to do it even using all our modern high-tech technology. 

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Join us on this fascinating journey as we examine the evidence to determine whether this relic is authentic or a hoax. If it is authentic, the ramifications are staggering.

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Is the Shroud Found in the Bible?

 

The Bible Affirms Jesus Was Wrapped In Linen Cloths (Shroud) at His Burial In All Four Gospels

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Matthew 27:57-60: When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 

 

Mark 15:45-46: And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph [of Arimathea]. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. 

 

Luke 23:53: Then he [Joseph of Arimathea] took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.

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Luke 24:12: But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

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John 19:40: So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

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John 20:4-7: Both of them were running together, but the other disciple [John] outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 

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Why Is It Called the Shroud of Turin?

It has this name because it has been stored in Turin, Italy, since 1578. It's also widely known as the Shroud of Jesus.

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Where Is the Shroud Located Today?

It's stored at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. It's housed in a climate-controlled case in a chapel built just to hold it. However, because of its extremely fragile state, the shroud is not viewable to the public except during very rare public viewings, as the pope determines.​

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Has the Shroud always been a Catholic Relic?

No, the House of Savoy entrusted the Shroud of Turin to the Catholic Pope (and each succeeding Pope) in 1983. It seems there is some relation with the Vatican as well. So, it is technically not entrusted to the Catholic Church. It has been in the hands of many people and places throughout its long history.

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​How Was the Shroud Wrapped Around the Body?

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• ​The long linen cloth was laid down, and the body was placed on the lower part of the cloth. Next, the cloth was folded over the entire body, with the head at the centerfold, ending at the feet, where it began.

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• Then strips of linen were wrapped around the shroud and body to keep the shroud in place. A head covering was also used. This is consistent with Lazarus being raised from the dead in John 11:43-44: When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

 

How Tall Was the Man Covered in the Shroud?

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• According to the image on the Shroud, the body would have been about 6 feet (1.83 meters) tall. This is taller than the average height of a person in Israel during the time of Jesus. However, this would be consistent with Jesus because in order to minister to the multitudes, he would have had to be taller than others, or he wouldn't have been seen or heard.

 

What Is Its Historical Timeline?

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33 AD 

• The Bible describes Jesus being wrapped in a linen cloth after the crucifixion.

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• Some believe the Shroud was kept secretly by early Christians because of persecution under Roman rule.

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100 AD

• Legend and folklore speak of a mysterious cloth with healing power bearing an image of Jesus that arrived in Edessa (now Urfa, Turkey) in the First Century AD.

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• The Apostle Jude Thaddeus, one of the original Apostles of Jesus Christ, is associated with bringing the cloth from Jerusalem to Edessa.

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525 AD 

• After a severe flood destroyed most of Edessa, the cloth was removed from the walls where it had been hidden for over 400 years. The cloth became known as "The Image of Edessa" and later was called “The True Likeness of Christ Not Made by Human Hands.”

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• All Orthodox icons of Jesus and Byzantine coins dramatically changed to conform to the "True Likeness" image featured a man with long hair, a full beard, large eyes, and a flattened nose—all of which are stylistically similar to the Shroud image. 

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• Additionally, Byzantine texts describe a folded cloth bearing the image of Jesus “not made by human hands” hidden in a wall in Edessa.

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944 AD 

• The Byzantine Imperial Army invaded Edessa to retrieve the cloth from the city that had fallen to Islam. The cloth was taken to Constantinople (now Istanbul) and presented to the Emperor.

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• The cloth was reportedly shown during church feasts.

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1203 AD 

• A document from French Crusader Robert de Clari describes a cloth in Constantinople showing the full body of Christ, displayed every Friday — some say this refers to the Shroud.​

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1204 AD 

• The Fourth Crusade invaded Constantinople, and the revered cloth disappeared. Some historians believe the Shroud was held secretly by the Knights Templar before 1356, when it was displayed in France. Vatican research from 2009 supports this long-time oral tradition.

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1354

• The Shroud reappeared in the hands of French knight Geoffrey de Charny, who displayed it at a church he founded in Lirey, France. ​

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1453

• ​Geoffrey’s granddaughter, Marguerite de Charny, gave the Shroud to the royal House of Savoy.​ ​

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1502

• The Shroud was no longer displayed in different churches within the House of Savoy Kingdom, but was given a permanent home in the royal chapel at Chambery, also known as Sainte Chapelle.

 

1532

• A fire damaged the Shroud in Chambery Chapel, where it was stored. A drop of molten silver from the container produced a symmetrically placed mark through the layers of the folded cloth.

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• Poor Clare Nuns, a group of nuns, repaired this damage with patches. Some have suggested that water damage also occurred when the fire was being extinguished. These burn marks are still visible.​ 

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1578

• It was moved to Turin, ​Italy, where it has remained to this day.

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What Are the Arguments Supporting the Shroud's Authenticity?

 

1. The Image Itself Is a Mystery

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• The image on the Shroud is not painted, drawn, or dyed — no pigment or brushstrokes have been found. ​​

 

• When viewed as a negative image, it appears more detailed and lifelike. This is something not understood until it was first photographed in 1898.

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• The image also contains 3D information, which is very rare. When processed by image analyzers like the NASA VP-8, it produces a three-dimensional relief, unlike typical photographs or paintings.

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2. The Marks on the Shroud Match Exactly the Wounds of the Crucifixion of Jesus

 

• Bloodstains on the head are compatible with a crown of thorns. There is no historical account of anyone being crucified with a crown of thorns.

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• The Shroud didn't touch every part of the body. But considering the parts it did touch, there are over 120 scourges or marks, creating over 370 lacerations. It's estimated the body would have had over 700 lacerations. This is compatible with Roman flogging and what Jesus endured. He was beaten at the House of Caiaphas, the High Priest, before Pilate, before Herod, and then again severely before Pilate.

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• Nail wounds on the wrists. Roman crucifixion generally put nails through the wrists to better support the weight of a body on a cross. Nails through the hand typically wouldn't support the weight and rip through. The wrist was considered part of the hand during this period.

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• Nail wounds in the feet. The man’s feet were on top of one another. 

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• The legs are slightly bent due to rigor mortis, a muscle stiffness that sets in quickly after death and lasts less than four days. After four days, the muscles relax and the body becomes limp. Interestingly, Jesus rose from the dead after three days and nights in the tomb.

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• Blood from the body runs downward, showing evidence of the man being crucified.

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• There are no stains or signs of the body decomposing. This is compatible with Jesus' resurrection, which happened on the third day before the body had time to decay.

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• Wound in the side, compatible in size with a Roman spear tip.

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• Post-mortem blood flow from the side wound also flows across the back.

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• The man's legs were not broken. This would be consistent with what happened to Jesus. Interestingly, the two men crucified with Jesus both had their legs broken.

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• Marks on the back of the man from carrying a wooden beam. This is consistent with Jesus carrying His cross.

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• Deviated septum. This would have been caused by the heavy blows Jesus received to His face by the Roman soldiers.

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3. Authentic Human Bloodstains

 

• The blood on the Shroud is type AB, a Jewish blood type found in less than 3% of the world's population. So the Shroud most likely originated from Israel.

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• The blood is real human blood and shows signs of the chemical bilirubin. It's produced by the liver during extreme trauma or stress. This is consistent with the traumatic injuries that Jesus would have suffered. 

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• The blood on the Shroud is reddish. Normally, blood turns blackish when exposed to oxygen. The chemical bilirubin keeps the blood reddish and stops it from turning blackish, which is again consistent with Christ's sufferings before and during the crucifixion.​

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4. Pollen, Dust, and Plant Evidence

 

• The pollen grains found on the Shroud are from plants native to Jerusalem. Some of these plants bloom only in the spring, around the time of Passover.

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• Additionally, other pollen on the Shroud matches perfectly with the places it has traveled throughout its history, such as Jerusalem, Northern Syria, Turkey, and Europe.

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• Limestone Dust from Jerusalem on the Shroud

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5. Weaving Style and Material

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• It is made of expensive cloth using the exceptionally durable herringbone weave pattern. It was rare but well-known in the ancient Middle East and is consistent with 1st-century Jewish burial cloths.

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• The linen matches first-century Jewish burial customs. Even the seam on the shroud is identical to stitching found only at Masada, a Jewish fortress destroyed by the Romans in 73 AD.

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• It perfectly matches the Bible's account of being donated by Joseph of Arimathea, who was very wealthy.

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• We also have other ancient clothing that has been preserved. Some are as old as 5,000 years. So, it's not abnormal to have ancient clothing preserved.

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​​6. A Byzantine coin from 692 AD shows Jesus on a cross resembling the Shroud's face.

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7. Scientific Affirmation that the Shroud of Turin is Authentic

 

In 1978, King Umberto II, the owner of the Shroud at the time, authorized comprehensive hands-on testing for a group called the "Shroud of Turin Research Project," also known as STURP. The group was made up of over 30 distinguished scientists. STURP’s findings remain a primary scientific source cataloging the Shroud’s unique properties. 

 

Below is a partial list of the STURP findings:

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• No substances were manually applied to the cloth.

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• No artistic substances such as paint, ink, dye, pigments, or stain were used to constitute the image.

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• No collagen binder as would be used with paint.

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• No fibers are cemented to each other as with paint.

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• No liquids were applied to create the image.

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• No substances were found between the threads, as with dust rubbing.

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• Bloodstains on the cloth tested positive for heme, bile, serum albumin, and other human blood components.

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• The blood is of the male type, AB.

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• The blood marks seen on the shroud are consistent with a contact transfer to the cloth of blood clot exudates that would have resulted from major wounds inflicted on a man who died in the position of crucifixion. 

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The following are image characteristics found on or about the Shroud:

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• The image is purely superficial. It does not penetrate the cloth but only rests on the top two micro-fibers. (Analogous to the Shroud image resting on the hairs of your forearm.)

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• The image is a photographic negative that develops as a positive.

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• The image contains 3D “distance information” similar to a topographical map.

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• No directionality to the image, as found with a brush or any substance application tool.

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• No variation in the depth of the image. (Virtually impossible with human hands.)

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• The yellowing of the image is uniform in intensity.

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• No outline or defined edges are found on the image. 

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STURP conclusion: “There are no chemical or physical methods known which can account for the totality of the image, nor can any combination of physical, chemical, biological, or medical circumstances explain the image adequately.”

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8. Latest Scientific Affirmations

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• As mentioned earlier, it is impressive that around 102 different scientific disciplines have spent over 600,000 hours studying the Shroud, and the great majority of them have concluded that it is indeed 2,000 years old and authentic. 

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• The Institute of Crystallography in Italy has confirmed, using wide-angle x-ray scattering technology (WAXS), that the Shroud of Turin is 2,000 years old.

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• Paolo Di Lazzaro of ENEA Laboratory in Italy conducted a five-year study and calculated that it would have taken 34,000 trillion watts of energy, or 1/4th of a billionth of a second, to leave the image on the Shroud. Otherwise, it would have scorched the image and destroyed it.

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• The image is just two or three microns thick and disappears if you get closer than 8 feet (2.5 meters) to the Shroud. This baffles scientists and confirms it's not a work of art or man-made.

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What Are the Arguments Against Its Authenticity?

 

1. Radiocarbon Dating

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• In 1988, the Vatican provided three laboratories in different countries with a postage-stamp-sized piece of the Shroud’s linen cloth. Carbon-14 dating from all three laboratories concluded that the cloth had been made sometime between 1260 and 1390 AD, thus indicating that it was not authentic and was a hoax. As a result, this news hit all the news outlets and became a major story. It seemed the Shroud was proven to be a forgery from the Middle Ages. 

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• However, some scientists raised doubts about the researchers’ methodology. Recently, it has been verified that the test pieces from the Shroud were from repairs that had been carefully done on a corner of the linen and not from the actual fabric itself.

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• Based on these recent test results, the Vatican encouraged scientists to conduct further investigations of the shroud’s authenticity. 

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• In 2022, researchers in Italy published the results of a study in which they used the technique of wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) to analyze a small piece of the shroud. The study concluded that the structural degradations of the Shroud’s linen were “fully compatible” with those of another linen sample dating to 55–74 AD. The 2022 study’s results bolstered the hypothesis that the Shroud of Turin truly is from the time of Christ.

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2. Artistic Techniques

 

• Critics argue that the image could have been created using medieval methods, such as bas-relief or other artistic techniques. However, recent discoveries and the most recent technology have nullified these claims.

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3. The Shroud Lacks Historical Documentation Throughout Its Entire History

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• Some argue that its documented history only begins in 1356 AD, leaving a supposed gap from its beginning until then.​

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• An essential fact about the Shroud's history is that it has two distinct periods. The first is before 1356, based on circumstantial evidence, legend, art, and coins. The second is after 1356, when the Shroud's trail is documented and accepted by historians. 

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• The Shroud's timeline before 1356 AD is quite verifiable and credible. Legends, art, coins, etc., are commonly valued highly when attempting to verify historical events. This same standard should apply to the Shroud as well.

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• Just because the history from its beginning to 1356 is not documented as well as after that time, does not nullify all the scientific tests done on it. It's a very weak argument against the Shroud's authenticity.

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Conclusion

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• Whether or not the Shroud is authentic doesn't affect the historicity of Jesus and our faith.​ We have overwhelming evidence for the existence of Christ and His death and resurrection, so the Shroud isn't needed to prove this.

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• Someone has said that if we stacked the written evidence supporting the Shroud's authenticity, it would reach the ceiling height in a typical house. The evidence against the Shroud's authenticity amounts to a few weak arguments. 

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• As mentioned earlier, as of the time of this filming, there is an offer of 1 million dollars to anyone who can replicate the Shroud. No one has been able to do it even using all our modern high-tech technology. With this being the case, it's virtually impossible that the Shroud could be a forgery from the Middle Ages.

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• The Shroud's authenticity is beyond a reasonable doubt and overwhelmingly provides sufficient evidence to convince any modern-day "Doubting Thomas."

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• The DNA of Jesus is not available, so the Shroud can never be 100 percent proven to be his burial cloth. (Although many would argue that the Sudarium of Oviedo provides a blood and stain match.) 

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• The fact that the Shroud exists and has been preserved for around 2000 years strongly suggests its high value and supernatural preservation. It is not just any old cloth that endures for millennia if something special isn't going on.

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• Historian John Walsh gives us a good perspective on the Shroud: “The Shroud is either the most awesome and instructive relic of Christ in existence, or it is one of the most ingenious, most unbelievably clever products of the human mind and hand on record. It is either one or the other; there is no middle ground.”

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• After four decades of devoted study to the Shroud of Turin, the French historian Jean-Christian Petitfils is fully convinced that the face unveiled to the world by the Italian photographer Secondo Pia in 1898 is indeed that of Jesus Christ in the tomb.

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• We, at HolyLandSite.com Ministries, are convinced the Shroud is authentic.​

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Faith Lesson for Us Today from the Shroud of Turin

 

1. Jesus voluntarily submitted to the most horrible manner of death possible to pay for our sins and grant us eternal life. The Shroud provides additional evidence of what Jesus suffered for us. The 120 flogging marks, the 700 or more lacerations, and the beatings show His love. Romans 5:8 says, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." What about us? Have we received Christ's gift of salvation, and are we grateful for what He did for us?

 

2. The physical suffering Jesus endured to pay for our sins was overwhelming. However, the spiritual suffering He paid was even greater. What about us? Do we understand how much Jesus loves us and wants to have a relationship with us?

 

3. Regardless of whether the Shroud of Turin is authentic, we have so much more evidence supporting the death and resurrection of Jesus. What about us? Do we believe the truthfulness of the resurrection of Jesus, or are we skeptical and unbelieving?

 

4. With the overwhelming evidence that the Shroud is authentic, we are not to worship it in any way. We worship God, not a thing.

 

5. The evidence for the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin meets the standard of truthfulness beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, we have an accurate representation of the Face of God. This is amazing! What about us? Does this change our hearts and make us grateful to God for preserving this relic for us to behold today?

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