The Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is the most intensively-studied historical artifact in existence. It is kept in a vault in a cathedral in Turin, Italy, hence its name. The Shroud of Turin is a 3:1 herringbone pattern woven flax-based linen cloth unique to 1st Century Syria, which measures 14 feet by 3.5 feet. The upper 0.2 microns of the flax fibrils bear a 3D image of the front and back sides of a crucified man, which, to this day, cannot be replicated.

Extensive scientific study has determined that the image was not produced by paint, pigment, dye, chemicals, vapor, or scorching, as all these techniques would penetrate deeper into the linen burial cloth. If the Shroud is not the work of a highly skilled artist, then how was this image made?

21st Century science provides support for the belief that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, and a record of His Resurrection.

3D Shroud image upper 0.2 microns     Image of entire front and back of body

Multiple scientific analyses today have dated the Shroud to the time of Jesus. Moreover, anatomical details closely correspond to His injuries as described in the four Gospels. This pamphlet explores the evidence.

Does 21st Century science date the Shroud of Turin to the 1st Century A.D.?

Carbon-14 Test of 1988. In 1978, American-led scientists of the Shroud of Turin Project (STURP) were convinced by the meticulous scientific data collected that the Shroud of Turin was the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, and carbon-14 dating would confirm a 1st Century origin. The American scientists proposed for future study 6 separate areas not damaged in the devastating fire of 1532 in Chambréy, France. This subsequent carbon-14 testing was undertaken in 1988 by a team of Italian scientists. For some inexplicable reason, these scientists decided on 3 samples from the same area that had been badly damaged in the fire. The results of the test then dated the Shroud to the Middle Ages. However, subsequent analysis of the test of the three 1988 samples suggested cotton contamination. This is important for the following reasons. First of all, it was already known that cotton wasn’t used for burial cloths in the Middle East until around 800 A.D. But more importantly, in 1534 some Poor Clare religious sisters documented repairing the damaged area of the Shroud with cotton interwoven with the flax and utilizing dyes found in their time. The 1988 carbon-14 dating seems, then, to be derived from the 1530-era cotton and dyes, rather than the flax-based linen burial shroud.

Additional tests were performed.

  1. Vanillin Test. Vanillin is an organic compound that—like carbon—decays with age. Tests of linens from the Middle Ages indicated that they typically retained about 37% of their vanillin, while older artifacts like the Dead Sea Scrolls had none. Comparing the Shroud’s test results with these other linens established the Shroud’s origin as between 1022 B.C. and 678 A.D. (mean=172 B.C.).
  2. Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy Test of Cellulose Degradation. With an infrared light beam, scientists tested 9 ancient textiles of different ages (from Egypt, Israel, and Peru) as well as two modern fabrics, to establish the rate at which cellulose in textiles decays over time. Testing the Shroud and comparing it with the other samples established the Shroud’s origin as between 700 B.C. and 100 A.D. (mean=300 B.C.).
  3. Raman Laser Spectroscopy Test for Cellulose Degradation. This test used lasers to probe cellulose degradation in the same samples as in the previous test. This test found that the Shroud originated between 700 B.C. and 300 A.D. (mean=200 B.C.).
  4. Mechanical Tests of Compressibility and Breaking Strength. These tests compare the physical properties of the fibers of various ancient fabrics; for example, how much tensile strength individual fibers retain over time. Correlating the Shroud fibers with other known ancient fabrics, these tests found that the Shroud originated between 1 A.D. and 800 A.D. (mean=400 A.D.).
  5. Wide Angle X-ray Scattering Technique. This most recent dating technique performed on the Shroud was developed for linen fabrics made of flax cellulose by Italian scientist Dr. Liberato De Caro in conjunction with Professor G. Fanti. It dates the Shroud to the 1st Century A.D.

This last test validates the test results of # 1-4 above, which together have a mean date of 136 A.D. All of this scientific evidence, in turn, correlates closely to the historical and archaeological evidence that Jesus Christ was crucified during the governorship of Pontius Pilate (26 A.D. to 36 A.D.).

Is there additional scientific evidence that the Shroud of Turin may date to the 1st Century AD?

  1. The presence of pollen grains. In the 1970s, Max Frei, a Swiss botanist and criminologist, took dust/pollen samples from the Shroud of Turin and found that the most common pollen grains on the Shroud are identical to those found in the 2000-year-old sediments from or near the Sea of Galilee. The next most common pollen grains were from Asia Minor and specifically near Constantinople (where the Shroud was reportedly housed from the 900s until 1204). There also were pollen grains from France and from Turin, Italy, where it now resides.

In addition, Max Frei discovered pollen grains from the thistle Gundelia tournefortii, a plant unique and endemic to the Jerusalem area. In 1999, botanist Avinoam Danin of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Uri Baruch also found two pollen grains of this species on another ancient artifact, the Sudarium of Oviedo, believed by many to be the burial face cloth of Jesus Christ.

  1. The presence of two Roman coins. Numismatists have identified partial imprints of coins on the eyes of the man of the Shroud, which reflects a common practice of the first century. Sophisticated photographic techniques have demonstrated that these coins are a specific variant of a “lepton” minted in Judea in 29 A.D. during Pontius Pilate’s reign as governor. There is a misspelled word on the coins in the Shroud image, and this is only further evidence of their authenticity, since numismatists have found Roman leptons that have this same misspelling.
  2. The blood stains on the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo. Using a face cloth to soak up the blood and fluid of the deceased prior to burial was a common Jewish custom. In John 20:7, we read of “the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.” The Sudarium (face cloth) of Oviedo has a known chain of custody from bishop to bishop dating back to 616 A.D. There are 120 type-AB blood stains on the Shroud of Turin: 70 on the face and front of the head, and 50 on the back of the head. Using sophisticated computer mapping, it was determined that the blood stains (also type-AB) on the Sudarium exactly match the 120 blood stains on the head and face of the Shroud. This suggests that the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo touched the same body at the same time.

How was the image on the Shroud formed? Evidence of the Resurrection?

  1. The image is limited to the upper 0.2 micron surfaces of the cloth. The image is not a dye, vapor, pigment, scorch, or paint as these would penetrate much more deeply into the medulla, or center, of the fiber. In addition, in the 1532 fire, the Shroud was doused with buckets of water, which would have smeared any paint, dye, scorch, or vapor.
  2. 2. The front and back images of the body are complete and include areas not touched by the linen cloth. Additionally, the image intensity is related to the distance of the cloth from the body. This implies that the image was caused by the light or particles of nuclear radiation.
  3. The unique image on the linen cloth has 3D properties that modern science has been unable to replicate. This explains, for example, why the image of the fingers on the hands appear abnormally long. The image actually shows the bones of the hand. The 3D properties of the Shroud suggest that the nuclear event that created this image was due to radiation emanating from every square inch of the body, front and back, skin and bones, simultaneously. Furthermore, the image is “flawless.” This means the image is complete, with sharp borders, and no gaps. Normally, a linen cloth with multiple folds and wrinkles, and points touching the body incompletely, would not produce a flawless image.
  4. 4. Scientists propose that the 3D Shroud image is due to Jesus Christ’s body becoming mechanically transparent. Close inspection of the Shroud cloth covering the anterior of the body revealed two anatomically corresponding images, one on each side. Of these two images, the image on the side facing the body is more intense than the image on the outward facing side. There is no coloration of the fibers between the two sides of the cloth. Scientists have hypothesized that the body became mechanically transparent as it transformed into pure nuclear light or particle energy, explaining the 3D image on the linen cloth.
  5. The image seems to be caused by light energy.

In 2010, scientists successfully reproduced the unique yellow coloration found on the Shroud by firing a burst of “vacuum ultraviolet radiation” through an excimer laser at a linen fabric. From their results, they calculated that producing the image on the Shroud would require a burst of radiation incredibly brief (less than one forty-billionth of a second) and incredibly intense (6-8 billion watts). This would be equivalent to focusing one million search lights @ 10,000 watts on a spot roughly 3.5′ x 14′. In our entire world today, we do not currently have enough of this type of laser power to produce the image on the shroud.

       

  1. The particle radiation theory addresses several image enigmas. These enigmas include: a) the 3D nature of the image; b) that only the top of the most superficial fibers of the threads are encoded; c) that individual fibers are encoded; d) that fibers are colored 360 degrees around the circumference; e) that only outer layers of individually encoded fibers are colored yellow; f) the image’s stability during exposure to water and heat; g) the image’s insolubility to acids, redox, and solvents; h) that the image is non-diffuse with sharp boundaries. There are many more enigmas requiring ultraviolet radiation, and/or low temperature spontaneous particle radiation, or some other nuclear event, and necessitating the mechanical transparency of the body.

 

Why does the Shroud of Turin exist?

Together, these amazing properties of the image of the Shroud are suggestive of a supernatural event. Seen through the lens of faith, the Shroud of Turin is evidence of the essential truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as we read in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The image on the Shroud of Turin supports the truth that the historical Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who resurrected from death after his human body suffered a particularly horrific Roman crucifixion. This unique and brutal death included severe beating, scourging nearly to the point of death, extreme blood loss, and being pierced in his right side with blood and water flowing out after death.

The matching blood stains on the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo are type AB blood, not uncommon in people of Jewish descent. The stains are also complete and deep compared to the very superficial nuclear image.

The Apostle John recounts (John chapter 19) all the injuries and sufferings of Jesus, including that He was forced to carry his cross. The image on the Shroud of Turin demonstrates abrasions on his shoulder that are separate from the scourging marks. John also explains that Jesus fell, and the image on the Shroud of Turin demonstrates abrasions on the knee. Jesus was nailed to the cross and the Shroud has a nail mark on the right hand.

Not surprisingly, these wounds and sufferings also correspond to what the prophet Isaiah predicted 700 years earlier: “He was wounded for our transgressions … and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Further evidence that God’s rescue plan for humanity was planned from before the creation of the world, Isaiah continued: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:6-7).

The Shroud of Turin is visual proof of God’s incomprehensible love for us, sending His divine Son to humble Himself and assume humanity, undergo unimaginable physical, psychological and spiritual suffering on the cross, and then resurrect to life, all to defeat death and save us, so that we may have eternal life.

See also our resource that links the Shroud of Turin to 21st Century Eucharistic Miracles.

 

 

Written by: Dr. Scott French
Board Member, Father Robert Spitzer’s Magis Center
© Magis Publications – 2024

Edited by: Mark J Hornbacher

 

Scripture Version used: Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSV-CE)

Resources:

https://www.magiscenter.com/blog/how-did-shroud-turin-get-image

https://www.magiscenter.com/blog/what-is-shroud-turin-heres-what-science-says

https://academicjournals.org/article/article1380798649_Antonacci.pdf

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