Overview

• A shroud is a burial cloth in which enfolds a dead body (not the narrow strips wound around an Egyptian mummy).

• The Shroud of Turin (hereafter, simply the Shroud) traditionally has been claimed to be the Jewish burial cloth of Jesus Christ. [Wikipedia 2022; Fanti 2015, page xiiv]

• The Shroud is the most extensively researched artifact of antiquity. No artifact of archaeology has received more scrutiny or generated the enormous amount of research and evidence, which the Shroud has. [Schwortz 2021] See §History for more detail.

• The Shroud is a pliable 434 cm by 110 cm (14’3” by 3’7”) linen cloth. [Antonacci 2000, 1] See §Textiles for more evidence. 

• The Shroud’s obvious characteristics are (1) faint frontal and dorsal images of a full-size naked crucified man, (2) a plethora of human blood stains, (3) burnt areas, scorches, and water stains from a fire in 1532, and (4) four tiny burn holes in the shape of an ‘L’ previous to 1532. [Fanti 2015, 5] See §Images §Blood §History.

• The Shroud has been preserved in Turin, Italy, since 1578: hence its current designation. [Antonacci 2000, 1] See §History.

• Its well documented history dates from about AD 1350. However, many early accounts beginning in the first century report history of Jesus’ shroud or a cloth with Jesus’ image. There is much evidence implying that the early shroud or cloth and the Shroud of Turin are the same object, because their descriptions correlate well. However, there are provenence gaps and alternative early histories in the extant documentation before 1350. [Jones 2016] See §History.

• Although the frontal and dorsal images have abundant “optical noise”, stains, and burn holes, they exhibit high resolution. [Moran 2002, 3] Moreover, the enigmatic images have three-dimensional characteristics, allowing 3D computer graphic reconstruction of the whole body. [Linddahl 2010; Downing 2021] See §Images.

• The Shroud has human type AB blood smudges on it. The pattern of the 120+ smudges is consistent with a flogging, crucifixion, and a cap of thorns. [Moran 2002, 3] The locations of the blood stains correlate with the frontal and dorsal images. See §Blood.

• Hundreds of other examples of physiological details, pollen, limestone dust, ancient artwork, non-radiocarbon dating, textile characteristics, and even coins over the eyes correlate with the Shroud being in Jerusalem around AD 33 (as presented herein). See §Artwork, §Textiles, §Archeology, §Coins, §Flowers.

• All the above details corroborate exactly with the description of Jesus’ death and burial in the Christian Gospels written by eyewitnesses. All these details contradict the problematic radiocarbon age of the linen being 1260 to 1390 AD. [John 1st c, ch 20; Antonacci 2015]. See §Radiation.

• The Shroud suffered damage in 1532 when the silver box containing it was barely rescued from a fire in the Sainte Chapelle, Chambre, France. Charred corners of the folded Shroud have subsequently been removed and patched. [Jones 2016, SIXTEENTH CENTURY] See §History.

Conclusion

• Far beyond being just a religious relic (of which there are too many dubious instances!), the Shroud must be one of:  

1. the most ingenious, successful fraudulent hoax ever perpetrated;

2. a unique, most puzzling naturalistic phenomenon of enshrouding a tortured and crucified man, who left a high-resolution image, but which has not been satisfactorily explained in conjunction with all the Shroud’s image, blood, and other evidence; or

3. arguably the most significant archeological artifact of all time, attesting the detailed eye-witness reports in the Gospels of the Christian New Testament regarding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• To determine which alternative above is true, please follow the factual evidence, not religious tradition, not a doctrinal credo, and not a fiat, presupposed, naturalistic bias.

• Given all the consistent evidence on this Web site and in the references, I have come to believe that only option c above squares with all the evidence: the Shroud is Jesus Christ’s burial cloth, which now has no body in it. Perhaps you will also conclude that.

 

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