God’s Icon – The Shroud Of Turin

Guest writer: Pilgrim.

Introduction

As someone who was given an image of Christ’s face from the Shroud of Turin at my Confirmation and treasured it ever since, I have followed the scientific research on the Shroud down the years.

Many believe the Shroud is a true relic of the Passion of Christ. Many regard it as a human creation. Others see it as no more than a scam for fleecing gullible pilgrims. For over a hundred years, it has been scrutinised by numerous scientific disciplines. Indeed, the Shroud of Turin is the most studied artefact in human history.

The Shroud is a linen cloth showing the front and back of a naked man who was tortured, crucified, and humiliated. It holds human blood, sweat, bodily fluids, and mucus. Science has proven that this image is not a painting, drawing, or caused by a scorch. The image creates three-dimensional data when evaluated in a VP-8 scanner. No artwork can do this. After decades of study and evaluation, modern-day science cannot reproduce the image with all the same attributes. Full understanding of all the facts, evidence, theories, details, and probabilities for the linen Shroud of Turin, continues to be a monumental task.

A photograph of the face on the Shroud was taken by Secondo Pia in Italy in 1898. The detailed image of a face is visible in that photograph because the faint image on the cloth is negative-like, similar to an undeveloped film in an analogue camera. Thus, when developed, a positive detailed image is revealed.

All the theories claiming the Shroud is a forgery have been disproven. Even a 1988 carbon dating test claiming it is from the 13th – 14th centuries has been withdrawn by the scientific journal that first published this result. Now there are dozens of individual pieces of evidence using new age-testing methods that show that the Shroud dates, in fact, from around the time and area of Jesus of Nazareth.

Currently, new AI-generated images of how Jesus may have looked are circulating throughout social media and the news. These images are being generated by using black-and-white photos of the face and body on the Shroud.

New Research

This latest research on the Shroud of Turin, published in the journal Heritage shows that the material is from the time of Jesus. And this has caught the attention of the secular mass media.

Al Jazeera published a good explainer on the history of the Shroud and its mysterious origins. Their article surveyed the controversy over the years and recent scientific discoveries.

The British Daily Mail gives the most detailed description of the research’s process.

What to Make of This

Fox News interviewed Bishop Robert Barron, who, in British-like understatement, said:

I have had a long fascination for the Shroud of Turin. It first came to my attention when I was 16 and I read everything I could about the Shroud – its history and provenance, arguments regarding its authenticity, and the scientific research.

As such the recent news that the use of new technology had led to a different conclusion than a carbon dating test conducted in 1988. It seems that there is now new evidence that strengthens the hypothesis that the cloth of the Shroud is contemporary to the time of Christ.

Aleteia sought the views of Myra Kahn Adams, executive director of the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit, who stated:

I think it is the hand of God.

I believe the Lord wants us to know this is the authentic burial shroud of Jesus, in whom you can place your faith and your hope and your trust – to believe in him … new attention to the Shroud is happening now because the world’s a complete mess, and people are losing faith and losing hope.

When asked, Nora Creech, the North American representative for Orthonia, an organisation with the objective of educating people around the world about the Shroud through exhibits, educational initiatives, conferences, and lectures, responded:

It’s wonderful that so many people are learning about the shroud – some maybe for the first time.

There are so many amazing aspects of the shroud that are undisputed and not controversial – and can lead people to saving faith. These new articles give us the opportunity to explain that the shroud image is less than 1/2 the thickness of a human hair, acts like a photographic negative, and has three dimensional qualities. In addition, despite being one of the most scientifically studied artifacts in the world, there is still no explanation for what caused this mysterious image.

For the believer, the most significant aspect of the shroud is that it is a mirror of the Gospel.

The wounds documented on the man of the shroud exactly match the wounds suffered by Jesus during his Passion and death. The shroud invites everyone who encounters it to answer the question that Jesus asked His Apostles, “Who do you say that I am?”

Catholic Answers author, Bill Lauto, unashamedly asserted:

Although the faithful may not need the Shroud, the story the Shroud tells needs to be heard.

The Shroud holds the truth for many . . . and a fear of accountability for others.

This is a life-enriching truth that no human should fear coming to terms with. The image of Jesus on his shroud was his last miracle, done 2,000 years ago for us to discover today with our modern technology.

The Challenges for Evangelicals and Atheists

Orthodox Reflections also covered the news. The author, “Nicholas,” states:

I am an Orthodox Christian who, after much research into the matter, accepts the authenticity of the Shroud. I believe that the preponderance of evidence makes it almost a certainty that it is the burial garment of Our Lord and Savior. If, however, this turns out to be untrue, the effect on my faith in Christ would be absolute zero. Everything I could learn from an authentic Shroud, I already believe because the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church already taught it all to me.

He then raised an interesting point I had never considered:

The Shroud presents a challenge that can actually destroy Evangelicalism. A fact that many of them are well aware of on some level, even if they refuse to articulate it plainly …

Evangelical apologists went into overdrive viciously attacking the authenticity of the Shroud. The intensity of this reaction left a lot of Orthodox and Roman Catholics a bit startled.

He offers two main reasons for this reaction:

An authentic Shroud totally demolishes Evangelical teachings concerning sola scriptura and Church history … If the Shroud is true, then what other parts of Church Tradition are also true? How can Evangelicals demand everything in Christianity be authorized by “chapter and verse” (icons, statues, vestments, Cathedrals, liturgy, the Church Fathers) when the Shroud’s existence makes it clear that not all Christian Truths are in the Bible? ….

So expect the Evangelical War on the Shroud to continue, to intensify, and to get even nastier. Evidence alone will not suffice for most Evangelicals, making any rational discussion with them nearly impossible on this subject. Their faith is quite literally at stake.

This may be an over statement. Even so, hitherto I had thought any Christian could accept the Shroud as authentic. If true, these observations about a certain strain of Protestantism poses even greater difficulties for the worldviews of atheists.

Conclusions

Science will never be able to “prove” the Shroud’s authenticity. Just as it can never prove the existence of God. It can only disprove certain hypotheses. What will be left is mystery – particularly what the source of energy behind the creation of Shroud’s image may have been and why the Shroud has been left for us.

It is said all the time, “If God would only give proof of his existence, I would believe.” or “Why doesn’t he give us a sign so more would believe.” But what if Jesus did leave something behind, something for us to find and study thousands of years after his bloody death? And what if that something left no answer other than proof of His death and resurrection? Could that “Something” be the Shroud of Turin?

All the miracles of Jesus recorded in the Gospels are “living parables” that illustrate and animate His teachings. Jesus uses His Divine power to heal and raise the dead as “signs.” They have a deeper significance. That is why Scripture calls them “signs and wonders.” They demonstrate a teaching and a revelation. Is the Shroud the “Icon of Icons,” given to us by God as the miraculous Sign of the Good News?

St John was the only apostle who gives us an eye witness account of the Crucifixion. He witnessed the cruelty of the Roman solders as they beat, mocked Jesus with a crown of thorns, hammered nails into His hands and feet, and pierced His side with a spear. John details these tortures and they all line up exactly with the physical evidence manifested on the Shroud. John also mentions the burial cloth and how it was left behind in the tomb.

We all need to consider the evidence of the Shroud. Does it raise questions and cause us to pause? If not, it really should.

For Christians, we can reflect on the image as the Icon of all Icons and set aside scientific, artistic, or archaeological themes. Through the eyes of faith, we discover in the image of the Shroud a presence that challenges us and transcends us. It takes us into God. It introduces us to the mystery of God’s Love. A God made flesh out of Love. With physical wounds to heal our spiritual wounds; and a temporal death to give us eternal life.

Here’s a brief meditation I wrote some years ago.

When we contemplate the Holy Face of Jesus, the peace it transmits pierces our hearts. And a question arises. After all the sufferings He has gone through, how can He radiate such peace? It is the peace of the Love of God who has poured Himself out totally, who has given His life for humanity. It is the peace of a God who gives the Spirit of Peace; the Spirit of Love; the Spirit given us at Pentecost to move our hearts and reshape our minds.

As we give witness to the Man of the Shroud, we contemplate the consequences of our sin. Sin now consumed by the Love of God. When we look at the Man of the Shroud we discover the depth of our sin. Sin now healed by the sacrifice of the very Son of God made man.

The Shroud condenses the Good News and makes it visibly present. It is the template for all icons of Christ.

It contains the Icon of the Incarnation; it makes us understand that God has taken our nature and offers us into His intimate life.

It contains the Icon of the Cross; it shows us with crudeness and terrible realism the historical reality of the Crucifixion.

And it contains the Icon of the Resurrection; the peace on the Face leads us to understand the reality of the Resurrection; of the victory of Life over death; the victory of Christ which can be ours.