Scientists make “Astonishing Discovery” regarding the Shroud of Turin

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By Derek Olson

A new scientific discovery has been made involving one of the world’s most infamous artifacts – the Shroud of Turin, Christ’s alleged burial cloth. This enigma is one of the most studied and controversial artifacts in history according to a 2023 Harvard study.

Also known as the Holy Shroud, this fourteen foot long piece of linen cloth bears the faint image of the front and back of a man. It has been venerated for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church, as the actual burial shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion, and upon which Jesus’ bodily image is miraculously imprinted.

The human image on the shroud can be discerned more clearly in a black and white photographic negative than in its natural sepia color, an effect discovered in 1898 by Secondo Pia, who produced the first photographs of the shroud.

Millions of believers worldwide have taken great interest in the Shroud of Turin as potential proof of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Italian scientist Liberato De Caro and Italy’s Institute of Crystallography shared their recent findings regarding the Shroud that has revealed the Shroud to be 2,000 years old.

De Caro and his team argue that the previous carbon dating that took place in 1988, that dated the shroud to somewhere between 1260 and 1390 AD., may have been flawed due to contamination — a claim that other scholars have suggested in the past.

According to the Institute, their dating process involved WAXS, or Wide-angle X-ray scattering. Their WAXS analysis showed that the degradation of cellulose in the Shroud’s fibers was consistent with the natural aging process expected over two millennia. The study also highlighted the need for “a more accurate and systematic X-ray investigation of more samples” to verify their findings.

According to the Bible in John 19:38-42, Jesus was wrapped in a linen burial cloth after the Crucifixion. The linen cloth comes up again when the empty tomb is found by Jesus’ disciples in Luke 24:12.

After these events, the shroud is not mentioned again in the Bible. Other than indications it might’ve gone to Constantinople, we don’t see it in the written record until it emerges in 1354 — in the hands of a knight named Geoffroi de Charny, a renowned warrior and crusader. We do not know how he acquired the shroud.

Next the shroud was exhibited in the new collegiate church of Lirey, a village in north-central France. It was acquired by the House of Savoy in 1453 and later deposited in a chapel in Chambéry, where it was damaged by fire in 1532. In 1578, the Savoys moved the shroud to their new capital in Turin, where it has remained ever since. Since 1683, it has been kept in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, which was designed for that purpose. Ownership of the shroud passed from the House of Savoy to the Catholic Church after the death of former king Umberto II in 1983.

Finally in 1988, a piece of the shroud was carbon dated for the first time by three teams of scientists. The world stood and watched as the results came through, and the dates given were somewhere between 1260 and 1390 AD. Medieval, but not 2,000 years old.

And then there’s the news that just landed. A new X-ray technique was used to study the aging of the linen’s flax cellulose. It found that the breakdown of the cellulose matches that of other 2,000 year old samples — not medieval ones.

If the shroud was just seven centuries old, as the 1988 test suggests, the cellulose would have to have aged incredibly fast. To do that, it would have to have been kept at a temperature “very close to the maximum values registered on the earth”.

Nothing like it has ever been seen on something this old. If this was a medieval hoax, simply pulling it off seems to have been a miracle in itself… Then there are all the physical accuracies. The wounds are consistent with Roman crucifixion and the specifics of the Bible account: marks from the crown of thorns, stab wound in the side, lacerations on the back and bruises on the shoulders.

And even if this wasn’t Christ himself, it appears at least to be the victim of a real crucifixion. Analysis of nanoparticles on the shroud revealed high levels of creatinine and ferritin — found in patients who suffer trauma, like torture.

Pollen analysis suggesting plant pollen native to the Jerusalem; a weave pattern common in the ancient Middle East — not medieval Europe…

And though any ancient record is hard to establish, it seems the shroud might’ve had an impact on art way before 1354. Byzantine icons like the Sinai Pantocrator (6th century) appear strikingly similar. Before this icon, there was no standardized way to depict Christ in art.

But this new discovery isn’t the only reason why the Shroud is back in the news—it has also inspired a new artificial intelligence image of Jesus. The Daily Express used cutting-edge AI imager Midjourney to create a simulation of the face behind the shroud. The images appear to show Christ with long flowing hair and a beard – much like many classical depictions of him. There appears to be cuts and grazes around his face and body, pointing to the fact he had just been killed. the image is being called “true face of Jesus”.

Do you think the Shroud of Turin is an authentic artifact or an elaborate hoax?

Whatever you might think about the shroud, there’s no doubting that it is shrouded in mystery…

Watch the full episode below