Shroud of Christ?
First shown on Channel 4 in March 2004
Many Christians believe that the Turin Shroud, a yellowing piece of linen, scarred with burn holes and water marks, is the very fabric in which the crucified body of Jesus was wrapped. It is almost certainly a burial cloth, and it definitely has the faint imprint of a man on it, but two questions have been impossible to answer definitively: how was the image made and is it really 2,000 years old?
An attempt was made to solve the problem of its age in 1988, using the technique of carbon dating. The results of those tests showed that it dated from between 1260 and 1390, therefore, said scientists, the shroud was a medieval fake. Since then, this conclusion has been disputed on the grounds that the fragment of fabric that was tested came from a corner of the shroud, which would have been contaminated by being handled each time it was displayed.
Blood, sweat and tears
The origin of the image has generated all kinds of theories. Is it the remains of a painting on the cloth? Is it an early example of a photographic image – of a medieval corpse? Or the result of oxidisation caused by bacteria from the blood and sweat of Jesus?
A piece of cloth brought to Orviedo in northern Spain in the 6th century also contains stains of blood and bodily fluids. Known as the Sudarium Domini, its journey from Jerusalem to Spain is well documented. Using modern tests, the blood has been found to be of the same relatively rare group as that claimed to be found on the Turin Shroud. Some researchers argue that this is added evidence that this is added evidence that both were used to wrap the body of Jesus after his death.
Fire and water
The latest research has investigated the implications of the burn holes and water marks. The shroud was damaged in 1532 by a fire in the Chapel of Chambery Castle, in France, where it was kept before being brought to Turin. The burn marks date from that time and it was believed that this was also when it was damaged by being dowsed with water.
A fabrics historian has now suggested that the water damage occurred earlier, since the pattern indicates that the cloth would have been folded in the same way as treasured fabrics that were kept in clay jars, like the Dead Sea Scrolls. These date from the 1st century AD, around the time of Jesus – which may indicate that the shroud is of a similar age.
Another piece of evidence fits this theory. A seam in the cloth is of a particular type that has only ever been seen in fabric from the fortress of Masada near the Dead Sea, which dated from the same period. Does all this add up to definite answers on the origins of the Shroud of Turin? The question remains open until the authorities allow further carbon dating tests to be done, but for many Christians, this is irrelevant. Whatever the scientists say, they believe the marks on this piece of linen to be a miraculous image of Jesus Christ.
Read the transcript of the web chat with Shroud of Christ director Alex Hearle.
Find out more
Websites
Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
Shroud of Turin
www.shroud.com/
Website of Barrie Schwortz, expert on the shroud. Contains loads of information,
pictures and an interactive section.
Shroud of Turin
www.shroudstory.com/early.htm
Another very comprehensive site, which is accessible and interestingly presented.
Shroud of Turin
www.csicop.org/articles/shroud/index2.html
An account of the controversy which documents the scientific evidence and concludes
that the image on The Shroud of Turin is the work of an artist, and not the imprint
of a body.
The Shroud of Turin – McCrone Research Institute
www.mcri.org/Shroud.html
Dr McCrone and his colleagues carried out extensive research on the Shroud
of Turin. Their conclusion is that the Shroud is a beautiful painting, created
about 1355 for a new church in need of a pilgrim-attracting relic.
World Mysteries
www.world-mysteries.com/sar_2.htm
Places the Shroud of Turin the the context of other unresolved mysteries. Explains
all the different theories and has a good list of resources.
Book
The Blood and the Shroud by Ian Wilson (Orion, 1999)
The author painstakingly shows that carbon dating carried out in 1988 has resolved
nothing of the mystery.
Get
this book
