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An
image, "so true, so profound, so human and so divine, such
as we have been unable to admire and venerate in any other image"
- Pope Paul VI, May 1931
"Something
so frightening and yet so beautiful lies in it that a man can
only escape it by worship" - Paul Claudel (French writer),
1946
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the topics one by one, or |
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What
is the Turin Shroud?
It is a piece of pure-linen woven cloth, 14' 3" by 3' 7"
long, which many millions of people down the centuries have believed
is the burial shroud of Christ. The cloth is imprinted with a light,
reddish-coloured image of an entire body, back and front, which
displays in shocking, graphic detail, the abuse, mockery, torture
and crucifixion of Jesus Christ as it is described in the Bible.
Pope Paul VI called it the 'Fifth Gospel'. Return
to Top |
The
Bible Account of the Crucifixion
The markings on the Shroud mirror exactly the markings that would
be found if a human body was subjected to the suffering described
in the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion. |
| 1.
The Face of the Shroud shows clear evidence of swelling across the
left cheek and left side of the nose: |
| 'The
high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching...
One of the guards standing by gave Jesus a slap in the face,
saying, "is that the way to answer the high priest?"'_St.John,
Ch.18, v.19 & 22 |
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2.
The back image of the Shroud is heavily marked with small round
wounds clearly identifiable as those produced by Roman 'flagra',
or scourges, which had a short handle, with two leather thongs,
tipped with twin bronze pellets, like small dumb-bells. |
| 'Pilate
then had Jesus taken away and scourged'_St.John,
Ch.19, v.1 |
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| 3.
The head of the man of the Shroud has many puncture wounds, from which
there are substantial blood flows through the hair, and down the brow. |
| 'after
this, the soldiers twisted some thorns into a crown and put
it on his head... they came up to him, saying, "Hail, king
of the Jews!"; and they slapped him in the face'_St.John,
Ch.19, v.2 & 3 |
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4.
The back image of the Shroud shows two areas of severe damage over
the right shoulder and, further down, over the left shoulder: these
were described by medical experts as "excoriated wounds superimposed
on the wounds from the scourging", consistent with "the
friction of some heavy object rubbing on an already damaged area
of skin". |
| 'and
carrying his own cross, he went out of the city to the place
of the skull, or as it is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha'_St.John,
Ch.19, v.17 |
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5.
The wrists and feet of the man of the Shroud clearly show horrific
wounds consistent with nails being driven through them in the manner
of Roman crucifixion. |
| 'When
they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified him
there, and two criminals also, one on the right, the other on
the left'_St.Luke, Ch.23, v.33 |
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6.
In the area of the chest, between the fifth and sixth ribs, there
is a large, elliptical wound measuring an inch and three quarters
long, by almost half an inch wide. There is a large mark consistent
with heavy blood flow, but the dark 'blood' stain is curiously "broken
up by some clear areas, ..which would indicate the mixture of a
clear fluid with the blood". |
| 'When
they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead
of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with
a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water'_St.John,
Ch.19, v.33 |
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| 7.
The Shroud itself makes an appearance now: |
| 'Nicodemus
brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred
pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the
spices in a linen cloth, following the Jewish burial custom'
_St.John, Ch.19, v.40 |
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| 8.
On the morning of the resurrection, the disciples John and Peter ran
to the empty tomb. One of the grave cloths was set apart from the
rest, deserving a special mention by the disciple giving this account: |
| 'Simon
Peter ...went right in to the tomb, and saw the linen cloths
on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his
head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a
place by itself'_St.John, Ch.20, v.6 &
7 |
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Read
on ... |
| History
of Shroud | Shroud and Mandylion | Carbon-dating
Controversy |
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