The Truth About the Heavens and Jesus Christ – A 2000-Year-Old Relic or Just a Common Cloth?
The Truth About the Heavens and Jesus Christ – A 2000-Year-Old Relic or Just a Common Cloth?
This is the Shroud of Turin, a sacred and mysterious relic believed to have wrapped the body of Jesus Christ after His Passion. Measuring nearly 4 meters in length, the cloth bears a faint image of a man with marks of wounds similar to those described in the Bible about Christ’s suffering. The strange thing is that this image is not made of ink or paint but is created by a sophisticated transformation of the cloth fibers—an imprint that modern science cannot explain.
For centuries, this cloth has attracted countless pilgrims, scientists, and the faithful, all fascinated by the great question: Is this the true proof of the life, death, and Resurrection of the Savior, or is it merely an artistic masterpiece ahead of its time? Every examination and analysis reveals new findings, but they only raise more questions. The mystery behind the Shroud of Turin is not only a reminder of faith but also a journey into exploring the supernatural, beyond the understanding of mankind.
Does the truth lie in the fabric or within the hearts of people?
In August 2024, Italian scientists made an authentic discovery about the Shroud of Turin. Let’s explore it in today’s video. In 1353, a famous knight named Geoffrey built a small chapel in the village of Laye, located in northern France. Geoffrey planned to display several valuable relics in the chapel, not only to share with the faithful but also to create an additional income for the parish, as visiting churches and making offerings was a common practice at that time.
Two years later, the chapel was completed, and among the displayed relics, one item drew special attention: a 4.4-meter-long, 1.1-meter-wide cloth. On the cloth, a faint image of a man appeared—his body seemingly suffering, especially in the hands and feet, where traces of blood were visible. The person in charge of the exhibition confidently declared that this was the Shroud that had wrapped the body of Jesus Christ after His Passion.
The cloth was quickly called the Shroud of Jesus Christ. News of this caused a great stir among Christian believers, and pilgrims from all over flocked to witness it. The small chapel in Laye became a pilgrimage site, bringing significant revenue to the parish. But where did this cloth come from? Did Geoffrey find it somewhere? At that time, no one questioned this. The locals simply accepted what they were told. However, Geoffrey did not have the chance to explain the mystery because shortly after the chapel was finished, he died on the battlefield in the Hundred Years’ War. The mystery of the Shroud’s origins remained unanswered for almost 100 years.
In 1453, the Shroud surfaced in the capital city of the Savoy dynasty, a powerful family from eastern France. Later, over 20 years, the dynasty moved the relic to the new capital, Turin, Italy. The Shroud was preserved in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, where a special chapel was built to protect it. The name “Shroud of Turin” thus became widely used.
Many believed that the image on the Shroud was the true face of Jesus Christ, left by Him through some miraculous power. It is considered a miracle, a testimony of God’s presence. They believed the Shroud was the only authentic and true evidence of Jesus’ appearance. However, there is something that has puzzled both researchers and the public: if this really is the Shroud of Jesus Christ, then where did it come from, and how did Geoffrey come to possess such a significant relic? The answer to this question would occupy scholars and historians for many centuries to come.
Why did the Shroud disappear for over 1,000 years and then suddenly reappear? This is the question that historians have been relentlessly trying to answer. To understand the journey of the Shroud, they first had to verify a basic truth: Was Jesus Christ actually wrapped in linen according to the customs of the time after His Passion? The answer to this question is clearly stated in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These books describe the event similarly:
After Jesus was crucified and died on the cross, one of His disciples, Joseph of Arimathea, along with a Jewish man named Nicodemus, asked for permission to take His body down from the cross. They used a linen cloth to wrap His body before placing Him in a tomb that Joseph had prepared for Himself. The tomb was near the place where Jesus was crucified, in a garden belonging to the Jewish people. They sealed the tomb with a large stone.
Therefore, according to the Bible, it is certain that Jesus was wrapped in linen after His death. But where did the Shroud go for over 1,000 years, and how did it end up in the hands of the knight Geoffrey from France? After many years of research, historians have traced part of the journey of the Shroud after Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection. Several centuries later, the Shroud was brought to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The fact that the Shroud appeared there may be related to Emperor Constantine the Great, who made Christianity the state religion. The Roman authorities may have found the Shroud among the people and brought it to Constantinople for safekeeping, allowing the faithful to venerate it.
As time passed, several centuries quietly went by. In 1229, Pope Innocent III launched the Fourth Crusade. However, instead of heading to Jerusalem, the Crusader armies were caught up in a dispute over the throne in Constantinople. Instead of liberating the Holy Land, they turned to attack Constantinople. After capturing the city, the Crusaders looted and destroyed the cathedral, taking many relics and treasures, including the Shroud of Turin. Some of these relics were later sold on European markets or ended up in the hands of collectors.
The next time the Shroud appeared was in 1344, more than 100 years after the sacking of Constantinople. At that time, the French knight Geoffrey was involved in the Fourth Crusade, which took place in Asia Minor near the Mediterranean Sea. The Crusade was a great success, and it is believed that Geoffrey may have come into possession of the Shroud during this campaign. Historians speculate that the Shroud was either sold or gifted to Geoffrey at this time, and he brought it back to France.
The story of the Shroud’s journey from Jesus Christ to the French knight Geoffrey remains shrouded in mystery, but it is clear that it went through major upheavals and devastating wars to become one of the world’s most famous relics. Geoffrey’s descendants later sold or gave the Shroud to the Savoy dynasty, and it was placed in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin. In 1532, a major fire broke out at the Chapel of Chambéry, where the Shroud was kept. The fire melted the silver frame protecting the Shroud, causing it to burn in some areas. However, the fire was eventually put out, and the Shroud was saved. The burn marks and water damage still remain to this day, becoming a part of the history of this sacred relic.
Since the Shroud of Turin appeared, debates about its authenticity have never ceased. Christians believe that this is the true relic and that the image on the cloth is the real likeness of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, critics argue that it is nothing more than a hoax. In 1390, 35 years after it was first displayed at the Church of Laye, Bishop Pierre wrote to Pope Clement VII, declaring that the Shroud was a forgery. He even claimed that the artist who created the Shroud had been identified. The Pope was shocked by this revelation but ultimately allowed the Shroud to continue being displayed at the Church of Laye, with the condition that it be clearly stated as an artwork, not an authentic relic. However, later Popes reversed this decision and restored the belief that the Shroud of Turin was a genuine relic.
In 1946, when the Savoy dynasty ended, the last king of Italy gave the Shroud of Turin to the Vatican, making it the personal property of the Pope. Since 1978, scientists have begun a series of in-depth studies to verify the authenticity of the Shroud. This project, known as the Shroud of Turin Project (STP), involved 33 scientists and received support from the Vatican.
The initial results of the research indicated that the image on the Shroud was indeed created by a body that had been crucified. The blood stains on the cloth were confirmed to be human blood, and no traces of paint from the medieval period were found on the cloth. This conclusion directly contradicted Bishop Pierre’s accusations from 1390 that the Shroud was a forged artwork. Some theories suggest that the Shroud is merely an artistic creation, possibly made by artists of the time to enhance their reputation. They claim that the image on the cloth was painted by them. However, the research team affirmed that based on their understanding, there was no technology in the 14th century capable of creating such a detailed and permanent image on fabric.
Even today, scientists have yet to explain how this image appeared on the Shroud. In 2003, Dr. Roger, a member of the team from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the U.S., proposed an interesting theory. He believed that this phenomenon might be related to a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction, which occurs between sugars and amino acids in food when heated, causing brown or black compounds to form.
Dr. Roger argued that when Jesus Christ was crucified, His body underwent severe dehydration, and after His death, the decomposition process began, releasing large amounts of amino acids from the surface of His body. The linen cloth of that time had
