Scriptural Proofs of the Shroud of Turin! It IS Authentic!

Did the Apostle Paul refer to the Image on the Shroud as the Body of Christ?

Did King David foretell the Shroud 1000 years before Christ?
The Astonishing answers from the Holy Bible!

The loudest argument of many opponents to the Shroud's authenticity is that it is not mentioned...along with the Image...in the Bible. It is something of a "stumbling-stone". There seems to be adequate proof in this research that they are wrong! God has hidden many mysteries in His Word...and, if we seek diligently enough, we will find them. God spoke His message on many levels...and in a repeating pattern (types for)...from beginning to end...and expects us to strive for His hidden secrets. To some, that is either alot of work...or they simply do not believe that God will give them the wisdom He promised for knowledge and understanding. There are still "seekers" of the "Ark of the Covenant" today...and the question of where it is still remains. The fact is...God Himself, through the Apostle John, tells us exactly where it is: "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail". (Revelation 11-19). As Jesus would say, "Haven't ye read"? John was taken, in the Spirit, to heaven...in the last days. The Ark was, more than likely, taken up with Elijah in the whirlwind. Revelation means...to reveal. The Ark seekers seek in vain! However, since He told us where the Ark is...though hidden in heaven, why then would He not give us answers on the burial cloth of His Son? He does...all through His Word!...and this is just the beginning of this research.

The most important aspect to consider is that the Shroud is not simply a relic...nor a denominational icon...as there appear to be references in the Scriptures themselves. Jesus said, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a SIGN; and there shall no SIGN be given to it, but the SIGN of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth". (Matthew 12: 39-40). Could the Shroud itself be that "sign" for THIS evil generation? Used here, the word "sign" in the original Greek ("semeion") means: a mark...to indicate or signify, especially pertaining to supernatural, miracle, token, or wonder. (From Strong's #4592). A token of Love in linen perhaps? The Shroud has been called "God's love letter in linen". According to scientists, it certainly is supernatural! The Shroud has presented more questions than answers to them...has driven them (like me) into the Scriptures...and has tested THEM more than they have the Shroud! This is exactly how Jesus handled His detractors! For most researchers, the Shroud has become a life-long devotion.

An early Christian symbol, uniting the Old Testament with the New, used
by the first Christian disciples for annointing.

Throughout the Old Testament (which is also for US in this evil generation) you read the imploring, "I seek your face, Lord." David tearfully stated that often in the Psalms...and the Son of David would eventually show His face in human form. So, we are not alone in seeking. If, indeed, the Body of Christ is the Church as Paul tells us...then consider this: "And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight....Even the MYSTERY which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made MANIFEST to his saints; To whom GOD WOULD MAKE KNOWN what is the RICHES of the GLORY of this MYSTERY among the Gentiles (nations); which is Christ in you, the hope of glory...". (Colossians 1: 18-27). This Mystery was hidden from ages...and from generations...until then...and now. It would come to pass. It seems very likely...probable... that Paul...and the congregation of the early Church were aware of the MYSTERY of the Lord's burial Shroud. In fact, in the earliest times, the Head or (Face) on the Shroud (as folded) would have been the only part visible...in a frame...as in the "Mandylion"...(the Face of Edessa)... the Shroud's first reference. The word "manifest" as used in the former passages, in the original Greek is translated from "phaneroo"...meaning: to render apparent, appear...to lighten, shine. It was something to behold with the eyes...evidence to those who had not seen Jesus risen from the dead...like us! Shine, Jesus, Shine!

Paul, in II Corinthians, chapter 3, had just discussed the vail of Moses, the Laws, and said, speaking of the heart of the children of Israel, "Nevertheless when it shall turn to the LORD, the vail shall be taken away. Now the LORD is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the LORD, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD"...just like the Lord. Paul had just described the end times, our being changed (quickened)...and our own resurrection...as "beholding"... looking into a glass (mirrored)...at a glorious Image...by the Spirit of the Lord...which means liberty..."and the truth shall make you free". But, none of which will happen until "the vail shall be taken away"...when the hearts of the children are turned back to the Lord....in the last days. The Greek word for "image" here is "eikon" (icon) meaning "likeness, resemblence, representation"...which is taken from the prime root word "eiko" which translates: "to be weak...through the idea of faintness as a copy" (from Strong's #1503). The actual Image on the Shroud IS weak and faint! What other icon or "likeness" of the Lord could there have been at that time...to be viewed as an example of our own resurrection...other than an Image on His burial cloth? Remember, Jesus was the "firstborn from the dead"... the "preeminence"." I am the resurrection..."(John 11:25).

The Hebrew word "vail" means a "covering", and "the sacred screen" to the Holy of Holies. In Greek "veil" is "something spread thoroughly", and "the DOOR 'screen' to the Most Holy Place in the Jewish Temple". Jesus said, "I am the door"! As a "shadow of good things to come"(Hebrews 10-1), Jesus replaced the Ark of the Covenant (the old)...as the Holiest of Holy. This is one of God's hidden Mysteries...an exact "pattern" of the old Covenant, which could only atone for sin by the blood sacrifices of animals often...which was not perfect enough...and which God abhorred... "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings". (Hosea 6-6). So, a New Covenant...a New Testament was to come. In describing the "tabernacle" of the old, Paul spoke in a mystery concerning the "ark of the covenant": "...And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat: of which we cannot now speak particularly". (Hebrews 9-5). Of old, the blood of atonement had been sprinkled on the mercyseat. The word "shadowing" means "covering"...the "mercyseat" is the "lid" of the ark or atonement victim. Since Jesus became the atonement victim, Paul could not speak openly about the lid...the "shadowing glory"...the covering of the atonement victim...Jesus. It had to be "veiled" in secrecy...to be kept out of the hands of the adversary. "Musterion" is the Greek word for "mystery" which means "to shut the mouth"..".a secret"...and "silence imposed by initiation into religious rites". That is the reason for symbolism in ancient writings pertaining to the Shroud. In what is believed to be the earliest of the Gospels (source for the Gospel of Matthew)...the "Gospel According to the Hebrews"...there is mentioned the "linen cloth"...given to Peter after the Resurrection...by Jesus Himself! This comes from fragments of that Lost Gospel...and from references to it in the writings of St. Jerome in about 392 AD. Interestingly, in Matthew 16: 19, Jesus confirms to Peter: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven..." Could the linen cloths found in the tomb and, according to the Gospel of the Hebrews, given to Peter by Jesus after His resurrection, be the "keys" to the kingdom of which Jesus spoke? The fact that mention of the Shroud was removed very early from the canonical scriptures (not further or openly mentioned) proves that the Shroud's protection was priority. Yet it was written of in the Gospel According to the Hebrews...a very early Gospel...believed by many to be from the 1st century. The study on the Lost Gospel on this site is another "Pearl of great price"...a further confirmation of Truth.

There are other "veiled" references throughout the Scriptures if you seek them...including the type for Moses when he had to "vail" his face because of the Shekinah glory...his "face shone" with radiant light after speaking with the LORD. This unexplainable Light...as in the Transfiguration...("and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light")...is throughout the Bible...Old and New Testaments...the glory...and Presence of God. The Shroud is the most perfect visual evidence we have of the Presence and Existence of God! Yet, like Jesus, by many...it is rejected! It is the final "shadow" of something Good to come. God IS Light...and a "consuming fire"...except for a burning bush ("the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed")...and a linen burial cloth...with an image scorched onto the linen.

Isaiah 42 describes the LORD's "suffering servant" thus: "He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the 'smoking flax' (linen) shall he not quench (extinguish or put out); he shall bring forth judgment unto truth". What is Truth, as Pilate asked? Is the Shroud the "smoking linen" (after an image was scorched onto the cloth) that shall not be quenched UNTIL His judgment of Truth?...end times...and then "the veil shall be taken away"? The word "smoking" in Hebrew is translated: weak, obscure, darkened, smoking. Some translate the Hebrew word "flax" here to mean "wick"...but the prime root word IS "linen"...and certainly ties in with the Lord's Passion. A Bible copyist may not have been aware of a "smoking burial cloth", and would have naturally translated "flax" to a "wick" of a candle. This was prophecy fulfilled in Matthew 12: 15- 21 when, after Jesus had healed multitudes, He "charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by E-sa-ias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles (nations) trust." The Greek (New Testament) translations are very clear, but oddly different in that "smoking" is translated: to make a smoke...or to "slowly consume without flame"...as in "scorch". Flax here has no "wick", but only ONE meaning: LINEN. Therefore, the translation is "scorched linen"!

To add to the Mystery...and probable Truth of the Shroud, Acts 19- 11-12 tells us: "And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them." The Greek word for "handkerchief" is "soudarion": a towel for wiping the perspiration from the face, or binding or covering the face of a corpse...napkin...as in sudarium. Besides the "Sudarium Christi", the Mandylion...or the Face of Edessa was thought to be a "napkin" or "little towel". This Face of Edessa, with the entire Shroud folded behind it, was the very gift sent to King Abgar of Edessa...by Jesus...for healing! This folding, in eighths...or "tetradiplon" was mentioned in ancient documents concerning the Shroud. Paul's "soudarions" may have been touched to the Shroud for that same healing purpose....as the "special" miracles were wrought by God! Why else would the Apostle Paul have carried these napkins on his body...to heal? Why not just a laying on of hands? Paul, in II Corinthians 4: 6, declares: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the LIGHT of the KNOWLEDGE of the GLORY of GOD in the FACE of Jesus Christ." Was that darkness also a reference to what happened in the tomb? Is the Shroud the "hope of glory" for us all that Paul spoke of? Is this the example for the Body of Christ ...the Church (with Jesus as the Head) that he described? Was the early Church based upon the visual evidence of the Resurrection? If that seems far-fetched, take note of the next ancient writings to be explored...regarding the "Pearl"...thought by some to be a myth, but I think not.

Unexplained Face of Jesus...super-imposed on Shroud Face
Origin of photo?...or etching? Unknown...but Beautiful!

Dated to the 1st century, the "Hymn of the Pearl", also known as the "Hymn of the Robe of Glory", recited by the Apostle Judas Thomas while imprisoned, lends testimony to the story of the Shroud in the ancient city of Edessa. Prior to His crucifixion, and in answer to a pleading letter for healing of leprosy from King Abgar of Edessa, Jesus promised, by a letter in response, that He would send a gift of healing to him...which was said to be a "portrait"...or an "imprint " of His face. Incidentally, Veronica...from "Veronica's Veil"...probably stemmed from this...and means "true icon" (likeness). In all probability, all portraits, paintings, and likenesses of Jesus...came from the One source...the Shroud...as they all share many similar characteristics...and can be easily identified as such. The Edessa legend is the very first history of the burial cloth once it left Jerusalem...via Judas (Jude) Thomas...possibly another brother of the Lord...and writer of the Epistle of Jude. There is a quite probable theory that Edessa ( a very early Christian city)....now the city of Urfa, in Turkey, was none other than the ancient City of "Ur" of Abraham's day. Though Apocryphal (not canonized...included in our Bible), from the "Acts of Thomas", it is recognized by most scholars as an authentic and very early writing. It is written metaphorically...and in a "mystery"...using symbolism for the reader to understand (have knowledge or "gnosis" of) what is hidden. There can be little doubt that the robe, or garment, is anything other than the Shroud of our Lord.

10th century painting of King Abgar of Edessa receiving the healing "gift" of Jesus...
accompanied by a letter from Jesus

Further proof of this can be found in the writings of Ephraim the Syrian (in Edessa, about 350 AD) entitled the "The Pearl: Seven Hymns on the Faith"...a "pearl of great price"...compared to the sea...and Jonas!...the "sign"? The Eastern Church was very much in keeping with the original teachings of Christ. Referred to as Oriental, the Eastern Church spoke Syriac... similar to the Aramaic that Jesus spoke. Ephraim compares the Image on the Shroud ( in 350 AD!) to the Word of God...and as a "parable" of the Kingdom of God. He examines this "Pearl"...and sees the "Body of our Lord"...in His "bareness" (nakedness)...a "type of the Son"...that this "image" is not "art framed"...and acknowledges that painters had painted likenesses of it. In Hymn 5, Ephraim wrote: "Strife has come in and dared to essay to unveil thy beauty. It was not graven, since it is a progeny which cannot be interpreted. The beholders were astonied and perplexed at thee". That sounds like today! Even then, there were those who could not believe that the Image on the cloth was an act of God. To them, it must have been "painted"...or "graven". They were "astonied and perplexed"...just like the ones who write the "shallow theory" books on the Shroud today...trying to explain the "unexplainable" with ridiculous theories ...or dispute it altogether. How could this Pearl (type) be anything BUT the Shroud...adored and examined in 350 AD? This is beautifully written...well worth reading for truth ...and seems to foretell some prophecy for these end times. Remember...this was the early Church! This writing alone should PROVE the Shroud as authentically that of our Lord Jesus. Since Ephraim was able to hold and examine it, the Shroud must have been taken out of its hiding place from time to time. Without doubt, the Shroud was seen and known of in the 1st and 4th centuries...or it would not have been written of in those times...and copied in art! The Shroud, with the image of our Lord, existed then, with the ancients expressing the same astonishment and unexplainability that we experience today. There is much hidden wisdom and knowledge in these ancient writings...if one takes the time to re-read them to the depth the writers take us to for understanding the "hidden mysteries of God". Gnostic or otherwise, these are verifiable ancient writings...with the Shroud being the focal point ...and, therefore, have Truth and validity to them. After all, the ancients were the ones who described the image on the Shroud as "acheiropoietos"...Greek for unmanufactured, inartificial...not made with hands! Was it not the "Finger of God" (Exodus 31: 18) that wrote our Laws on tables of stone? Why then, could He not have photographed His Son on a Shroud of linen?

One of many ancient paintings based on the image on the Shroud

Below: "The Banner"... the most astounding prophecy of all!

Paintings and a tapestry depicting exhibitions of the "Shroud of our Lord" from the 1600's and 1800's.

The Hebrew translation here for "banner" is "nec", meaning a flag, signal, token or sign. The prime root of this Hebrew word is "nacac":...to gleam from afar...to be CONSPICUOUS as a signal or sign. According to "The Companion Bible" (E. W. Bullinger, Ap. 65: XII) a set of six Psalms are known as the "Michtam (Engraven) Psalms", all of which are by David, and tell of Israel's Redeemer...especially His death and Resurrection. "The word Michtam is from Katam, to cut in, or engrave...", which is comparable to a stele...a sepulchral monument with an inscription engraved upon it....which means "permanent" and of "great importance". The word Katam is believed to come from... "Kethem gold, either from its being precious, or hidden away". Dr. Bullinger, a highly respected and devoted Bible scholar of the early 20th century, described the Michtam Psalms (16, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60) as having "the common characteristic of being Personal, Direct, and more or less Private". In relation to the death and Resurrection of the coming Messiah, these Psalms were special! In the prophetic (end time) 60th Psalm, King David declares:

This is the only place in the entire Scriptures (Old and New Testaments) that the word "displayed" is used! Very strangely, the Hebrew meaning is to "flit"...or to "vanish away"..."and the vail shall be taken away....."!

A burial cloth was hidden "because of the truth"...the image on it miraculously changed when it was first photographed because of the truth...and it is still displayed...because of the truth. It remains a mystery because of the truth and purpose hidden within it. Its purpose will be revealed at God's chosen time...not before. This burial linen, this mystery, this veil, this banner...this covering with many names is hidden throughout the Holy Bible. The Apostle Paul referred to it often in secret and mysterious sayings...as did many other ancient writers of scripture and sacred texts. Their main objective was to protect it...because of it's "riches" that God would one day make known to a future generation of His children. There is no disputing that the Shroud of Turin is conspicuous!

If this research has PROVEN that the Shroud, with the Image of the" Body of Christ", IS an integral part of the Holy Bible, then I suppose that the final and definitive question has been answered...which is where many authors choose to end their speculation. "I come in the volume of the book...it is written of me..."" saith our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ...which is why this research began, and continues, with that Book. Only the Divine...breathed Word of God could contain such answers...because of the depth and harmony in which it was written, over a span of thousands of years...by prophets who never knew each other. Man could not have done that...any more than man could have created the Image on the Shroud. Wisdom, which only comes from God, and common sense tell us that.

The crucial question remains: What IF the Shroud of Turin is authentically that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?...would you want to be among those who reject His Truth? "Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the LORD's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?", so asked Jesus in Matthew 21: 42!

Will you know this Pearl of great price...this Stone...Who became the Head...of the Body of the Church...when you see His Face?

May His Peace and Truth be unto you,

Carole Bevan-Irby
Translations of Hebrew and Greek are from the "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible".