Megalithic Marvels - The Shroud of Turin Mystery Just Got Even Stranger (rewind)

Episode Date: September 2, 2026

The mystery of the Shroud of Turin continues to deepen as new scientific research reignites one of history’s most fascinating debates. In this episode, we examine the latest discoveries surrounding ...the mysterious cloth, and the ultimate question: could this really be the burial shroud of Jesus—or is it an elaborate medieval creation? #history #historyfacts #historymystery

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca.ca. Trade ice skating at Nathan Phillips Square for ice cubes in your umbrella drink. Let Porter Airlines fly you from Toronto Pearson nonstop to 10 top sun destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Costa Rica.
Starting point is 00:00:46 Enjoy award-winning porter service Toronto has love for 20 years and start your vacation as soon as you're on the plane. Book your sunny getaway today at flyporter.com. and actually enjoy economy. You gotta try breakfast. And what better way than with a delicious pre-organic coffee? Starting with just $1 all day, every day now until December 31st. You gotta try breakfast. At participating in A&W locations in Ontario.
Starting point is 00:01:30 I saw my friend on the other side of the street. I was heading to school with the kids. I let go of mom's hand to wave. I had already forgotten their luncheon. I went over to hug her. She came out of nowhere. And then... It stopped.
Starting point is 00:01:47 Sometimes the moments that never happen matter most. Volvo's automatic emergency braking helps ensure a safe ending for everyone. Learn more at VolvoCars.cairs.caps slash safety. The Royal Canadian Legion is celebrating its 100th anniversary. And now our change has a $2 coin to mark this milestone. Honor the Legion's mission to carry forward stories of service and sacrifice to new generations and their dedication to supporting veterans and their families from coast to coast to coast.
Starting point is 00:02:22 Celebrate this enduring legacy. Find the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Legion $2 coin today. So 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, which is one of the most studied and controversial artifacts in history on the planet. And this is according to a 2003 Harvard study. Now, also known as the Holy Shroud, this 14-foot-long piece of linen cloth bears the faint image of the front and back of a man. Now, it has been venerated for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church and even Christians worldwide as the actual burial shroud used
Starting point is 00:03:14 to wrap the body of Jesus Christ 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 Secondopoeia who produced the first photographs of this mysterious shroud. Again, millions of believers worldwide have taken a great interest in the shroud of Turin because they believe it might be potential proof of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, Italian scientists Liberato di Cara and Italy's Institute of Crystallography stared their findings this week regarding the infamous shroud of Turin, and their new X-ray analysis revealed the
Starting point is 00:04:13 shroud of Turin to be 2,000 years old. Dikaro and his team argue that the previous carbon dating that took place back in 1988 that dated the shroud to be somewhere between the years 1260 and 1390 AD may have been flawed due to contamination. And this, claim has been made by other scholars over the years. Now, according to this Italian Institute, their dating process involved wax, W-A-X-S, or wide-angle X-ray scattering. Their wax 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.
Starting point is 00:05:13 Again, the Shrout of Turin is believed by many to be the linen cloth that was the original burial garment of Jesus. Again, it's been revered by millions of Christians and Catholics and even popes, not millions of popes, but also popes. Especially in modern times, in 2010, a Pope Benedict, the 16th, I believe, spent several minutes praying in front of the shroud. And so did Pope Francis in the year 2015. Okay, so now let's get a little bit deeper into the history of the shroud of Turin. So according to the Bible, Jesus was wrapped in a linen burial cloth after his crucifixion. So he's crucified on the cross. His body is brought down. And then this happens. in John chapter 19 verses 38 through 42.
Starting point is 00:06:09 It says, quote, afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus because he feared the Jewish leaders, asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus' body. When Pilate gave permission, came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus,
Starting point is 00:06:30 the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about 75,000, pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial customs, they wrapped Jesus' body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. The place of crucifixion was near a garden. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, joined thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.
Starting point is 00:07:05 walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca. Real Canadian Superstore has everything you need this back-to-school season. Save on lunchbox savers like Ziggy's sliced deli-meat products for always 375. And get life brand pure Vita shampoo or conditioner for $8 each. at Real Canadian Superstore When You're ready, we're ready
Starting point is 00:07:36 With a whole world and more New from Nespresso. Blend wellness into your coffee routine with a coffee plus range infused with functional benefits. Choose the coffee you love with added B vitamins like coffee plus B12 to help support immune function
Starting point is 00:07:50 and coffee plus B6 to keep your day moving or go with the flow and choose ginseng delight. Our new double espresso with ginseng extract. Whatever lies ahead, don't change your morning. Let your morning. change you. Discover Coffee Plus on Nispresso.com.
Starting point is 00:08:07 Where there was a new tomb never used before. And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover, and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. End quote. So again, that was the book of John describing the events that took place right after Jesus' crucifixion on the cross. Okay, now fast forward. Jesus was laid in the tomb, he lied there three days according to scripture, and then he resurrected three days later. So now what we're going to read in Luke chapter 2412 is describing what these disciples see, namely Peter, as he comes to the tomb after hearing that Jesus was no longer there. So here is what Luke chapter 24 verses 1 through 12 states.
Starting point is 00:09:03 But very early on Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, why are you looking among the dead for some people? someone who is alive. He isn't here. He is risen from the dead. Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the son of man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified,
Starting point is 00:09:47 and that he would rise again on the third day. Then they remembered that he had said this. So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his 11 disciples and everyone else what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn't believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look, stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings. Then he went home again wondering what had happened. end quote. So after these events that I just read, the Shrad is not mentioned again in the Bible. There are some indications that might have been taken to Constantinople.
Starting point is 00:10:41 We don't see it, though, in the written record until it emerges in the year 1354. In the hands of a knight, I believe his name is Jeffrey DeCarnie, and he was a renowned warrior and crusader, but we don't really know how he got it. So about the same time of 1354, it goes from the hands of this night into an exhibit in the new collegiate church of Liry, a village in north central France. And it was acquired by the house of Savoy in 1453 and later deposited in a chapel of Chambury, where it was damaged by fire in 1532. Now in 1578, the Savoys moved the shroud to their new capital in Turin, where it has remained ever since. And since 1683, it has been kept in the chapel of the Holy Shroud, which was literally created and designed to house the shroud. Ownership of the shroud passed from the house of Savoy to the Catholic Church after the death of former King Umberto the 2nd in 1983.
Starting point is 00:11:50 So fast forward in 1988, a piece of the shroud is carbon dated for the first time by team of scientists. The world stood and watched with bated breath for the results to come back on how old the shroud of Turin was. And when the dates came in, they estimated the shroud to be somewhere between 1260 and 1390 AD. So not ancient, but definitely medieval, sometime around. the time where that night had gained possession of the shroud. But again, this new groundbreaking research with even more advanced technology has changed the narrative and breathed new life into the mystery of the shroud of Turin. As they say, this thing is not medieval.
Starting point is 00:12:40 It is around 2,000 years old. It should also be noted that nobody really has a clue how the image on the cloth was made. There's no pigment or dye present. The fibers themselves seem to be discolored to form the image, and the concentration of those fibers is what creates a darker or lighter section. Its luminance correlates continuously with distance from the body to the cloth, like a 3D image. And then there are still the physical accuracies. When you look at the shroud, the wounds are consistent with,
Starting point is 00:13:20 Roman crucifixion and the specifics of even the Bible account, the marks from the crown of thorns, the stab wound in the side, the lacerations on the back, and bruises on the shoulders. And as other researchers have noted, even if this wasn't Christ himself depicted in the shroud, it appears to at least be the victim of real crucifixion. Analysis of nanoparticles on the shroud revealed high levels, get this, of creatine and ferretin, which are supposedly found in patients who suffer trauma like torture. Pollan analysis has suggested that plant pollen found in the shroud is native to Jerusalem, a weave pattern common to the ancient Middle East, not medieval Europe.
Starting point is 00:14:13 And though any ancient record is hard to establish, it seems the shroud might have had an impact on art before 1354. Byzantine icons like the Sinai Panto-Kratar from the 6th century appear strikingly similar to the shroud of Turin. And before this icon, there was no standardized way to depict Christ in art. Another point to share on the new discovery with the shroud, states the new x-ray techniques that were used to study the aging of the linen's flax cellulose found that the breakdown of the cellulose matches that of other 2,000-year-old samples and not necessarily medieval ones. So if it was just seven centuries old, as the 1988 test suggests,
Starting point is 00:15:04 the cellulose would have had to have aged incredibly fast. And to do that, it would have had to have been kept at a tenetialis. temperature very close to the maximum values registered on Earth, which likely would have burnt it up. But this new discovery from the Italy team isn't the only reason why the shroud of Turin is back in the news, because it has also inspired a new artificial intelligence image of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth. Now, I believe it was the Daily Express, which is a news publication that is responsible for creating these AI images. images of Jesus that went viral based on the shroud of Turin. And the app they used is really the same one I use.
Starting point is 00:15:51 It's called Mid Journey. It's probably one of the most powerful AI image generators out there. You can use it on your phone. You can use it on your desktop. And basically what you do is you input specific keywords, dimensions, styles. Like you can put in their Rembrandt style if you want whatever you're creating to look like a Rembrandt painting. Now you can also attach photos online to give the AI computer something to base your image off of. But I think that's what the Daily Express did here. I think they uploaded
Starting point is 00:16:26 images of the Shrout of Turin and then, you know, probably put in key words like Shrout of Turin, Jesus Christ, and out popped these images. And these images have gone viral worldwide as the, quote, face of Jesus, end quote. And as you look at these, you see they appear to show what looks like Jesus Christ with long flowing hair and a beard, much like many of the classical depictions of him, and there appears to be cuts and grazes around his face and body, pointing to the fact that he had just been killed. And again, this image is being called by many as the true face of Jesus. Do the latest discoveries regarding the shroud of Turin increase your belief that the shroud of Turin might have actually imprinted
Starting point is 00:17:20 the actual depiction or look of Jesus from 2,000 years ago? Do you believe the shroud is authentic, I guess is what I'm asking? Or do you think it's all really just some elaborate hoax, maybe medieval hoax? I'd love to know what you think. Leave me a comment from wherever you're watching this, whether it's Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube. And while you're at it, go ahead and subscribe to this podcast from wherever you are watching or listening. And if you can, leave me a five-star review, which will help me to cut through the algorithms
Starting point is 00:17:58 and reach more people regarding our ancient past. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Until next time, keep exploring. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving
Starting point is 00:19:06 research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. Wayfair's Labor Day clearance is on now. Right now at Wayfair, you can get up to 70% percent. percent off everything home. Shop Wayfair's Labor Day clearance now through September 7th at Wayfair.ca. Every home.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.