The Shroud of Turin

For the second half of our class on September 16, we were able to watch a documentary on the the famous piece of cloth, The Shroud of Turin, that supposedly held Jesus' body when he was laid in his tomb. The documentary was very interesting giving a total history of the shroud. It goes on to discuss the many places it has been moved and how it had been damaged over the years. For most of the documentary, the crew is trying to figure out if the shroud can be dated back to the correct time period. In one of the segments we see how the stitching of the shroud was similar to a type used only during that time and part of the world. We also see hoe carbon 12 dating places the origin of the fabric to sometime during the middle ages. We then see how in modern times, we are as unsure as ever as to whether the Shroud of Turin is an authentic piece of Christian history.

It was intriguing to me personally to see the impact the Shroud of Turin had on the people that came into contact with it. The image portrayed on on the fabric became the iconic image of Jesus that many of us think of today. It is also a powerful image for any Christian to see the a face that could belong to founder of their religion, one of the most important people in history, and the Son of God.