Turin Shroud expert says 'face of Jesus is real' after noticing Bible passage

The enigmatic Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, first went on display 91 years ago this week.

While some Christians see it as the cloth that covered Jesus after his crucifixion, complete with a visible imprint of his face, sceptics argue it could be an artist's creation, despite no paint particles being positively identified.

Carbon-dating tests have suggested the Shroud dates back to the early 14th Century, casting doubt on its connection to Jesus. But Russ Breault, a long-time Shroud researcher and author, believes there are still unanswered questions about how the relic came to be.

Speaking to the Express, he said: "The image is so superficial as to penetrate only the top one to two microfibres of the cloth-or about 1% of a single thread."

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He added that while blood has penetrated the fabric, something else caused the flax fibres to rapidly dehydrate and oxidise, leading to discolouration only around the body areas.

Breault dismissed the idea that a simple burn could result in such a precise scorch mark. Instead, he referred to the Bible, suggesting a supernatural burst of energy during the resurrection, which he claims has been replicated in laboratory conditions.

"While there were multiple post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, there were no eyewitnesses to the resurrection event itself," he said.

"Yet there are biblical references to Jesus appearing as a being of light to Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, and his appearance to Saul (who becomes Paul) as brilliant flash of light blinding him for three days. Both would seem to indicate an intense burst of light at the point of resurrection."

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Russ highlighted research carried out by Italian Physicist, Paolo Di Lazzaro, who utilised high power lasers to mimic the extreme superficial nature of the image along with the same colouration using a 40 nano-second burst from an ultraviolet laser against a control sample of linen.

"This was the first time any aspect of the Shroud image has been duplicated using light," Russ added.

He is of the belief that, at the moment of Christ's resurrection, a massive energy surge akin in effect to a modern high-powered laser surged through his body.

Backing his theory is the fact that the bloodstains on the Shroud appear to have been formed before the image of the body. This could suggest that the cloth was wrapped around a mortally wounded body prior to the image being formed.

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He went on: "There is no image under the blood, which means the blood must have been on the cloth first, followed by the image. This makes sense if the Shroud is authentic...Good Friday followed by Easter Sunday. But it makes no sense as the work of an artist, in fact, it would be impossible."

According to Russ, closer inspection of the bloodstains on the relic only raises further questions about the possibility that it was faked. He remarked: "To complicate matters for our elusive medieval artist is that the blood has been determined to be type AB human blood, but not whole blood as if painted onto the cloth with a brush, but rather the exudate from actual wounds showing a high content of bilirubin, a breakdown byproduct of red blood cells that occurs during conditions of extreme physical stress...crucifixion perhaps? ".

Chemical analysis did little to shed light on the identity of the person who might have formed the unique image on the cloth. DNA testing in 1995, conducted by microbiologist Leoncio Garza-Valdez on a sample removed in 1988, confirmed the blood to be that of a human male.

Nonetheless, Russ observed: "The test is not considered to be definitive as the problem with DNA is that anyone who ever touched the cloth left their DNA on it as well."

Further investigations into the relic's origins seem improbable, as Russ highlights a particular reason: "The sample examined in 1995 was very degraded and beyond finding X and Y chromosomes, not much else could be determined such as ethnicity. The Catholic Church did not authorise the DNA test and reacted by forbidding anyone from conducting any more such testing for fear of some nefarious attempt to clone Jesus."