14 Reasons The Shroud of Turin May Be Authentic

There are probably more than 14 reasons why the Shroud of Turin is authentic, but below I give 14 reasons.

1. It's of a crucified man.
2. The head has blood stains consistent with a crown of thorns.
3. It has 120 scourge marks from 2 Roman flagrum with dumbbells on ends.
4. The back has a large abrasion across both shoulders, consistent with bearing a cross.
5. The man in the Shroud was pierced in his side, probably with a spear, consistent with the Gospel of John.
6. It correctly has the nails through the wrists. All medieval paintings of Christ incorrectly put the nails through the palms.
7. The carbon-14 dating was flawed, because there was newer material of a different chemical composition interwoven with the older Shroud material.
8. According to one Shroud scholar, there is dirt from Palestine on the feet.
9. Pollen is on the Shroud that is unique to the area around Jerusalem. Pollen from a plant with long thorns was found around his head.
10. The three-inch wide side strip is sown on with a unique stitch nearly identical to that found only at Masada which was destroyed in 73-74 AD. This is evidence that the Shroud was made in the first century.
11. The Christ Pantocrator icon of 550 AD might be based on the shroud image. There are about 180 points of congruence. If true, then the Shroud was identified as the burial cloth of Christ. This image was then repeatedly copied in Byzantium.
12. Barrie Schwortz is perhaps the best known expert on the Shroud. He is a non-Christian Jew and believes the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus. His belief is based on the science, not on emotions. He also believes that the resurrection is a possible explanation for the image.
13. According to the nuclear engineer Robert Rucker, the major Shroud researchers agree that the image was caused by radiation.
14. The Shroud of Turin was proven not to be a painting or a forgery. See peer reviewed papers here: https://www.shroud.com/78papers.htm

(I excluded the lepton of Pontius Pilate on the eye argument, because this was never confirmed scientifically. This is not widely accepted amongst Shroud scholars. Further, it's unlikely that the disciples would put a pagan coin on the face of Christ).

RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON THE SHROUD OF TURIN

Test the Shroud, by Antonacci;
Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence, by Antonacci;
The Shroud of Turin: An Adventure of Discovery, by Mary and Alan Whanger;
The Turin Shroud: The Illustrated Evidence, by Wilson Ian and Barrie Schwortz;
Verdict on the Shroud, by Stevenson and Habermas.

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES

What is The Shroud of Turin?
https://www.shroudresearch.net/

Barrie Schwortz website
https://www.shroud.com/

My article on the historical Jesus
https://apologetics22.substack.com/p/the-historical-jesus?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web

In the Orthodox Church, this is called the Jesus Prayer. Let it always proceed from your heart and mouth: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."