Was the Shroud of Turin used during the Last Supper?

Dr. John Jackson, director of research for the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado, explains the history of the ancient burial cloth believed by some to be the burial cloth of Christ. Herald/Bill Howard

Jim Myers, Herald Writer
Apr 12, 2006 11:00 AM

COLORADO SPRINGS. Tucked away inside a plain-looking office complex near St. Patrick Parish, the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado is dedicated to studying the reputed burial cloth of Jesus Christ and delivering educational

lectures around the globe.

Opened in 1990, the center contains an actual-size photographic image of the shroud as well as three-dimensional models, images and artifacts illustrating the shroud's origin and possible authenticity as the burial cloth of Christ.

Run by a married couple that attends St. Mary's Cathedral, the center is open to anyone, although reservations are required.

Dr. John Jackson, director of research for the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado, has studied the shroud since 1974. He led an American team that traveled to Turin, Italy, in 1978 that collected data to study the cloth. That research is still the primary data source for studying the image on the shroud.

Jackson said his concern is authenticating the shroud from an archeological perspective; it's up to the magisterium to concern itself with implications on the Catholic faith.

"If this is the historical burial cloth of Christ, we would have the portable archeological site of where Christianity began," he said. "We in the 21st century can go into the tomb of Christ to investigate what happened."

What has drawn people to study the shroud, housed in Turin since 1578, is an image that appears on the cloth of what many believe to be Christ following his crucifixion.

While the faithful are compelled to examine the shroud, non-believers are drawn to find explanations.

"The shroud has moved into the secular world," said Jackson, who teaches physics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. "They want secular answers. The implications of what this could be are too much for them."

In 1988, a sample of the burial shroud was removed for carbon dating, which set the age somewhere in the 13th century. While this finding solidified theories of those who doubted the shroud's authenticity, Jackson has several hypotheses that call the radio carbon dating process into question. One hypothesis surrounds a fire in the church that housed the Turin Shroud in 1532 and its effect on the shroud.

Jackson said carbon-14 (radio carbon) in the shroud could have interacted with carbon in the air because of heat generated in the fire. So, the original carbon dating may have been a miscalculation due to a chemical reaction.

Also, there are clues that dispute the carbon dating results.

"There is other archeological proof of science that conflict with the radio carbon date," said Jackson. "If you believe the shroud is from the 14th century, you also have to believe that someone constructed this with the technology available at the time.

"On the other hand, if you believe the archeology, you have to believe the carbon dating is wrong."

Jackson listed several facts that seem to verify the shroud's authenticity as Christ's burial cloth. The dimensions of the cloth are consistent with cubit measurements used in the first century. Additionally, stains on the cloth are consistent with wounds Christ suffered during the crucifixion, including scourge marks, puncture wounds and blood stains where the crown of thorns would have rested.

"The bottom line is I think what is portrayed on the shroud is realistic based upon crucifixion reconstruction," said Jackson.

Some have argued that Jews are not buried without being cleansed, which indicates the blood and dirt evident on the burial cloth would not have been from a Jew. Rebecca Jackson, a Catholic convert who was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household and who is the center's expert on early Judaism, disputes the argument based on four conditions that would prevent a Jew from being cleansed before burial: if that person dies a violent death; if he is sentenced to capital punishment for a crime of a religious nature; if he is killed by a gentile; and if he is considered an outcast from the Jewish community.

Christ met all of these disqualification standards.

"It is a perfect Jewish burial," she said. "This man does not look like a Greek. He looks like a Jew. He was buried according to Jewish standards."

Rebecca Jackson pointed to other clues indicating the cloth's first-century origin. The figure's hands are crossed, indicating a Jewish burial as opposed to clenched fists of defiance found in Egyptian pagan burials. Also, the linen is such a type that it is likely to have been woven in the first century A.D.

John Jackson theorized that the shroud may have been present for the Last Supper as well as Christ's crucifixion.

"I think some of the stains are candidates for foodstuff. The shroud may have been a witness to Holy Thursday and Good Friday," he said. "When you look at the totality of what we have on the shroud, I personally think it is the burial cloth of Jesus."