Researchers believe chilling new Shroud of Turin discovery proves one major Jesus theory

A researcher has published a new study which claims to have 'confirmed' a well-known part of Jesus' story.

Otangelo Grasso is a self-described 'Young Earth Creationist' and 'intelligent Design proponent' and has written a new paper in which he goes into detail about the image on the Shroud of Turin.

The Shroud is a length of cloth which is famous for having an image that appears to resemble a Christ-like figure on the fabric.

Many people believe that the Shroud is the piece of cloth that Jesus was wrapped in for the three days that he was buried between his crucifixion and resurrection.

Now Grasso has used AI to generate a projection of the image outline on the shroud and analyzed how the wound and blood patterns might point to a particular part of Jesus' suffering.

An image from Grasso's study (Otangelo Grasso)

This is that Jesus was made to wear a crown of thorns on his head during his torture and death.

What does Grasso's research tell us?

Grasso claims that the patterns that form from his images can be used to tell us about the type of crown which was used to inflict the injuries.

In the study, he notes: “From the front, the crown sits below the apex and compresses the hair at the brow and temples; inward-angled thorns enter tangentially and create vertical rivulets that follow skin furrows and, at the temples, the course of trigeminal branches, echoing the Shroud's forehead/nasion clots.”

Specifically, Grasso examines whether the crown would have been a cap or a circlet, deciding that the circlet would have been the more likely option due to the wounds and the relative ease of assembly.

Grasso thinks the crown was a circlet (Otangelo Grasso)

Grasso continues: “A helmet-like dome implies frequent superior-scalp lesions; with other head wounds still transferring at burial, one would expect traces across the bridge.

"Their absence pushes the solution toward a low-seated circlet or shallow capiform wreath."

Grasso's study even speculates about the kinds of thorny plants which may have been used to create the infamous garment, examining how the thorns might have created certain puncture patterns on someone's forehead.

Another study by Grasso on the same topic said: "Shroud head-stain mapping, a clean vertex bridge amid otherwise active head/face transfer potential, experimental inward-spine mechanics, posture-driven posterior elevation, and the build-time/manipulation differential together provide support for a circlet over a cap."

The crown of thorns is still the topic of debate, with art historians writing that the motif of a bloodied Jesus wearing the crown of thorns is actually a medieval invention as a result of a mistranslation of the Bible, and not connected to contemporary accounts of Jesus at all.

A brief history of the shroud

A negative image of the Shroud of Turin taken in 1898 (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

While many believe in the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, it has a controversial history even during the Medieval period, and its origins are still not clear.

The earliest records of the Shroud of Turin date back to 1354, when there is an account of it being in the possession of a knight called Geoffroi de Charnay, seigneur de Lirey.

When the shroud was put on display in 1389, the Bishop of Troye denounced it as a forgery, saying it was 'cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the artist who painted it.'

Initially, the papacy took a cautious approach to the Shroud, with antipope (yes, that was a thing) Clement VII not going so far as to say it was the true shroud, but allowing it to be used as an object of devotion provided it was only called an 'image or representation'.

Carbon dating was conducted by three separate laboratories in 1988, which placed the origin of the shroud between 1260 and 1390, seemingly confirming it a medieval artefact and not from the time of Jesus.

Further study in 2022 used wide-angle X-ray scattering to analyze one piece of the shroud, with this test indicating that the fabric itself may have older origins of around 55–74AD, though the researchers said they would need further study to confirm their findings.

While these dates are closer to the time of Christ, they are still some 50 years out, and do not account for the fact that it's not unheard of for things like fabric to be reused or tampered with in the intervening years.