Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Jennifer Speake

Jennifer Speake who wrote a chapter, “Jesus in Art,” in J. R. Porter’s Jesus Christ: the Jesus of History, the Christ of Faith, observed:

Famous relics that claim to bear the true imprint of Christ’s features include the controversial Shroud of Turin and the Holy Mandylion of Edessa; the iconography of both of these promoted the now conventional image of Jesus as a bearded man.

While this does support the opinion that a “promoted” conventional image emerged from these relics, it introduces two issues. First is a claim of a true imprint, whatever that means. Beyond legendary accounts, we are not ready to explore this possibility yet. We will, from those who think the image is miraculous (whatever that means) to those who think it is a natural phenomenon to those who think it is a manmade fake image. But we must first finish a survey of the history. The other issue is the idea of another image-bearing relic, one specifically tied to Edessa. Many scholars have suggested that there are two or more images: the shroud and the Image of Edessa or “Holy Mandylion of Edessa” and possibly others. Other scholars think that it is one and the same. Mandylion is a Byzantine Greek word meaning a piece of cloth with a miraculous image of Jesus, though in more modern usage the word has come to mean an icon of Jesus.