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

Saint Mary of Blachernae

Two issues emanate from this account—so much for clarity. The first of these is the reference to Saint Mary of Blachernae. The shroud (the sindon, syndoine) was, by earlier accounts not at this church but at the relic treasury in the Pharos Church at the palace. Edgar Holmes McNeal, in his translation of Robert’s work suggests:

Robert seems to have confused the sudarium (the sweat cloth or napkin, the True Image of St. Veronica) with the sindon (the grave cloth in which the body of Jesus was wrapped for entombment). (27)

However, is it not just as possible that Robert confused the Pharos Church with St. Mary’s in the same way that any of us might confuse tourist sites we have visited years ago? Robert did not write his history until after he returned from the Crusades, probably between 1206 and 1209. Or he might have confused what he saw at one place with what he saw somewhere else. There is another possibility.