1 00:00:02,417 --> 00:00:03,792 - Tonight, 2 00:00:03,792 --> 00:00:07,125 its haunting images captivated millions around the world. 3 00:00:07,125 --> 00:00:08,625 - Many people believe this is 4 00:00:08,625 --> 00:00:11,042 the cloth that wrapped Jesus of Nazareth 5 00:00:11,042 --> 00:00:12,708 after his crucifixion. 6 00:00:12,708 --> 00:00:17,208 - It is a bloodstained image that is forensically accurate. 7 00:00:17,208 --> 00:00:19,458 It's an anatomically perfect human being. 8 00:00:21,125 --> 00:00:23,750 - But is the Shroud of Turin a genuine holy relic 9 00:00:23,750 --> 00:00:26,083 or something very different? 10 00:00:26,083 --> 00:00:30,833 - The image on the shroud reflects what the Bible says 11 00:00:30,833 --> 00:00:34,917 about the beating, the torture, and the crucifixion of Christ. 12 00:00:34,917 --> 00:00:36,917 - If you look at the image carefully, 13 00:00:36,917 --> 00:00:38,875 you'll see some inconsistencies. 14 00:00:38,875 --> 00:00:40,500 - Millions of people die. 15 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:45,042 We have nothing else like this for any other human being. 16 00:00:45,042 --> 00:00:47,542 - Now, we explore the top theories 17 00:00:47,542 --> 00:00:49,667 behind the origin of one of the world's 18 00:00:49,667 --> 00:00:51,917 most mysterious objects. 19 00:00:51,917 --> 00:00:53,875 - We don't know how this image was created. 20 00:00:53,875 --> 00:00:55,500 It's not painted. 21 00:00:55,500 --> 00:00:59,833 There's no way to tell how this image ends up on the shroud. 22 00:00:59,833 --> 00:01:01,917 - To replicate the shroud image, 23 00:01:01,917 --> 00:01:04,833 you would need 14,000 lasers 24 00:01:04,833 --> 00:01:08,333 all going off instantaneously at the same time. 25 00:01:08,333 --> 00:01:10,542 - How did this image come to be? 26 00:01:10,542 --> 00:01:14,292 And is it truly an image of Jesus? 27 00:01:14,292 --> 00:01:16,583 (tense dramatic music) 28 00:01:28,958 --> 00:01:32,333 - [Laurence] Jerusalem, 33 AD. 29 00:01:32,333 --> 00:01:34,042 According to the gospels, 30 00:01:34,042 --> 00:01:36,875 after years of preaching and gathering disciples 31 00:01:36,875 --> 00:01:38,625 throughout the Holy Land, 32 00:01:38,625 --> 00:01:43,250 the life of Jesus of Nazareth reaches a pivotal moment. 33 00:01:43,250 --> 00:01:44,625 - For many Christians, 34 00:01:44,625 --> 00:01:47,125 the story of Holy Week begins with Jesus on Sunday 35 00:01:47,125 --> 00:01:50,042 entering into Jerusalem in triumph. 36 00:01:50,042 --> 00:01:53,583 Here he is in the most important city for Jews. 37 00:01:53,583 --> 00:01:54,625 He's in this temple, 38 00:01:54,625 --> 00:01:57,208 the sacred place for Jewish worship, 39 00:01:57,208 --> 00:01:59,583 and he's appalled by what he finds there. 40 00:01:59,583 --> 00:02:03,458 - The gospels have Jesus going into the temple complex 41 00:02:03,458 --> 00:02:07,208 and overturning the tables of the money changers there. 42 00:02:07,208 --> 00:02:10,667 He's condemning the abuse of people that are poor. 43 00:02:10,667 --> 00:02:12,750 He's condemning the abuse of people 44 00:02:12,750 --> 00:02:16,417 that might want to go to the temple to actually worship. 45 00:02:16,417 --> 00:02:18,375 - He says, "You've taken something 46 00:02:18,375 --> 00:02:20,458 that is holy and beautiful, 47 00:02:20,458 --> 00:02:22,792 and you've made this a den of thieves." 48 00:02:22,792 --> 00:02:25,083 - When your control is being threatened, you act. 49 00:02:25,083 --> 00:02:27,208 And so what the aristocratic priest do 50 00:02:27,208 --> 00:02:29,125 is they bring Jesus in for a hearing. 51 00:02:29,125 --> 00:02:31,292 And they're not so much interested 52 00:02:31,292 --> 00:02:33,125 in hearing what he has to say 53 00:02:33,125 --> 00:02:35,208 but imposing charges on him 54 00:02:35,208 --> 00:02:38,417 that he was threatening to damage the temple. 55 00:02:38,417 --> 00:02:40,167 - When Jesus is arrested, 56 00:02:40,167 --> 00:02:44,333 they argue that he has disrupted Judaism, 57 00:02:44,333 --> 00:02:47,208 that he is claiming to be God 58 00:02:47,208 --> 00:02:51,417 and hasn't been mindful of secular authority. 59 00:02:51,417 --> 00:02:53,208 - What Jesus is doing in Jerusalem 60 00:02:53,208 --> 00:02:55,542 is absolutely upsetting the status quo, 61 00:02:55,542 --> 00:02:58,583 and they're just not sure what to do with this guy. 62 00:02:58,583 --> 00:03:00,375 The Jewish aristocratic leadership, 63 00:03:00,375 --> 00:03:02,625 they are not the most senior members 64 00:03:02,625 --> 00:03:05,042 in the status quo power of Jerusalem, 65 00:03:05,042 --> 00:03:06,542 the Romans are, 66 00:03:06,542 --> 00:03:08,833 so they need to take Jesus to the civil authority. 67 00:03:10,208 --> 00:03:13,167 - [Laurence] The Jewish authorities arrest Jesus 68 00:03:13,167 --> 00:03:15,375 and hand him over to the Romans. 69 00:03:15,375 --> 00:03:18,375 The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, 70 00:03:18,375 --> 00:03:22,667 declares that Jesus's claim to be king amounts to treason 71 00:03:22,667 --> 00:03:26,417 and sentences him to death by crucifixion. 72 00:03:26,417 --> 00:03:30,333 - Crucifixion is not a noble form of death. 73 00:03:30,333 --> 00:03:32,583 Crucifixion is brutal. 74 00:03:32,583 --> 00:03:35,583 He was to carry his own cross 75 00:03:35,583 --> 00:03:39,125 to transport the instrument of his death 76 00:03:39,125 --> 00:03:41,458 to the location where he would die. 77 00:03:42,625 --> 00:03:46,625 His hands are nailed to the cross. 78 00:03:46,625 --> 00:03:50,042 His feet are nailed to the cross. 79 00:03:50,042 --> 00:03:51,708 - Above his head is this phrase, 80 00:03:51,708 --> 00:03:54,292 "Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews," 81 00:03:54,292 --> 00:03:57,542 crowned not with a crown but with thorns. 82 00:03:57,542 --> 00:03:59,542 This is partly punishment. 83 00:03:59,542 --> 00:04:02,375 This is partly to humiliate Jesus. 84 00:04:02,375 --> 00:04:04,833 - The Romans use crucifixion as a deterrent 85 00:04:04,833 --> 00:04:07,583 and what better deterrent than one that causes death 86 00:04:07,583 --> 00:04:10,875 in a slow, agonizing, and painful way. 87 00:04:10,875 --> 00:04:13,625 For the Romans, this is a public way of saying, 88 00:04:13,625 --> 00:04:16,292 "If you mess with us, if you mess with the Roman Empire, 89 00:04:16,292 --> 00:04:17,750 this is what will happen to you. 90 00:04:17,750 --> 00:04:21,208 You will die and you will die horribly and publicly." 91 00:04:21,208 --> 00:04:24,000 - It takes roughly six hours for Jesus to die. 92 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:25,417 Once he's dead, 93 00:04:25,417 --> 00:04:30,042 he's taken off the cross and wrapped in cloth 94 00:04:30,042 --> 00:04:33,583 and taken to a borrowed tomb. 95 00:04:33,583 --> 00:04:36,792 - Jesus' death at three o'clock in the afternoon 96 00:04:36,792 --> 00:04:39,875 means that burial needs to occur very, very quickly 97 00:04:39,875 --> 00:04:43,542 because the setting of the sun and the start of Sabbath 98 00:04:43,542 --> 00:04:45,625 is going to be on them very, very quickly. 99 00:04:45,625 --> 00:04:48,875 So there's a sense of urgency about moving Jesus' body 100 00:04:48,875 --> 00:04:52,250 from the execution site to the burial site. 101 00:04:52,250 --> 00:04:55,042 - There could be no work done on the Sabbath, 102 00:04:55,042 --> 00:04:58,458 so there was a rush to get him enshrouded and entombed. 103 00:05:00,542 --> 00:05:02,542 And that is why, of course, 104 00:05:02,542 --> 00:05:07,000 the women were returning on Sunday morning after the Sabbath 105 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,750 so that they could finish the anointing of his body. 106 00:05:11,917 --> 00:05:13,292 - What happens is, of course, 107 00:05:13,292 --> 00:05:15,708 the great event in Christianity, the resurrection. 108 00:05:15,708 --> 00:05:17,917 Jesus isn't there. His body isn't there. 109 00:05:17,917 --> 00:05:20,125 He has been resurrected. 110 00:05:20,125 --> 00:05:22,458 - All that remains is the linen cloth 111 00:05:22,458 --> 00:05:23,958 that once covered the body. 112 00:05:25,042 --> 00:05:26,625 - [Laurence] Jesus's burial cloth 113 00:05:26,625 --> 00:05:28,667 aren't mentioned again in the gospels 114 00:05:28,667 --> 00:05:30,958 and what happens to them is a mystery. 115 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,667 The next chapter in the story of the shroud 116 00:05:34,667 --> 00:05:37,958 doesn't happen for more than a thousand years. 117 00:05:37,958 --> 00:05:42,625 - The next time we see it showing up in history is 1355, 118 00:05:42,625 --> 00:05:45,458 where a Christian knight who has been part of the Crusades 119 00:05:45,458 --> 00:05:47,542 obtains this cloth, 120 00:05:47,542 --> 00:05:49,875 brings it back to his home church, 121 00:05:49,875 --> 00:05:53,375 and he claims that it is the burial shroud 122 00:05:53,375 --> 00:05:56,375 that held the body of Jesus before his resurrection. 123 00:05:56,375 --> 00:06:00,208 - Because this knight fought in the Crusades, 124 00:06:00,208 --> 00:06:02,500 there was reason for folks to believe 125 00:06:02,500 --> 00:06:05,667 that he may have been able to secure this cloth 126 00:06:05,667 --> 00:06:08,750 in the Holy Land and bring it to his church. 127 00:06:08,750 --> 00:06:10,375 - There's no good reason to suspect 128 00:06:10,375 --> 00:06:12,042 he wasn't able to find something 129 00:06:12,042 --> 00:06:15,042 while he was there in Jerusalem, in the Holy Land. 130 00:06:15,042 --> 00:06:16,958 There's obviously a direct connection between this man 131 00:06:16,958 --> 00:06:18,750 and the treasures that he may have discovered 132 00:06:18,750 --> 00:06:20,917 while he was in those Crusades. 133 00:06:20,917 --> 00:06:23,708 - [Laurence] The knight is Geoffroi de Charny 134 00:06:23,708 --> 00:06:26,083 and a close examination of the cloth 135 00:06:26,083 --> 00:06:28,542 seems to confirm his story. 136 00:06:28,542 --> 00:06:32,875 - The shroud is roughly 14 feet long, 3 feet wide, 137 00:06:32,875 --> 00:06:36,708 and it contains the image of a man who has been tortured. 138 00:06:38,250 --> 00:06:40,875 You see his front as well as his back. 139 00:06:40,875 --> 00:06:43,667 And what really captures the imagination of folks 140 00:06:43,667 --> 00:06:46,750 is that the shroud seems to contain 141 00:06:46,750 --> 00:06:49,667 a tremendous amount of blood 142 00:06:49,667 --> 00:06:52,750 in areas that would suggest crucifixion. 143 00:06:54,667 --> 00:06:58,583 The image seems to suggest that this person had been whipped 144 00:07:00,042 --> 00:07:03,292 and the blood around the head seems to suggest 145 00:07:03,292 --> 00:07:05,417 something placed on the head, 146 00:07:05,417 --> 00:07:08,208 perhaps along the lines of the crown of thorns 147 00:07:08,208 --> 00:07:10,667 the Bible says was placed on the head of Jesus. 148 00:07:10,667 --> 00:07:12,083 Wounds on the wrist, 149 00:07:12,083 --> 00:07:15,792 wounds on the feet suggest a narrative very similar 150 00:07:15,792 --> 00:07:19,833 to what we have been told about the crucifixion of Christ. 151 00:07:19,833 --> 00:07:22,292 - [Laurence] The shroud is the subject of veneration 152 00:07:22,292 --> 00:07:24,792 and speculation for many centuries. 153 00:07:24,792 --> 00:07:28,917 - This cloth comes into knowledge in 1355. 154 00:07:28,917 --> 00:07:33,542 It stays in the Charny family for about a hundred years. 155 00:07:33,542 --> 00:07:36,500 Eventually, it's sold to the House of Savoy, 156 00:07:36,500 --> 00:07:38,458 which has jurisdiction ruling 157 00:07:38,458 --> 00:07:41,208 over what is now France and Italy. 158 00:07:41,208 --> 00:07:42,917 - The Savoy family actually provides 159 00:07:42,917 --> 00:07:45,917 the perfect historical construct for us to piece together 160 00:07:45,917 --> 00:07:48,250 most of the documented history of the shroud. 161 00:07:48,250 --> 00:07:52,333 The Savoy family came into possession of the cloth in 1453. 162 00:07:52,333 --> 00:07:54,542 - The Savoy family would take it with them 163 00:07:54,542 --> 00:07:56,792 and display it in different churches over the years, 164 00:07:56,792 --> 00:07:59,375 particularly when they were still in France. 165 00:07:59,375 --> 00:08:02,625 When they moved it to Turin in 1578, 166 00:08:02,625 --> 00:08:06,458 that sort of became the seed of the Savoy family's power. 167 00:08:06,458 --> 00:08:08,500 - When the last of the House of Savoy, 168 00:08:08,500 --> 00:08:13,625 the last king of Italy, Umberto II, dies in 1983, 169 00:08:13,625 --> 00:08:17,542 he wills the shroud to the living Pope, 170 00:08:17,542 --> 00:08:20,750 who was at the time, Pope John Paul II. 171 00:08:20,750 --> 00:08:22,625 It was with the stipulation 172 00:08:22,625 --> 00:08:26,417 that the shroud would be the property of the Pope, 173 00:08:26,417 --> 00:08:28,958 whoever the Pope is, as an individual, 174 00:08:28,958 --> 00:08:32,458 and would not belong to the institutional Catholic Church. 175 00:08:33,750 --> 00:08:37,250 - [Laurence] More than 600 years after the shroud first appears, 176 00:08:37,250 --> 00:08:41,542 scientists are granted a chance to uncover the answers. 177 00:08:41,542 --> 00:08:43,500 - The shroud itself was moved 178 00:08:43,500 --> 00:08:45,833 amidst conditions of great secrecy. 179 00:08:45,833 --> 00:08:47,792 It was done at midnight, 180 00:08:47,792 --> 00:08:49,833 no cameras were allowed in, 181 00:08:49,833 --> 00:08:53,542 and the Roman Catholic priests who are the normal custodians 182 00:08:53,542 --> 00:08:56,542 took a solemn oath afterwards that the cloth, 183 00:08:56,542 --> 00:08:58,417 which was placed in the display cabinet, 184 00:08:58,417 --> 00:09:01,000 was indeed the Holy Shroud. 185 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,917 - The Shroud of Turin Research Project, or STURP, 186 00:09:04,917 --> 00:09:08,833 was a group of 33 scientists and researchers 187 00:09:08,833 --> 00:09:12,917 who came together in 1978 188 00:09:12,917 --> 00:09:16,167 to perform an in-depth scientific examination 189 00:09:16,167 --> 00:09:17,542 of the Shroud of Turin. 190 00:09:18,542 --> 00:09:21,208 - In their report, the STURP team concludes 191 00:09:21,208 --> 00:09:26,167 that there was no scientific explanation for the image 192 00:09:26,167 --> 00:09:31,042 that could be accounted for by any known scientific means. 193 00:09:31,042 --> 00:09:32,958 - [Laurence] In the decades since, 194 00:09:32,958 --> 00:09:36,000 hundreds of scientists have studied the data collected 195 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,417 by the Shroud of Turin Research Project, 196 00:09:38,417 --> 00:09:42,583 but one professor has proposed a unique explanation 197 00:09:42,583 --> 00:09:46,208 for the appearance of the image on the shroud. 198 00:09:46,208 --> 00:09:50,167 - Giovanni Fazio is a researcher out of Messina in Italy, 199 00:09:50,167 --> 00:09:52,125 and in 2015, he comes up 200 00:09:52,125 --> 00:09:54,333 with this really interesting hypothesis 201 00:09:54,333 --> 00:09:57,375 that maybe what's caused the image to appear on the shroud 202 00:09:57,375 --> 00:10:00,292 would've been on the body as it was prepared for burial. 203 00:10:00,292 --> 00:10:02,708 (tense music) 204 00:10:04,042 --> 00:10:06,083 - [Laurence] According to Fazio's theory, 205 00:10:06,083 --> 00:10:09,750 the process begins in the hours after Jesus 206 00:10:09,750 --> 00:10:12,458 is lowered from the cross. 207 00:10:12,458 --> 00:10:13,917 - Jesus was Jewish 208 00:10:13,917 --> 00:10:15,833 and traditionally in Jewish burials, 209 00:10:15,833 --> 00:10:18,542 you should be buried within 24 hours of death. 210 00:10:18,542 --> 00:10:20,958 So what you did was you used substances, 211 00:10:20,958 --> 00:10:23,625 oils, ointments, myrrh. 212 00:10:23,625 --> 00:10:28,167 You wrapped the body in cloth partly to avoid this to smell, 213 00:10:28,167 --> 00:10:31,292 partly to counter the fact you've had a decomposing body 214 00:10:31,292 --> 00:10:32,375 in the hot sun. 215 00:10:33,542 --> 00:10:34,958 - [Laurence] A biblical passage 216 00:10:34,958 --> 00:10:37,875 describes what happened with Jesus's body. 217 00:10:37,875 --> 00:10:39,167 - The gospel according to St. John 218 00:10:39,167 --> 00:10:41,667 is the one that gives us the most detail. 219 00:10:41,667 --> 00:10:43,042 - In John's gospel, 220 00:10:43,042 --> 00:10:45,042 there's an interesting character, Nicodemus, 221 00:10:45,042 --> 00:10:49,833 who brings about 75 pounds of oil, aloes, 222 00:10:49,833 --> 00:10:52,833 to help prepare Jesus's body for its burial. 223 00:10:52,833 --> 00:10:57,208 - This is enough to bury several kings. 224 00:10:57,208 --> 00:10:58,958 - [Laurence] But how could this oil 225 00:10:58,958 --> 00:11:02,667 have created the image seen on the Shroud of Turin? 226 00:11:02,667 --> 00:11:07,125 - It is possible that there can be residues left on cloths 227 00:11:07,125 --> 00:11:09,208 from certain ointments or oils, 228 00:11:09,208 --> 00:11:12,375 particularly ones that are very, very dense, 229 00:11:12,375 --> 00:11:15,083 very thick in their composition. 230 00:11:16,083 --> 00:11:18,208 - One of the really interesting things that Fazio raises 231 00:11:18,208 --> 00:11:19,792 is that if you look at the shroud, 232 00:11:19,792 --> 00:11:22,000 the image on the back is a little bit darker. 233 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,000 This makes sense, according to his theory, 234 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,542 that the person being laid on their back, 235 00:11:26,542 --> 00:11:29,042 the oils on the back would've had a lot more chance 236 00:11:29,042 --> 00:11:32,000 to absorb into the fabric of the shroud. 237 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,750 - [Laurence] It seems like a logical explanation, 238 00:11:34,750 --> 00:11:36,542 but some believe Fazio's theory 239 00:11:36,542 --> 00:11:41,542 contradicts the extensive testing done in the 1970s. 240 00:11:41,542 --> 00:11:44,875 - That Shroud of Turin Research Project 241 00:11:44,875 --> 00:11:48,375 relied heavily upon film photography, use of x-ray, 242 00:11:48,375 --> 00:11:51,167 use of microscopic imaging technologies as well, 243 00:11:51,167 --> 00:11:53,375 to examine individual fibers. 244 00:11:53,375 --> 00:11:55,542 - They were able to say from the x-ray, 245 00:11:55,542 --> 00:11:56,875 from the spectroscopy, 246 00:11:56,875 --> 00:11:58,792 from all the other analysis that they've done, 247 00:11:58,792 --> 00:12:01,708 there's no evidence of any kind of oil or perfume 248 00:12:01,708 --> 00:12:02,875 on the shroud. 249 00:12:03,875 --> 00:12:06,125 In 1532, there's a fire that breaks out 250 00:12:06,125 --> 00:12:08,375 in the chapel where the shroud was held. 251 00:12:08,375 --> 00:12:11,542 This is what Fazio thinks is the reason why there's no oil, 252 00:12:11,542 --> 00:12:14,792 that given the heat, given what happened with the fire, 253 00:12:14,792 --> 00:12:18,000 that those oils and perfumes would've evaporated. 254 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,167 - The fire may have changed the shroud 255 00:12:20,167 --> 00:12:24,458 in ways that are picked up by the scientific testing 256 00:12:24,458 --> 00:12:26,458 and warp the findings. 257 00:12:26,458 --> 00:12:29,125 - [Laurence] Despite Fazio's explanation, 258 00:12:29,125 --> 00:12:31,542 other experts remain skeptical. 259 00:12:31,542 --> 00:12:33,083 - A problem with the theory 260 00:12:33,083 --> 00:12:35,417 is that we do have cloths from that time period 261 00:12:35,417 --> 00:12:36,750 where these oils were used, 262 00:12:36,750 --> 00:12:39,250 but they don't make an image on that shroud. 263 00:12:42,958 --> 00:12:44,917 - [Laurence] The Shroud of Turin has been 264 00:12:44,917 --> 00:12:46,792 an object of fascination since its emergence 265 00:12:46,792 --> 00:12:48,667 in the mid-14th century. 266 00:12:48,667 --> 00:12:53,167 - The Savoy family gets the shroud from the Charny family. 267 00:12:53,167 --> 00:12:55,833 In 1532, there's a fire that breaks out 268 00:12:55,833 --> 00:12:58,083 in the chapel where the shroud was held. 269 00:12:58,083 --> 00:12:59,875 - It was rescued from the fire 270 00:12:59,875 --> 00:13:02,292 and the image itself was not damaged. 271 00:13:02,292 --> 00:13:04,792 But the shroud was folded into a metal reliquary 272 00:13:04,792 --> 00:13:07,250 and so the heat from the fire 273 00:13:07,250 --> 00:13:09,750 left the parallel set of scorch marks 274 00:13:09,750 --> 00:13:11,625 that run the length of the shroud. 275 00:13:11,625 --> 00:13:13,833 (tense music) 276 00:13:14,833 --> 00:13:18,292 And the Savoy family regularly displayed it. 277 00:13:18,292 --> 00:13:22,042 They would hang it from the balcony of their royal palace. 278 00:13:22,042 --> 00:13:24,417 They displayed it at royal weddings. 279 00:13:24,417 --> 00:13:28,417 And more importantly, for the provenance of it, 280 00:13:28,417 --> 00:13:30,750 every time it was publicly displayed, 281 00:13:30,750 --> 00:13:32,250 they commissioned an artwork. 282 00:13:33,208 --> 00:13:35,125 - [Laurence] The Savoy family's involvement 283 00:13:35,125 --> 00:13:39,083 kept fascination with the shroud alive for centuries, 284 00:13:39,083 --> 00:13:43,083 but the origins of its ghostly image remain a mystery. 285 00:13:43,083 --> 00:13:46,333 Burial oil stains could be one possible cause. 286 00:13:47,375 --> 00:13:50,375 But in 2003, one of the scientists 287 00:13:50,375 --> 00:13:53,792 on the 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project 288 00:13:53,792 --> 00:13:56,375 suggests a new possibility. 289 00:13:57,375 --> 00:14:00,708 - Dr. Ray Rogers is one of the original STURP team members, 290 00:14:00,708 --> 00:14:02,375 brilliant chemist who was with 291 00:14:02,375 --> 00:14:04,667 Los Alamos National Laboratories, 292 00:14:04,667 --> 00:14:06,333 and he had an interesting theory 293 00:14:06,333 --> 00:14:10,375 that this could be the product of a natural process. 294 00:14:10,375 --> 00:14:12,500 (tense music) 295 00:14:16,167 --> 00:14:17,625 - [Laurence] According to Rogers, 296 00:14:17,625 --> 00:14:21,333 the key is a phenomenon we experience when we cook. 297 00:14:21,333 --> 00:14:24,000 - Dr. Rogers thinks that the image may be caused 298 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:25,750 by the Maillard reaction, 299 00:14:25,750 --> 00:14:28,667 which has to do with a chemical reaction that happens 300 00:14:28,667 --> 00:14:33,250 when amino acids and sugars interact with heat. 301 00:14:33,250 --> 00:14:35,500 We see an example of the Maillard reaction 302 00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:37,208 when bread is baked, 303 00:14:37,208 --> 00:14:40,208 the sugars, the yeast, the amino acids in the bread 304 00:14:40,208 --> 00:14:42,167 combined with the heat of the baking 305 00:14:42,167 --> 00:14:46,250 to form that nice, crispy, brown crust on the bread. 306 00:14:46,250 --> 00:14:48,083 - The Maillard reaction is very similar 307 00:14:48,083 --> 00:14:49,625 to toasting a piece of bread. 308 00:14:49,625 --> 00:14:50,917 You get a different coloration 309 00:14:50,917 --> 00:14:52,875 on perhaps the very top of the bread. 310 00:14:52,875 --> 00:14:55,375 But you haven't done anything to change, 311 00:14:55,375 --> 00:14:58,958 in a permanent, lasting way, the bread itself. 312 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:01,375 - [Laurence] According to Rogers, 313 00:15:01,375 --> 00:15:04,292 all the necessary elements would have been present 314 00:15:04,292 --> 00:15:06,500 following Jesus's crucifixion. 315 00:15:07,875 --> 00:15:09,333 - A few hours after death, 316 00:15:09,333 --> 00:15:12,042 the body starts to break down and decomposes, 317 00:15:12,042 --> 00:15:14,917 and there's well over 30 kinds of amino acids 318 00:15:14,917 --> 00:15:17,375 that are released from the body after death. 319 00:15:17,375 --> 00:15:19,625 After you have these amino acid compounds 320 00:15:19,625 --> 00:15:20,750 coming off the body, 321 00:15:20,750 --> 00:15:22,458 what you then need is the sugar 322 00:15:22,458 --> 00:15:25,375 that has to combine to create this reaction. 323 00:15:25,375 --> 00:15:27,250 - [Laurence] Rogers believed that sugar 324 00:15:27,250 --> 00:15:29,583 comes from the cloth itself. 325 00:15:29,583 --> 00:15:31,208 - Rogers and his team, 326 00:15:31,208 --> 00:15:34,208 when they were looking at the composition of the shroud, 327 00:15:34,208 --> 00:15:36,708 realized that in ancient times, 328 00:15:36,708 --> 00:15:39,708 they would've used flowers to make the linen, 329 00:15:39,708 --> 00:15:42,083 and this particular kind of flower, Saponaria, 330 00:15:42,083 --> 00:15:43,875 that has a fairly high sugar content. 331 00:15:43,875 --> 00:15:45,875 So the sugar that the amino acids 332 00:15:45,875 --> 00:15:47,208 would've been in touch with 333 00:15:47,208 --> 00:15:50,167 would've been in the fabric of the shroud itself. 334 00:15:50,167 --> 00:15:54,958 - Rogers had a theory where he suggested that the cloth 335 00:15:54,958 --> 00:15:58,500 was soaked in a solution from the soapweed plant, 336 00:15:58,500 --> 00:16:02,250 and it acts as a preservative and a fungicide 337 00:16:02,250 --> 00:16:06,667 but it would leave a very thin sugar compound layer 338 00:16:06,667 --> 00:16:08,458 all over the cloth. 339 00:16:08,458 --> 00:16:10,333 - [Laurence] With two of the three conditions met, 340 00:16:10,333 --> 00:16:12,500 Roger's next turns to identifying 341 00:16:12,500 --> 00:16:15,583 a possible source of heat in the cave. 342 00:16:15,583 --> 00:16:17,208 - After death, when a body decomposes, 343 00:16:17,208 --> 00:16:18,542 you see a temperature spike. 344 00:16:18,542 --> 00:16:21,125 It may go as high as 106 degrees, 345 00:16:21,125 --> 00:16:23,833 especially if the person has died of dehydration. 346 00:16:23,833 --> 00:16:25,333 What's interesting here 347 00:16:25,333 --> 00:16:27,083 is that we know that Jesus would've been dehydrated 348 00:16:27,083 --> 00:16:28,708 from his time on the cross, 349 00:16:28,708 --> 00:16:31,458 so it makes sense that his body would've been able to reach 350 00:16:31,458 --> 00:16:34,458 that kind of temperature after death. 351 00:16:34,458 --> 00:16:36,125 There would've been just enough heat 352 00:16:36,125 --> 00:16:37,917 combining with amino acids released 353 00:16:37,917 --> 00:16:39,292 from that decomposing body 354 00:16:39,292 --> 00:16:41,958 mixing with the sugars in the shroud 355 00:16:41,958 --> 00:16:44,417 to create that brown image. 356 00:16:44,417 --> 00:16:47,125 - [Laurence] Rogers and his team conduct an experiment 357 00:16:47,125 --> 00:16:49,625 to test the hypothesis. 358 00:16:49,625 --> 00:16:52,125 - Dr. Rogers realized you can't use modern linen, 359 00:16:52,125 --> 00:16:53,625 which is bleached, which is treated, 360 00:16:53,625 --> 00:16:56,750 so he was able to find people who used techniques 361 00:16:56,750 --> 00:16:58,208 that go back 2,000 years 362 00:16:58,208 --> 00:17:00,958 to create the kind of cloth that would've been used 363 00:17:00,958 --> 00:17:02,625 at the time of Jesus's burial. 364 00:17:02,625 --> 00:17:05,292 Using cloth that was made in that traditional way, 365 00:17:05,292 --> 00:17:07,833 Rogers subjected it to ammonia vapors, 366 00:17:07,833 --> 00:17:09,375 which would've simulated gases 367 00:17:09,375 --> 00:17:12,542 that would've been coming off of a body. 368 00:17:12,542 --> 00:17:15,583 They turned up the heat to about 106 degrees 369 00:17:15,583 --> 00:17:18,292 and they were able to get the same kind of darker color 370 00:17:18,292 --> 00:17:20,500 that shows up on the Shroud of Turin. 371 00:17:20,500 --> 00:17:23,042 - [Laurence] Biophysicist John DeSalvo 372 00:17:23,042 --> 00:17:26,583 contends there could be another agent at work: 373 00:17:26,583 --> 00:17:27,917 human sweat. 374 00:17:27,917 --> 00:17:29,458 - John DeSalvo realized 375 00:17:29,458 --> 00:17:31,417 that someone who died in the way that Jesus did, 376 00:17:31,417 --> 00:17:33,583 his body would've been covered with sweat. 377 00:17:33,583 --> 00:17:35,583 And that's where you get the organic compounds 378 00:17:35,583 --> 00:17:38,250 that are able to make these kinds of images. 379 00:17:38,250 --> 00:17:39,500 This also helps to explain 380 00:17:39,500 --> 00:17:41,542 some of the coloration on the shroud, 381 00:17:41,542 --> 00:17:45,042 the darker areas were where the sweat was in direct contact 382 00:17:45,042 --> 00:17:46,375 with the shroud. 383 00:17:46,375 --> 00:17:49,250 - There's a correlation between the density 384 00:17:49,250 --> 00:17:51,417 or the darkness of the image on the shroud 385 00:17:51,417 --> 00:17:54,333 and the distance it would've been from the body. 386 00:17:54,333 --> 00:17:56,292 So whether it was direct contact, 387 00:17:56,292 --> 00:17:57,708 the image on the shroud, 388 00:17:57,708 --> 00:17:59,125 tip of the nose, top of the hands, 389 00:17:59,125 --> 00:18:00,708 the image is darkest. 390 00:18:00,708 --> 00:18:04,750 As the distance increases up to about 3 1/2 centimeters, 391 00:18:04,750 --> 00:18:07,208 the image grows more faint. 392 00:18:07,208 --> 00:18:09,208 - So what you have is the sweat sort of evaporating, 393 00:18:09,208 --> 00:18:11,458 not literally being absorbed into the shroud, 394 00:18:11,458 --> 00:18:13,292 so you have this interesting image 395 00:18:13,292 --> 00:18:15,167 of these light and dark areas. 396 00:18:16,042 --> 00:18:17,208 - [Laurence] But critics say 397 00:18:17,208 --> 00:18:20,208 there are still many unanswered questions. 398 00:18:20,208 --> 00:18:22,458 - The Maillard reaction hypothesis 399 00:18:22,458 --> 00:18:23,958 is interesting and intriguing 400 00:18:23,958 --> 00:18:28,042 in that it can reproduce an image. 401 00:18:28,042 --> 00:18:30,583 It leaves an after effect, 402 00:18:30,583 --> 00:18:34,583 but it does not produce something that is complex 403 00:18:34,583 --> 00:18:36,625 as the image on the shroud. 404 00:18:36,625 --> 00:18:39,125 - On the shroud, you see the detail of the hair, 405 00:18:39,125 --> 00:18:41,208 the eyes, the areas of the face 406 00:18:41,208 --> 00:18:42,500 that weren't directly touching the shroud. 407 00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:44,208 You don't get that kind of detail 408 00:18:44,208 --> 00:18:46,042 with this sort of reaction. 409 00:18:46,042 --> 00:18:47,542 - Millions of people die. 410 00:18:47,542 --> 00:18:49,875 Millions of people have been enshrouded, 411 00:18:49,875 --> 00:18:51,583 their bodies decompose. 412 00:18:51,583 --> 00:18:55,583 We have nothing else like this for any other human being. 413 00:18:57,875 --> 00:18:59,125 their bodies decompose.) 414 00:18:59,542 --> 00:19:02,542 - [Laurence] Jesus's burial cloth is lost for centuries, 415 00:19:02,542 --> 00:19:05,833 until it turns up with Geoffroi de Charny 416 00:19:05,833 --> 00:19:07,750 in medieval France. 417 00:19:07,750 --> 00:19:10,875 - We do not have a record of de Charny acquiring the shroud. 418 00:19:10,875 --> 00:19:13,500 We do not know how he came to possess it. 419 00:19:13,500 --> 00:19:15,542 We know that he comes from a chivalrous family. 420 00:19:15,542 --> 00:19:18,792 There have been a lot of historical assumptions made 421 00:19:18,792 --> 00:19:21,958 that perhaps he had been a crusader. 422 00:19:21,958 --> 00:19:23,542 - [Laurence] For centuries, 423 00:19:23,542 --> 00:19:26,792 it's assumed de Charny found the shroud in Jerusalem. 424 00:19:26,792 --> 00:19:31,458 In 1997, two scholars bring that assumption into question. 425 00:19:31,458 --> 00:19:34,458 - Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight have a theory 426 00:19:34,458 --> 00:19:38,542 that yes, the shroud is evidence of a crucifixion. 427 00:19:38,542 --> 00:19:40,375 Yes, it is a burial cloth, 428 00:19:40,375 --> 00:19:42,292 but not for the figure you think. 429 00:19:42,292 --> 00:19:44,500 (tense music) 430 00:19:48,458 --> 00:19:51,167 - After the Christians reconquered Jerusalem 431 00:19:51,167 --> 00:19:52,458 during the Crusades, 432 00:19:52,458 --> 00:19:55,292 you have the creation of the Knights Templar. 433 00:19:55,292 --> 00:19:57,958 This, in order to help protect Christian pilgrims 434 00:19:57,958 --> 00:19:59,792 as they're going to the Holy Land 435 00:19:59,792 --> 00:20:03,250 to visit these places that are so important to Christians. 436 00:20:03,250 --> 00:20:04,833 - The Templars took their name 437 00:20:04,833 --> 00:20:06,958 from where their barracks were located, 438 00:20:06,958 --> 00:20:10,208 on the grounds of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. 439 00:20:10,208 --> 00:20:12,250 And after the first Crusade, 440 00:20:12,250 --> 00:20:15,208 they actually became a quite wealthy order. 441 00:20:15,208 --> 00:20:18,042 - They developed a complex banking system 442 00:20:18,042 --> 00:20:21,917 and developed a network of fortresses across Europe. 443 00:20:21,917 --> 00:20:27,375 They were powerful and reported only to the Pope. 444 00:20:27,375 --> 00:20:29,500 - [Laurence] But by the 14th century, 445 00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:32,583 the Templar's power and prestige are declining 446 00:20:32,583 --> 00:20:34,875 and they've made a powerful enemy: 447 00:20:34,875 --> 00:20:37,083 King Philip IV of France. 448 00:20:37,083 --> 00:20:41,333 - King Philip IV, who was indebted to the Knights Templar, 449 00:20:41,333 --> 00:20:42,917 had borrowed money. 450 00:20:42,917 --> 00:20:44,750 Rather than paying it back, 451 00:20:44,750 --> 00:20:46,875 argued that they were heretics 452 00:20:46,875 --> 00:20:49,458 that did not practice the faith properly 453 00:20:49,458 --> 00:20:51,625 and that the Pope should end them. 454 00:20:52,958 --> 00:20:55,667 - Philip is, I think, concerned that the Knights Templar 455 00:20:55,667 --> 00:20:58,250 are so powerful, they're wealthy. 456 00:20:58,250 --> 00:21:00,333 Moreover, he's indebted to them. 457 00:21:00,333 --> 00:21:02,667 He's gone for the Knights Templar to get money 458 00:21:02,667 --> 00:21:05,250 to help support his wars against England. 459 00:21:05,250 --> 00:21:07,208 So he owes the Knights Templar money 460 00:21:07,208 --> 00:21:08,875 and he sees them as a threat. 461 00:21:08,875 --> 00:21:11,083 What better way to get rid of the threat 462 00:21:11,083 --> 00:21:12,500 and also to cancel your debt 463 00:21:12,500 --> 00:21:14,833 than to declare them as heretics? 464 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,625 - [Laurence] In 1307, 465 00:21:17,625 --> 00:21:20,375 King Philip has Templar leader, Jacques de Molay, 466 00:21:20,375 --> 00:21:23,708 arrested on blasphemy and heresy charges. 467 00:21:23,708 --> 00:21:27,292 de Molay is forced to face the French Inquisition. 468 00:21:27,292 --> 00:21:28,708 - King Philip thought 469 00:21:28,708 --> 00:21:32,667 this punishment should involve crucifixion. 470 00:21:32,667 --> 00:21:35,542 - The inquisitors would've done to Jacque de Molay 471 00:21:35,542 --> 00:21:37,208 what had been done to Jesus, 472 00:21:37,208 --> 00:21:41,208 that he's stripped naked, he's scourged, he's whipped, 473 00:21:41,208 --> 00:21:43,542 the crown of thorns put on his head. 474 00:21:43,542 --> 00:21:45,542 - [Laurence] But Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight 475 00:21:45,542 --> 00:21:48,875 see evidence of something different in the shroud. 476 00:21:48,875 --> 00:21:51,875 - The position of the arms is not identical 477 00:21:51,875 --> 00:21:56,375 to the description of how Jesus is hung on the cross. 478 00:21:56,375 --> 00:21:59,042 The legs are also positioned differently. 479 00:22:00,250 --> 00:22:02,167 - The book's authors hypothesized 480 00:22:02,167 --> 00:22:03,958 that the pattern on the shroud 481 00:22:03,958 --> 00:22:05,542 isn't from someone who's crucified 482 00:22:05,542 --> 00:22:06,875 in a normal kind of way, 483 00:22:06,875 --> 00:22:08,500 with their arms stretched outright. 484 00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:11,042 It's someone who's crucified very differently. 485 00:22:11,042 --> 00:22:12,458 And in this case, 486 00:22:12,458 --> 00:22:14,542 the pattern seems to match someone who's crucified 487 00:22:14,542 --> 00:22:16,875 with their right arm above their head bent 488 00:22:16,875 --> 00:22:19,458 and their left arm stretched out on the side 489 00:22:19,458 --> 00:22:21,042 as if they're placed on a door. 490 00:22:21,042 --> 00:22:23,167 And this would be the convenient way to do this 491 00:22:23,167 --> 00:22:24,792 if you don't have a cross. 492 00:22:26,042 --> 00:22:29,250 - The crucifixion of the leader of the Knights Templar 493 00:22:29,250 --> 00:22:31,583 was not meant to kill him. 494 00:22:31,583 --> 00:22:33,917 It was meant to produce enough pain 495 00:22:33,917 --> 00:22:38,375 to get him to admit he was a heretic and to recant. 496 00:22:38,375 --> 00:22:40,458 And it did just that. 497 00:22:40,458 --> 00:22:42,042 - [Laurence] After the confession, 498 00:22:42,042 --> 00:22:45,375 the inquisitors have one final humiliation 499 00:22:45,375 --> 00:22:47,208 left for de Molay. 500 00:22:47,208 --> 00:22:48,833 - For the inquisitor, 501 00:22:48,833 --> 00:22:51,583 wrapping this knight in a shroud 502 00:22:51,583 --> 00:22:54,708 was meant to amplify the embarrassment, 503 00:22:54,708 --> 00:22:57,417 to amplify the humiliation. 504 00:22:57,417 --> 00:23:00,500 He's left wrapped in that shroud for 24 hours, 505 00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:03,500 long enough for the blood and the sweat 506 00:23:03,500 --> 00:23:05,500 to soak in to the shroud 507 00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:07,542 and produce the image that we now see. 508 00:23:08,500 --> 00:23:10,250 - [Laurence] Despite his ordeal, 509 00:23:10,250 --> 00:23:12,208 de Molay lives another seven years, 510 00:23:12,208 --> 00:23:16,458 only to be burned at the stake for renouncing his confession. 511 00:23:16,458 --> 00:23:18,542 But what happened to the shroud? 512 00:23:19,750 --> 00:23:23,542 - Jacques de Molay is tortured in 1307. 513 00:23:23,542 --> 00:23:24,917 The hypothesis from the authors 514 00:23:24,917 --> 00:23:27,375 is that there's a Templar, Jean de Charny, 515 00:23:27,375 --> 00:23:30,708 who takes this shroud and keeps it. 516 00:23:30,708 --> 00:23:33,042 What's interesting is Jean de Charny 517 00:23:33,042 --> 00:23:36,208 is the grandfather of Geoffroi de Charny, 518 00:23:36,208 --> 00:23:38,667 who's the one that we know in 1355, 519 00:23:38,667 --> 00:23:40,667 first brings the shroud to our attention. 520 00:23:44,167 --> 00:23:46,542 - The haunting image on the Shroud of Turin 521 00:23:46,542 --> 00:23:48,458 has been an enigma since the day 522 00:23:48,458 --> 00:23:52,542 it was first publicly unveiled 700 years ago. 523 00:23:52,542 --> 00:23:54,708 And while millions are convinced 524 00:23:54,708 --> 00:23:57,125 it's the imprinted image of Jesus, 525 00:23:57,125 --> 00:24:01,125 the shroud's authenticity remains in debate. 526 00:24:01,125 --> 00:24:05,125 Historians often cite one big question 527 00:24:05,125 --> 00:24:07,250 as a reason for doubt: 528 00:24:07,250 --> 00:24:09,292 why was it missing for so long? 529 00:24:10,292 --> 00:24:14,542 - The 14th century is a long way away from the event itself, 530 00:24:14,542 --> 00:24:15,833 in the first century. 531 00:24:15,833 --> 00:24:18,000 You know, you're talking about 1,300 years. 532 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,583 You would think, if this were important to the story, 533 00:24:20,583 --> 00:24:22,958 it was important to communicating that story, 534 00:24:22,958 --> 00:24:25,583 it would've shown up somewhere. 535 00:24:25,583 --> 00:24:27,042 And it simply doesn't. 536 00:24:28,208 --> 00:24:29,625 - [Laurence] Skeptics also note 537 00:24:29,625 --> 00:24:31,958 that the shroud may not match the description 538 00:24:31,958 --> 00:24:35,042 of Jesus's burial cloth in the Bible. 539 00:24:35,042 --> 00:24:38,958 - In the earliest accounts, we do have cloth mentioned, 540 00:24:38,958 --> 00:24:40,875 and not in the singular but plural. 541 00:24:40,875 --> 00:24:44,542 We have cloths that are mentioned. 542 00:24:44,542 --> 00:24:46,167 - When you're looking at the Shroud of Turin, 543 00:24:46,167 --> 00:24:48,125 you're looking at one long piece of cloth, 544 00:24:48,125 --> 00:24:51,333 14 feet long, that covers the entire body. 545 00:24:51,333 --> 00:24:53,917 But these would've been several pieces of cloth, 546 00:24:53,917 --> 00:24:55,875 according to the biblical accounts. 547 00:24:55,875 --> 00:24:58,750 - [Laurence] And there appear to be inconsistencies 548 00:24:58,750 --> 00:25:00,958 in the imagery itself. 549 00:25:00,958 --> 00:25:04,708 - The front and the back don't line up. 550 00:25:04,708 --> 00:25:07,625 If this were actually the imprint of Jesus, 551 00:25:07,625 --> 00:25:09,458 wouldn't those line up? 552 00:25:09,458 --> 00:25:11,667 - If the shroud was wrapped over Jesus 553 00:25:11,667 --> 00:25:13,750 and you have the image of the front and the back, 554 00:25:13,750 --> 00:25:15,792 why is it these images are two different lengths? 555 00:25:15,792 --> 00:25:18,250 It means that his front side is a different length 556 00:25:18,250 --> 00:25:19,667 than his backside. 557 00:25:19,667 --> 00:25:21,708 - [Laurence] There is one possible explanation, 558 00:25:21,708 --> 00:25:25,000 one that would shatter a long-held illusion. 559 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,083 (tense music) 560 00:25:30,750 --> 00:25:32,375 - The sudden appearance of the shroud 561 00:25:32,375 --> 00:25:35,875 coincides with a period in which relics are important. 562 00:25:35,875 --> 00:25:37,458 You have all sorts of relics, 563 00:25:37,458 --> 00:25:39,875 you have all sorts of churches that have things on display 564 00:25:39,875 --> 00:25:42,042 that they claim to connect back to Jesus 565 00:25:42,042 --> 00:25:43,917 or the early Christian community. 566 00:25:43,917 --> 00:25:46,542 Relics play an important part in the church. 567 00:25:46,542 --> 00:25:48,667 People come to give money to visit these, 568 00:25:48,667 --> 00:25:50,208 people donate for this, 569 00:25:50,208 --> 00:25:53,208 and so this is a source of revenue for the church. 570 00:25:53,208 --> 00:25:55,667 But we know that relics can be faked. 571 00:25:55,667 --> 00:25:58,250 - If you stood to benefit financially 572 00:25:58,250 --> 00:26:00,000 from relics in general, 573 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,583 you stood to benefit extraordinarily 574 00:26:02,583 --> 00:26:04,500 from a relic like the Shroud of Turin. 575 00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:10,208 - I think that it is proper for anyone to be suspicious 576 00:26:10,208 --> 00:26:14,708 about any relic that has a footprint in the Middle Ages. 577 00:26:15,875 --> 00:26:18,667 In an age when you could go into a pasture 578 00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:21,042 and pick up the bone of a cow 579 00:26:21,042 --> 00:26:24,458 and pass it off as the femur of a saint, 580 00:26:24,458 --> 00:26:29,083 I think we are right to be suspicious about anything 581 00:26:30,042 --> 00:26:32,500 that we can even link to the Middle Ages. 582 00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:34,667 - [Laurence] When the French knight, Geoffroi de Charny, 583 00:26:34,667 --> 00:26:38,750 first appears with the shroud about 1355, 584 00:26:38,750 --> 00:26:41,333 it immediately goes on display in his church. 585 00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:44,167 - If you wanted to encourage pilgrims 586 00:26:44,167 --> 00:26:46,583 to come to your church, to come to your abbey, 587 00:26:46,583 --> 00:26:47,833 to come to your village, 588 00:26:47,833 --> 00:26:49,500 it was important that you have a relic. 589 00:26:49,500 --> 00:26:53,792 Hence, the proliferation of relics in an age when perhaps, 590 00:26:53,792 --> 00:26:56,750 I think it's fair to say, that in many occasions, 591 00:26:56,750 --> 00:27:00,000 the supply might have outstripped the demand. 592 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,042 - If relics are like trading cards, 593 00:27:02,042 --> 00:27:03,542 they're not all of the same value. 594 00:27:03,542 --> 00:27:04,750 And there are some relics 595 00:27:04,750 --> 00:27:06,375 that are going to be of minor value 596 00:27:06,375 --> 00:27:09,917 and some that are of extraordinarily major value, 597 00:27:09,917 --> 00:27:12,708 and I gotta put a relic like the Shroud of Turin 598 00:27:12,708 --> 00:27:14,875 at the top of that list. 599 00:27:14,875 --> 00:27:16,667 - [Laurence] Even at the outset, 600 00:27:16,667 --> 00:27:19,583 not everyone's convinced it's the real thing. 601 00:27:19,583 --> 00:27:23,000 - In 1389, Bishop Pierre d'Arcis, 602 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,625 of the Diocese of Troyes in France, 603 00:27:25,625 --> 00:27:29,792 writes to Pope Clement VII in Avignon 604 00:27:29,792 --> 00:27:32,125 that he knows that this shroud 605 00:27:32,125 --> 00:27:34,750 that is being displayed in Liray 606 00:27:34,750 --> 00:27:37,792 is in fact an artwork. 607 00:27:37,792 --> 00:27:40,042 He claims he knows the artists. 608 00:27:40,042 --> 00:27:43,625 He claims that this is an exhibition 609 00:27:43,625 --> 00:27:45,958 that needs to be stopped immediately. 610 00:27:45,958 --> 00:27:48,208 - He's saying that this is a forgery, 611 00:27:48,208 --> 00:27:50,583 that an artist has confessed to painting 612 00:27:50,583 --> 00:27:52,375 this image on the shroud. 613 00:27:52,375 --> 00:27:54,042 d'Arcis is scandalized, 614 00:27:54,042 --> 00:27:56,750 and his letter to Pope Clement talks about 615 00:27:56,750 --> 00:27:58,375 how scandalized he is 616 00:27:58,375 --> 00:28:00,375 by these pilgrims who've been swindled, 617 00:28:00,375 --> 00:28:02,625 where this money has been rung out of them 618 00:28:02,625 --> 00:28:04,417 under false pretenses. 619 00:28:04,417 --> 00:28:08,208 In the 1300s, crucifixion paintings were quite popular, 620 00:28:08,208 --> 00:28:10,333 so there's no surprise here to think 621 00:28:10,333 --> 00:28:13,167 that someone might have painted this image 622 00:28:13,167 --> 00:28:14,958 and that it would've been used 623 00:28:14,958 --> 00:28:16,875 to raise funds for the church. 624 00:28:17,792 --> 00:28:19,750 - [Laurence] Was the Bishop right? 625 00:28:19,750 --> 00:28:21,875 Is the shroud a painting? 626 00:28:21,875 --> 00:28:26,250 It will take nearly 600 years to get an answer. 627 00:28:26,250 --> 00:28:27,833 - The Shroud of Turin Research Project 628 00:28:27,833 --> 00:28:31,375 was given access to the shroud in 1978 629 00:28:31,375 --> 00:28:34,833 and they were allowed to analyze it 'round the clock. 630 00:28:34,833 --> 00:28:36,667 - [Laurence] After a battery of tests, 631 00:28:36,667 --> 00:28:39,583 the research team releases its findings. 632 00:28:39,583 --> 00:28:41,125 - Painting, in the High Middle Ages 633 00:28:41,125 --> 00:28:42,792 and certainly by the time of the Late Middle Ages, 634 00:28:42,792 --> 00:28:45,125 was a highly developed craft 635 00:28:45,125 --> 00:28:47,250 and we know a lot about the pigments and dyes 636 00:28:47,250 --> 00:28:50,208 that were used in those processes. 637 00:28:50,208 --> 00:28:52,208 But the Shroud of Turin Research Project 638 00:28:52,208 --> 00:28:55,708 demonstrated conclusively, in peer reviewed science, 639 00:28:55,708 --> 00:28:59,417 that there is not a trace of a pigment, or a dye, or a paint 640 00:28:59,417 --> 00:29:00,958 on that linen anywhere. 641 00:29:00,958 --> 00:29:02,208 - The research team concluded 642 00:29:02,208 --> 00:29:04,708 that they don't know how this image got there. 643 00:29:04,708 --> 00:29:08,250 It wasn't paint, the bloodstains are real. 644 00:29:08,250 --> 00:29:10,708 They don't know how that image got there. 645 00:29:10,708 --> 00:29:12,500 They don't know how the blood got there. 646 00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:17,375 - In an age when relics did not have to be sophisticated, 647 00:29:17,375 --> 00:29:20,833 in an age when people did not ask the questions 648 00:29:20,833 --> 00:29:23,375 that the modern mind asks, 649 00:29:23,375 --> 00:29:28,083 why did this image have to be that sophisticated? 650 00:29:29,042 --> 00:29:30,875 And how, importantly, 651 00:29:30,875 --> 00:29:33,375 did that image get there in the first place? 652 00:29:37,167 --> 00:29:40,208 - [Laurence] For centuries, visitors to the Shroud of Turin 653 00:29:40,208 --> 00:29:42,417 were only able to see a faint image 654 00:29:42,417 --> 00:29:46,542 of what is allegedly Jesus after the crucifixion. 655 00:29:46,542 --> 00:29:49,208 But with the advent of modern photography, 656 00:29:49,208 --> 00:29:52,375 the shroud would reveal yet another secret. 657 00:29:53,375 --> 00:29:56,667 Barrie Schwortz was the official documenting photographer 658 00:29:56,667 --> 00:30:01,125 for the Shroud of Turin Research Project in 1978. 659 00:30:01,125 --> 00:30:02,625 - So in its early days, 660 00:30:02,625 --> 00:30:05,750 there were people of faith who were aware of the shroud. 661 00:30:05,750 --> 00:30:07,083 Science, on the other hand, 662 00:30:07,083 --> 00:30:09,167 I don't think was very interested 663 00:30:09,167 --> 00:30:12,542 until 1898 when the first photograph of the shroud 664 00:30:12,542 --> 00:30:14,167 was permitted. 665 00:30:14,167 --> 00:30:17,875 Italian lawyer and amateur photographer named Secondo Pia 666 00:30:17,875 --> 00:30:20,000 made this first photograph of the shroud 667 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,083 and that ushered in the beginning 668 00:30:22,083 --> 00:30:25,917 of the scientific era of shroud study. 669 00:30:25,917 --> 00:30:27,542 - [Laurence] When Secondo Pia 670 00:30:27,542 --> 00:30:30,833 develops his photographic plates of the Shroud of Turin, 671 00:30:30,833 --> 00:30:32,542 he's shocked by what he sees. 672 00:30:32,542 --> 00:30:34,208 (pensive music) 673 00:30:34,208 --> 00:30:36,167 - Of course, not knowing that it was 674 00:30:36,167 --> 00:30:37,708 going to spark a controversy, 675 00:30:37,708 --> 00:30:41,875 he went into the dark room to process his glass plate. 676 00:30:41,875 --> 00:30:43,542 This is 19th century photography, 677 00:30:43,542 --> 00:30:46,667 so we're talking about a prolonged process. 678 00:30:46,667 --> 00:30:48,292 - And it was that moment 679 00:30:48,292 --> 00:30:51,458 when he processed that glass plate and held it up 680 00:30:51,458 --> 00:30:54,458 that the image on the shroud itself is a negative 681 00:30:54,458 --> 00:30:56,833 and when inverted, he had a much more 682 00:30:56,833 --> 00:30:59,250 natural-looking result in his hands 683 00:30:59,250 --> 00:31:01,417 than what was on the cloth itself. 684 00:31:01,417 --> 00:31:03,667 - It's one of those really interesting paradoxes 685 00:31:03,667 --> 00:31:05,208 that if you look at the shroud, 686 00:31:05,208 --> 00:31:06,875 you don't see the detail. 687 00:31:06,875 --> 00:31:08,250 If you look in the negative, 688 00:31:08,250 --> 00:31:11,875 you see the detail of the face, of the beard. 689 00:31:11,875 --> 00:31:13,750 It's almost as if this was meant to be seen 690 00:31:13,750 --> 00:31:15,750 in a photograph of the image, 691 00:31:15,750 --> 00:31:17,500 not the image itself. 692 00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:19,708 - [Laurence] It's as if the shroud itself 693 00:31:19,708 --> 00:31:21,375 is a photographic negative, 694 00:31:21,375 --> 00:31:24,000 a concept that boggles the mind. 695 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:25,708 - There's no precedent for it. 696 00:31:25,708 --> 00:31:27,208 There isn't another image 697 00:31:27,208 --> 00:31:30,292 that I've seen in my 50-year professional experience 698 00:31:30,292 --> 00:31:32,708 that even comes close to having these properties. 699 00:31:32,708 --> 00:31:35,083 (tense music) 700 00:31:38,250 --> 00:31:40,500 We know that photography 701 00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:44,708 didn't exist until about 1826 or 1827. 702 00:31:44,708 --> 00:31:48,375 Consequently, there was no way that someone in medieval times 703 00:31:48,375 --> 00:31:51,125 could have created a photographic image. 704 00:31:51,125 --> 00:31:54,667 On the other hand, artists back in medieval times 705 00:31:54,667 --> 00:31:57,792 did use a technique called camera obscura. 706 00:31:57,792 --> 00:32:00,125 So what they did was they would make a little hole 707 00:32:00,125 --> 00:32:01,833 at one end of the room 708 00:32:01,833 --> 00:32:03,833 and put, say, a canvas at the other end, 709 00:32:03,833 --> 00:32:06,292 and the hole acted like a lens 710 00:32:06,292 --> 00:32:09,792 to focus what was outside that camera obscura onto that 711 00:32:09,792 --> 00:32:12,875 and then the artist could then paint or illustrate 712 00:32:12,875 --> 00:32:15,292 what the camera was pointing at. 713 00:32:15,292 --> 00:32:16,958 - Camera obscura is ancient. 714 00:32:16,958 --> 00:32:19,375 I mean, we do know it from the ancient texts. 715 00:32:19,375 --> 00:32:21,292 It is a very simple principle. 716 00:32:22,292 --> 00:32:25,792 - The earliest evidence we have of a camera obscura 717 00:32:25,792 --> 00:32:29,083 is by a Chinese writer, Mo Tzu. 718 00:32:29,083 --> 00:32:30,917 The ancient Greeks knew about this. 719 00:32:30,917 --> 00:32:32,792 And so in the medieval world, 720 00:32:32,792 --> 00:32:34,208 certainly even in the first century, 721 00:32:34,208 --> 00:32:36,708 people would've known about this. 722 00:32:36,708 --> 00:32:40,250 - [Laurence] In 1993, art historian Nicholas Allen 723 00:32:40,250 --> 00:32:42,083 proposes a radical theory: 724 00:32:42,083 --> 00:32:44,750 a medieval forger could have used an ancient technique 725 00:32:44,750 --> 00:32:47,042 known as camera obscure 726 00:32:47,042 --> 00:32:49,708 to create the world's first photograph. 727 00:32:49,708 --> 00:32:52,167 - In order to make the cloth photo sensitive, 728 00:32:52,167 --> 00:32:55,417 you would have to coat it with silver nitrate. 729 00:32:57,042 --> 00:32:59,083 - You would've coated the cloth with this 730 00:32:59,083 --> 00:33:01,417 and then when light hits the cloth, 731 00:33:01,417 --> 00:33:04,458 it would expose the silver nitrate and leave a dark pattern 732 00:33:04,458 --> 00:33:06,792 like the negative on a photograph. 733 00:33:06,792 --> 00:33:08,167 - [Laurence] Theoretically, 734 00:33:08,167 --> 00:33:09,875 the chemicals needed to produce an image 735 00:33:09,875 --> 00:33:12,375 were available in the Middle Ages. 736 00:33:12,375 --> 00:33:16,250 But when analyzed, the cloth was missing one vital element. 737 00:33:17,375 --> 00:33:20,500 - We were looking for silver nitrate on the shroud, 738 00:33:20,500 --> 00:33:23,167 and we could detect one part per billion, 739 00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:25,708 and we didn't find any silver anywhere on the shroud. 740 00:33:25,708 --> 00:33:30,042 Nicholas Allen says he soaked his cloth in a silver solution 741 00:33:30,042 --> 00:33:32,958 to create his light-sensitive emulsion, 742 00:33:32,958 --> 00:33:36,042 so they would be permeated with silver. 743 00:33:36,042 --> 00:33:39,625 We found zero silver anywhere on the shroud. 744 00:33:39,625 --> 00:33:42,083 - [Laurence] What would prompt a medieval inventor 745 00:33:42,083 --> 00:33:45,333 to create an image like the shroud? 746 00:33:45,333 --> 00:33:48,417 - There's no evidence that anyone used the camera obscura 747 00:33:48,417 --> 00:33:51,042 in the fashion that Nicholas Allen proposes. 748 00:33:51,042 --> 00:33:52,375 And if he had, 749 00:33:52,375 --> 00:33:54,875 I think we'd be seeing a lot more examples of it. 750 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,167 - Art history itself tells us 751 00:33:58,167 --> 00:34:01,458 that this is not something that some medieval artist 752 00:34:01,458 --> 00:34:04,667 would've even thought to do or even cared to do 753 00:34:04,667 --> 00:34:09,042 when a simpler attempt at depicting Jesus on a cross 754 00:34:09,042 --> 00:34:10,542 would've been plenty acceptable 755 00:34:10,542 --> 00:34:13,917 by everybody in the medieval world anyway. 756 00:34:13,917 --> 00:34:15,542 - What's the motivation 757 00:34:15,542 --> 00:34:19,000 for creating something that's a pious fraud on the public? 758 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:20,375 I can make money from it. 759 00:34:20,375 --> 00:34:24,125 I become more prestigious because of it. 760 00:34:24,125 --> 00:34:27,333 I have a souvenir that no one else has. 761 00:34:27,333 --> 00:34:29,667 There's a lot of things that could motivate 762 00:34:29,667 --> 00:34:33,250 the development of something like the Shroud of Turin. 763 00:34:33,250 --> 00:34:35,542 Did they? That's the question. 764 00:34:39,208 --> 00:34:41,625 - [Laurence] In 1988, the Shroud of Turin undergoes 765 00:34:41,625 --> 00:34:45,458 what many consider to be a definitive analysis. 766 00:34:45,458 --> 00:34:49,375 These carbon dating tests make headlines around the world. 767 00:34:49,375 --> 00:34:53,042 They indicate the cloth was made between 1260 768 00:34:53,042 --> 00:34:55,875 and just before French knight, de Charny, 769 00:34:55,875 --> 00:34:57,667 brought it to his church. 770 00:34:57,667 --> 00:35:00,000 (tense music) 771 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,417 But not everyone believes the findings. 772 00:35:03,417 --> 00:35:05,500 - There was a fire in 1532 773 00:35:05,500 --> 00:35:07,333 and there was repair done to the shroud 774 00:35:07,333 --> 00:35:09,417 by the Poor Clares, this order of nuns. 775 00:35:09,417 --> 00:35:12,375 Could this have contaminated the shroud? 776 00:35:12,375 --> 00:35:15,958 Is this carbon dating not of the actual shroud 777 00:35:15,958 --> 00:35:17,917 but of the material from 1532? 778 00:35:19,958 --> 00:35:22,208 - [Laurence] And in early 2022, 779 00:35:22,208 --> 00:35:25,125 new evidence centered around the age of the cloth 780 00:35:25,125 --> 00:35:27,542 may support that belief. 781 00:35:27,542 --> 00:35:30,708 Researchers present a surprising observation. 782 00:35:30,708 --> 00:35:34,375 - They had about a dozen samples of other linen cloths 783 00:35:34,375 --> 00:35:36,917 dating all the way back to 5000 BC 784 00:35:36,917 --> 00:35:40,208 and they could assess the amount of natural aging 785 00:35:40,208 --> 00:35:41,542 in all these other cloths. 786 00:35:41,542 --> 00:35:44,708 And the only cloth that had a comparable amount 787 00:35:44,708 --> 00:35:47,542 of natural aging as fibers from the shroud 788 00:35:47,542 --> 00:35:50,958 was taken from Masada, which is in Israel, 789 00:35:50,958 --> 00:35:52,708 circa first century. 790 00:35:52,708 --> 00:35:56,708 And so this then becomes a very strong piece of evidence 791 00:35:56,708 --> 00:35:59,708 that suggests, just based on natural aging, 792 00:35:59,708 --> 00:36:03,500 that the cloth is far older than the 700 years 793 00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:06,167 ascribed by the carbon lapse. 794 00:36:06,167 --> 00:36:08,625 - That leaves us with a very real possibility, 795 00:36:08,625 --> 00:36:11,875 we could be talking about a first century cloth. 796 00:36:11,875 --> 00:36:13,583 - [Laurence] And in 2011, 797 00:36:13,583 --> 00:36:18,208 a finding by Italian physicist, Dr. Paolo Di Lazzaro, 798 00:36:18,208 --> 00:36:21,042 may offer believers further support. 799 00:36:21,042 --> 00:36:25,125 - In 2011, he published in a peer reviewed journal 800 00:36:25,125 --> 00:36:29,375 how they've been experimenting with ultraviolet excimer lasers. 801 00:36:29,375 --> 00:36:31,708 These are high powered, these are industrial lasers. 802 00:36:31,708 --> 00:36:34,333 These are not some kind of pointer. 803 00:36:34,333 --> 00:36:39,333 And they determined a 40 nanosecond burst 804 00:36:39,333 --> 00:36:42,458 achieves the very same depth and coloration 805 00:36:42,458 --> 00:36:45,167 as we see on the shroud. 806 00:36:45,167 --> 00:36:47,708 This experimentally shows how the image 807 00:36:47,708 --> 00:36:50,875 could indeed be the result of light. 808 00:36:51,875 --> 00:36:54,042 - [Laurence] But it would take an incredible amount of power 809 00:36:54,042 --> 00:36:57,417 to generate the light needed to create the shroud image 810 00:36:57,417 --> 00:36:59,458 in a split second. 811 00:36:59,458 --> 00:37:01,583 - To replicate the shroud image, 812 00:37:01,583 --> 00:37:04,625 you would need 14,000 lasers 813 00:37:04,625 --> 00:37:08,333 all going off instantaneously, at the same time. 814 00:37:08,333 --> 00:37:09,875 - I have to remind everybody, 815 00:37:09,875 --> 00:37:12,833 lasers weren't invented until about 1946. 816 00:37:12,833 --> 00:37:17,500 So something of that nature in medieval times, 817 00:37:17,500 --> 00:37:21,292 or even in the first century, just couldn't exist. 818 00:37:21,292 --> 00:37:22,958 - [Laurence] But if the shroud is truly 819 00:37:22,958 --> 00:37:24,708 from the first century, 820 00:37:24,708 --> 00:37:27,958 an event from the Bible might reveal an answer. 821 00:37:27,958 --> 00:37:30,792 - Just before Jesus makes his last trip to Jerusalem, 822 00:37:30,792 --> 00:37:33,250 he takes Peter, James, and John with him 823 00:37:33,250 --> 00:37:34,833 up on a high mountain 824 00:37:34,833 --> 00:37:37,542 and is transfigured before them. 825 00:37:37,542 --> 00:37:38,917 - Some turn to the Bible 826 00:37:38,917 --> 00:37:41,208 and point to the transfiguration of Christ 827 00:37:41,208 --> 00:37:45,208 that took place when Christ was praying with the disciples. 828 00:37:45,208 --> 00:37:46,708 They read scripture 829 00:37:46,708 --> 00:37:49,250 and they highlight the passage that indicates 830 00:37:49,250 --> 00:37:52,292 that his face was shining as the sun 831 00:37:52,292 --> 00:37:55,583 and his clothes became bright white. 832 00:37:55,583 --> 00:37:57,417 - In the biblical account, 833 00:37:57,417 --> 00:38:01,708 Jesus is transfigured into a form of energy or light. 834 00:38:01,708 --> 00:38:05,958 His disciples describe him as his face glowing. 835 00:38:05,958 --> 00:38:08,667 His clothes dazzling white. 836 00:38:08,667 --> 00:38:10,875 - [Laurence] Di Lazzaro hypothesizes 837 00:38:10,875 --> 00:38:14,583 that the transfiguration's burst of light and energy 838 00:38:14,583 --> 00:38:16,417 could have repeated itself 839 00:38:16,417 --> 00:38:19,417 during another important event in Christianity. 840 00:38:20,375 --> 00:38:22,458 - Following his transfiguration, 841 00:38:22,458 --> 00:38:26,500 Jesus tells his disciples to not tell anyone 842 00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:29,750 until the son of man has risen from the dead. 843 00:38:29,750 --> 00:38:31,542 So this clearly foreshadows 844 00:38:31,542 --> 00:38:34,875 something that is going to happen, 845 00:38:34,875 --> 00:38:38,417 something that the disciples are going to see again. 846 00:38:38,417 --> 00:38:39,708 - For many believers, 847 00:38:39,708 --> 00:38:41,667 the idea is that this is a snapshot, 848 00:38:41,667 --> 00:38:45,542 this is literally the moment of Jesus's resurrection. 849 00:38:45,542 --> 00:38:48,625 He's wrapped in this cloth, he gets resurrected. 850 00:38:48,625 --> 00:38:50,875 There's this phenomenal amount of energy 851 00:38:50,875 --> 00:38:52,333 that must've been released in that. 852 00:38:52,333 --> 00:38:54,458 Is that what creates this image? 853 00:38:54,458 --> 00:38:56,792 (tense music) 854 00:39:00,542 --> 00:39:03,292 - The marks on the cloth are not the result 855 00:39:03,292 --> 00:39:04,833 of a conventional type of heat 856 00:39:04,833 --> 00:39:06,625 or a light that would generate heat. 857 00:39:06,625 --> 00:39:09,208 For instance, it's not like you would get a scorch 858 00:39:09,208 --> 00:39:11,333 on an ironing board, for instance. 859 00:39:11,333 --> 00:39:16,292 It's more analogous to a light that might be from a laser. 860 00:39:16,292 --> 00:39:19,917 - Now, we know that the burns clearly are the result of heat 861 00:39:19,917 --> 00:39:22,708 because they fluoresce under ultraviolet light. 862 00:39:22,708 --> 00:39:25,417 But the body image does not fluoresce, 863 00:39:25,417 --> 00:39:29,208 so it looks like a scorch but it's not. 864 00:39:29,208 --> 00:39:30,708 - For di Lazzaro, 865 00:39:30,708 --> 00:39:32,750 he stopped short of saying this is a miracle. 866 00:39:32,750 --> 00:39:34,792 But of course, this is extraordinary 867 00:39:34,792 --> 00:39:37,792 because you don't have that kind of ultraviolet 868 00:39:37,792 --> 00:39:41,375 light technology needed in the first century. 869 00:39:41,375 --> 00:39:43,667 So if this actually has happened, 870 00:39:43,667 --> 00:39:45,708 this is inexplicable. 871 00:39:46,667 --> 00:39:48,708 - Christians will argue 872 00:39:48,708 --> 00:39:51,708 that that kind of energy was actually produced 873 00:39:51,708 --> 00:39:53,167 through the resurrection. 874 00:39:53,167 --> 00:39:57,667 For them, the amount of energy needed isn't an issue. 875 00:39:57,667 --> 00:40:00,167 The resurrection was such a powerful event 876 00:40:00,167 --> 00:40:03,208 that it could produce what science cannot. 877 00:40:05,167 --> 00:40:07,375 - [Laurence] For many Christians, the Shroud of Turin 878 00:40:07,375 --> 00:40:10,375 is proof of the cornerstone in their faith, 879 00:40:10,375 --> 00:40:13,375 the death and resurrection of Jesus. 880 00:40:13,375 --> 00:40:16,042 - For Christians, this is an important symbol. 881 00:40:16,042 --> 00:40:19,458 It speaks to the death and resurrection of Jesus, 882 00:40:19,458 --> 00:40:20,875 the center point, 883 00:40:20,875 --> 00:40:24,083 the fundamental meaning of the gospel. 884 00:40:24,083 --> 00:40:28,417 Their argument is, until science can tell them 885 00:40:28,417 --> 00:40:30,083 how this was produced, 886 00:40:30,083 --> 00:40:33,292 there is good reason to believe that it is authentic. 887 00:40:33,292 --> 00:40:35,042 (tense music) 888 00:40:35,042 --> 00:40:39,708 - I don't think we can exclude a physical process, 889 00:40:39,708 --> 00:40:42,375 but it is a physical process that we do not understand 890 00:40:42,375 --> 00:40:44,708 and cannot replicate today. 891 00:40:44,708 --> 00:40:47,792 More academic scrutiny has been brought to bear 892 00:40:47,792 --> 00:40:50,542 on this 14.5 foot strip of linen 893 00:40:50,542 --> 00:40:53,708 than any other object in the world 894 00:40:53,708 --> 00:40:56,667 and we still can't explain the image. 895 00:40:57,708 --> 00:40:59,708 That's a philosophical challenge. 896 00:40:59,708 --> 00:41:02,167 When you confront the limits of your human knowledge, 897 00:41:02,167 --> 00:41:03,500 your human capacity, 898 00:41:03,500 --> 00:41:06,542 where else do you go for an answer? 899 00:41:08,125 --> 00:41:10,250 (rising dramatic music) 900 00:41:11,792 --> 00:41:13,708 - Over the course of many years, 901 00:41:13,708 --> 00:41:16,125 scientists have applied the latest technology 902 00:41:16,125 --> 00:41:19,417 to unraveling the mystery of the shroud. 903 00:41:19,417 --> 00:41:24,375 Yet the question of what the image is and how it was made 904 00:41:24,375 --> 00:41:26,250 remains unsolved. 905 00:41:26,250 --> 00:41:27,708 For the skeptics, 906 00:41:27,708 --> 00:41:32,500 it's an incredibly sophisticated medieval fraud. 907 00:41:32,500 --> 00:41:36,458 For the faithful, it's a miraculous relic. 908 00:41:36,458 --> 00:41:39,042 Maybe one day, the truth will be revealed. 909 00:41:40,167 --> 00:41:41,708 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 910 00:41:41,708 --> 00:41:45,708 Thank you for watching "History's Greatest Mysteries".