Photo of JESUS
Taken from a negative on his burial cloth
You are seeing a 2000 year old real Jesus photo. This Jesus photo is taken from a negative image formed on his burial cloth known as The ‘Shroud of Turin’ or the ‘Holy Shroud’. The Shroud of Turin or the Holy Shroud is a long piece of linen cloth, believed by millions to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. The cloth is 1.1 Meter wide and 4.4 Meters long (3.6 x 14.4 feet). A picture of the Holy Shroud is seen below stretched out to its full length.
This ancient linen cloth, yellowed with age, bears a very faint image of the frontal and back view of a human being. The painting below shows how Jesus was buried using a burial cloth, as was the Jewish custom in those ancient days. This explains the formation of images with frontal and back views in the two halves of the cloth.
The holy Shroud has been preserved with utmost care in the Royal Chapel of the ex-kings of Italy in the city of Turin, Italy from the year 1578 onwards. Since the holy Shroud is preserved and kept in the Royal Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, it is commonly referred to as the 'Shroud of Turin' or the 'Turin Shroud'.
Before the year 1578 historical facts traces this cloth back to France, then to Constantinople (now renamed as ‘Istanbul’), then back to the city of Edessa (now ‘Urfa’ in Turkey) where the Shroud was found hidden in a wall in about the year 525 AD, before this several historical documents point to The Holy Shroud being given to King Abgar of Edessa (an independent kingdom aligned with the Kingdom of Parthia during the time of Jesus) by the Apostles of Jesus - St. Thomas and the newly appointed appostle, Thaddaeus (Addai)
More than one hundred years ago, on 28th May, 1898 an amateur Italian photographer, Mr. Secondo Pia, took the first photograph of the shroud. He was startled by the resulting negative which seemed to give the appearance of a positive image. See below more recent Jesus pictures of the actual image on the Shroud and the photo negative of it.
The actual image on the Shroud of Turin
Photo negative of same image
Ever since Mr. Secondo Pia took the first photograph of the shroud in 1898, the Shroud of Turin has been the subject of intense scientific study. A negative image is what appeared on a developed film (negative) back in the days of 35mm photography. No one could understand how a perfect, full length negative image of a human body could be formed on an ancient piece of linen cloth. Scientists found it difficult to accept the fact that it was a Jesus Miracle, but to date no one has been able to find an explanation. When the scientists did investigations with very modern sophisticated instruments, even more surprising facts emerged. They discovered that the image on this ancient cloth is more than just an ordinary photo negative, it also has digital information from which 3D images could be made. Many other surprising findings were also made, as detailed below.
Normally a photo captures the reflected light bouncing off the subject being photographed. This means that there will always be some areas with shadows on the photo, like on the eyes or behind the nose. The Shroud photo has absolutely no shadows; it is as if the light originated from the body of the subject, and radiated out of the body itself to form the image.
A few years after the invention of photography, the first revelation of the miraculous photographic quality of the Holy Shroud occurred in 1898 when Mr. Secondo Pia took the first photograph of the Holy Shroud. With the advent of the Digital Age, the second revelation of the miraculous digital qualities of the Holy Shroud occurred in 1976, when American Physicist John Jackson and colleague Bill Mottern scanned a Shroud photograph on a VP-8 digital image analyser. The VP-8 image analyser is an instrument used by NASA (the American Government space agency which sends rockets into space and made men walk on the moon) to convert photos of the surfaces of Planets like the Moon and Mars into topographical maps – that is to make three dimensional - 3D maps showing mountains and valleys. The VP-8 image analyzer produced a perfect 3D image of the shroud photo. These scientists had tried many other photos, before and after, on the VP-8 to get a 3D result, but they never got a 3D result with any photo except from the Holy Shroud Jesus photo. The results on the Shroud were so spectacular, that these hard core scientists are convinced that it is a miraculous image of Jesus Christ. Seen below is the 3D image created on the VP-8 image analyser.
The 3D VP-8 image
Sudarium of Oviedo : In the bible mention is made of another cloth used in the burial of Jesus
"Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloth lying on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself." (John 20:6-7).
Shroud believers hold that the linen cloth refers to the Shroud of Turin, while the other cloth refers to the Sudarium of Oviedo.
The Sudarium of Oviedo has resided in the Cathedral of Oviedo in Spain since the 8th century. This small 83x53 centimeters (2.75x1.75 feet approx.), bloodstained piece of linen cloth, is revered as one of the burial cloths mentioned in the Gospel of St. John. The Sudarium of Oviedo is traditionally held to be the cloth that covered the head of Jesus.
The Sudarium's existence and presence in Spain is well documented since the seventh century. Before this, historical evidence trace the location of the Sudarium to Jerusalem since the first centaury AD.
Forensic analysis of the bloodstains on the Shroud and the Sudarium reveal that both cloths covered the same head at nearly the same time. Based on the bloodstain patterns, the Sudarium would have been placed on the man's head while he was in a vertical position, presumably while still hanging on the cross.
A 1999 study by the Spanish Center for Sindonology, investigated the relationship between the two cloths. Based on history, forensic pathology, blood chemistry (both the Shroud and the Sudarium have type AB blood stains), and the blood stain patterns being exactly similar and congruent on both cloths, they concluded that the two cloths covered the same head at two distinct, but close moments of time.
Wrong Carbon Dating of the Shroud: In 1988, a small piece of cloth was cut from one of the corners of the Shroud and divided into postage stamp size pieces and given to 3 reputed International labs to do a Carbon Dating Test to determine the age of the Shroud. The results from all 3 labs said that the cloth was dated between the years 1260 and 1390. Later on it was proved that the samples taken by the labs were not the same as the main body of the Shroud cloth. This was because during the centauries that the shroud was venerated and held by the corners, the corners of the Shroud became damaged and it was repaired in the middle ages using a process called invisible weaving or darning using dyed threads available then.
Other amazing facts which have emerged on detailed scanning of the Shroud of Turin with modern technologies like UV scanning, etc. include
- Scourging or whip lash marks on the body consistent with a flogging with a Roman flagrum, a short whip of leather with the ends tipped with bits of lead or other metal or bone pieces, which tore into flesh and muscle.
- Piercing marks of a crown of thorns on the head as described in the bible.
- Presence of Roman coin from the time of Jesus, placed over his eyes – this was a custom at the time of Jesus.
- Pollen found on the Shroud from flowers of variety of plants growing only in the Jerusalem Area. Other pollen confirms a historical trail from Jerusalem to Turin.
- Soil particles similar to soil in Jerusalem , below the foot imprint on the Shroud and Travertine limestone particles from the cave tombs in Jerusalem all over the shroud.
- The rare hand weaving of the Shroud cloth traced to be of first centaury Middle East origin. Similar burial shrouds from 1st centaury AD have been found in Masada, an ancient Jewish fortress, which confirms it to be a genuine Jewish burial cloth.
- The nails are driven through the wrists rather than the palm of the hand. The general belief now and in the Middle Ages was that the nails were driven through the palm of the hand. Skeletons from first centaury AD of crucified victims, discovered in the Jerusalem area have the nails through the wrist. Also modern Science supports the fact that the weight of the body could not be held upright on the cross if the nails were driven through the palm of the hand.
Even though many modern scientists, photographers and painters have tried to make a similar image on cloth, no one has succeeded. If the holy Shroud were a fake, then a forger, sometime before the year 1578 (the year the holy shroud came to be kept with utmost care in Turin), produced a masterpiece that not a single modern man has been able to duplicate.
Just imagine the supposed forger doing the following impossible things
- He gets a large piece of cloth with the exact weaving which was prevalent in the Middle East during the First Century AD. Such a piece of cloth would not have been available in Europe more than 1000 years after such weaving disappeared in the Middle East. Also the forger did not have to do this, because no one then knew about this type of Jewish first century weaving.
- He then somehow manages to put on the cloth, perfect full size human negative photographic image with digital information on it. He manages to imprint this photographic image without any shadows and with digital information to give 3D images on a NASA instrument used to make 3D maps of the planets. NASA scientists tried to get similar 3D images from many other photos, but even photos taken by the best available modern day cameras in the best of studios in the world could not get the 3D effect produced by the Shroud image.
- He includes details not visible to human eyes, like the scourge marks of a first century Roman whip known as a flagrum, the crown of thorns on the head and puts Roman Coins from the time of Jesus over the eyes. These facts only came to be seen recently with modern UV scanners and other sophisticated instruments.
- He also decided to put on the Shroud, flower pollen found only in Jerusalem and from Constantinople and other areas (the routes which the Shroud took on its journey from Jerusalem to reach Turin). The presence of these pollens was only found recently by modern criminologists using very high magnification electron microscopes.
- He added human blood stains to the fake shroud to be exactly similar in shape, size and in congruence with the blood stains on the Sudarium of Oviedo. In those days no one in Europe, except in the region surrounding Oviedo in Spain, new about the existence of the Sudarium of Oviedo. He even used the rare type AB human blood group, the same as that on the Sudarium of Oviedo, for the stains on this fake shroud. Remember, in those days no one knew about blood groups and had no means of knowing whether dried blood was human or from animals.
- Also, for good measure, he puts on the Shroud some soil particles from the Jerusalem area.
Considering all this, it is impossible for a forger, even the most cleverest, to have made such a Shroud. Modern scientists, even the cleverest scientists of today, from the leading research institutions of the world, are unable to understand or explain how the image on the Shroud was formed. This then must be a miracle of Jesus which we can see to this day.
Some non believers are accusing the great medieval artist and scientist, Leonardo Da Vinci, of having made the shroud. They even dared to call it the 'Da Vinci Shroud' and aired programmes on Discovery Channel. They base their argument on the similarity of his paintings with the image on the holy Shroud.
Leonardo Da Vinci must have seen the image on the holy Shroud and, being impressed with the noble image on the holy Shroud, made his paintings using the Shroud image as the model. Da Vinci was not the first one to make paintings using the holy Shroud image as the model.
In 525 AD, the holy Shroud was discovered hidden above a gate in Edessa's city walls. Six years later, an icon (a religious work of art / painting) was produced at St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai. This icon, the Sinai Christ Pantocrator Icon, is for sure based on the image on the Shroud as can be seen in the following photographs
from: http://www.shroudofturin4journalists.com/pantocrator.htm
Similar matching overlay of the Shroud image on Leonardo Da Vinci paintings was the basis of the claim that Da Vinci made the Shroud. The Christ Pantocrator icon, painted in the year 550, also has perfect overlay as shown above. So the argument about the Da Vinci Shroud is not correct. Leonardo Da Vinci must have seen and used the Shroud image as his model.
Message: Jesus must have left his image for us all to see and to believe in his teachings as narrated in the Holy Bible. We can honour this Jesus Miracle by saying the only prayer that he has taught us to say - The Lord's prayer
"Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses (sins),
As we forgive those who trespass (sin) against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
Amen"
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Please visit the following sites for further knowledge on the Shroud of Turin
http://www.shroudofturin4journalists.com/described.htm
http://www.historicaljesusquest.com/sudarium.htm
http://www.shroudofturin.com/services1.html
http://www.saintanthonyofpadua.net/messaggero/pagina_stampa.asp?R=&ID=41
http://www.numismalink.com/fontanille4.html
http://www.historicaljesusquest.com/
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/feb/18/shrouded_mystery/?city_local
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/travels/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_24051998_sindone_en.html (Late Pope John Paul the Second's speech on the Holy shroud)
http://www.holyface.org.uk/materials.htm
VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXEE9OWXFZg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jekxRvP-688&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah1Zik1eKzM
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