The Passion of Christ: Disturbing Discoveries on the Shroud of Turin

Disturbing new discoveries on the Shroud of Turin, by Erich Habich-Traut, 18. Nov. 2024, 5 Pages

This article by Rev. Erich Habich-Traut delves into the notable findings concerning the Shroud of Turin, particularly focusing on the facial injuries of Jesus as revealed through advanced image enhancements utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). Initially perceived as a faint imprint with minimal discernible details, recent technological advancements have enabled a deeper exploration of the Shroud’s image, formerly considered merely a negative representation. The author details a three-year journey of enhancing the image using cutting-edge software, leading to the revelation of markings that suggest the crucified Jesus was subjected to pre-crucifixion beatings. Drawing on biblical accounts, the paper presents the correlation between the facial injuries observed on the Shroud and the descriptions of violence documented in the Gospels. This analysis highlights the significance of the findings, which have not been previously noted by other scholars in the field of Sindonology, thereby contributing a unique perspective to the ongoing discourse surrounding the Shroud of Turin.

When you first examine the faint outlines of the person on the Shroud of Turin with the unaided eye, you don’t see many nuances. The most prominent features you most likely first notice are the burnmarks on it from the year AD 1532. The eight scorched areas correspond to places where molten silver from a candelabra singed the folded relic whilst in a chapel at the House of Savoy.

Look closer, and between these marks, the contours of a body are barely discernible with the naked eye—let alone details of His face.

Not everybody gets to be as close to the shrine as Pope Francis, seen here touching the frame of the Holy Cloth in June 2015.

The Shroud is exhibited only about once every 5 to 10 years. 2025 is the next time it is on show in Turin on the occasion of the Holy Jubilee year.

Today, thankfully, we can use photography to see the image anytime and to get closer to it between public showings.

The Holy Cloth was first photographed in 1898 during a public exhibition by amateur photographer Secondo Pia.

(Left: original / Right: tonality reversed)

Some researchers think the shroud itself could be called “the first photograph” because the image on it is actually a negative, made by divine contact.

Negatives of the shroud show the person as we would have seen Him in real life because the shroud itself is a negative image. A negative of a negative makes a positive image, in film development.

From a photographic perspective, the image on the shroud actually appears to be a contact print: Imagine yourself holding a cloth over your face, and you trace your face on it with edding FROM THE INSIDE. When you lift the cloth away and look at it, you are looking at your mirror image. That’s NOT what you look like to other people. To correct this, I have reversed the image from the Holy Cloth in all image enhancements in this presentation and on my website, https://TheJesusChannel.TV.

Today, with advanced computer algorithms, image software, and AI models, it’s possible to further enhance the image of Jesus on the Holy Cloth, going beyond mere negative/positive reversal and contrast enhancements. So, with my professional background in photography and printing and the eye for detail that comes with that, I enhanced and enhanced and enhanced.

I spend three years, on and off, improving the results. The improvements were also tied to advances in AI technology. I kept coming back to it over the years to see improved results. The secret in the end was to edit the eyes of the person on the shroud and have them opened. After that, the computer algorithms recognized a face and got to work. The results are quite stunning.

A colorized version of Jesus from the Holy Cloth

All recreations and interpretations of Jesus’ face from the shroud of Turin up to that moment had been based on artists renditions and impressions. The artists were influenced by almost 2000 years of church history and an idealized image of the saviour Jesus Christ painted over generations.

What I have done instead is to recreate the image of the crucified Jesus from a shroud, which may or may not be the actual burial cloth, without further human embellishments. The embellishments, you could say, were added by machines with the most intimate and unbiased knowledge of human anatomy.

Soon, I noticed markings on the face, and at first I attributed them to wrinkles in the cloth. I could have edited them out to make the image more similar to the idealized imagery of Jesus we know, but I left them, mostly for reasons of authenticity.

It wasn’t until many months later that I began to understand the significance of the markings on Jesus’ face. I’m not a person who reads the Bible on a daily basis. If I had been, then the following discovery might have been apparent from the beginning:

I began to suspect that Jesus had been beaten in the face before his crucifixion. This was confirmed when I read the account of Jesus trials; all four evangelists reported beatings on His face with fists, hands, and sticks.

These are their accounts:

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin, Matthew 26:67-68
Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.
The High Priest Questions Jesus, John 18:19-22
Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.” When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified, John 19:1-3
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
The soldiers mock Jesus, Matthew 27:29-30
They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they kneeled in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, took the staff, and struck him on the head again and again.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus, Mark 15:19
Again and again, they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus, Luke 22:63
The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him.

That was a lot of punishment. We can compare His wounds from the image on the shroud of Turin with injuries suffered by bare-knuckle fighters:

To my knowledge, no Sindonologist (Shroud of Turin researcher) has ever commented on this before.

At the end of a paper is usually a long list of references.
I have not listed many references, except the Bible and the image from the Shroud of Turin.

References:
Matthew 26:67-68
John 18:19-22
John 19:1-3
Matthew 27:29-30
Mark 15:19
Luke 22:63
The Shroud of Turin
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