Author's Note: All previous volumes of this series are here. The first 56 volumes are compiled in the book "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible." "Part Two," featuring volumes 57-113, was published in December 2022.
Welcome to today's Bible study. Many thanks to all the readers who requested the "miracle parchment" mentioned in our "Fear Not" series, Parts One and Two. Part Three will be published next Sunday, when we will discuss New Testament verses on this important topic of faith. For readers interested in seeing the "miracle parchment," I'm still happy to send the photo upon request. I enjoyed and appreciated all the kind words and thoughts from so many of you. My email is at the end of this study.
Today, we have a guest interview with Cheryl White, Ph.D., an internationally recognized expert on the Shroud of Turin and a distinguished professor of history and philosophy. Cheryl's new Shroud book offers an unusual perspective on the world's most studied artifact: a 14-foot linen cloth that millions believe is the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, bearing an unexplained image of a crucified man. Her bio reads:
Cheryl White, Ph.D., is a professor of history at Louisiana State University at Shreveport, where she holds the endowed Hubert Humphreys Professorship. She is a board member of the Shroud of Turin Education and Research Association and author of the new book "The Shroud of Turin in the Third Millennium?: Confronting the Limits of Human Knowledge."
Dr. White is a frequent lecturer on topics related to the Shroud, including for the Museum of the Bible and the Smithsonian Institution. She is a regular contributor to programming on the History Channel and EWTN (a Catholic cable channel).
Myra Kahn Adams: Your Shroud of Turin book is unique because you are globally recognized as a Shroud expert; however, the book does not vouch for or attempt to prove the Shroud's authenticity. Can you explain your neutral stance?
Cheryl White: This book is primarily a call to consider how we make claims about knowledge…I avoid the issue of authenticity because I want to encourage people to approach the Shroud with an honest method, and to realize that the central question of its image formation (for now) remains unanswered. Lacking the most important answer that everyone seeks, it seems that we must be content to live in mystery as a valid way of knowing. Although that premise avoids the issue of authenticity, what I've just said points the inquirer to higher realities.
MKA: Since the Shroud is often called "the world's greatest mystery," the following sentence caught my attention: "If the Shroud of Turin teaches us anything, at a minimum it might be that the most important mysteries are not those that are ultimately solved, but those that continue to draw people into deeper reflection."
Although what you say could be true, people want to solve mysteries. I am one of those who think, "Enough with the Shroud's mystery!" I want 21st-century scientific testing to "prove" that the man of the Shroud is Jesus. Please address the millions of people who think like me.
CW: Your thinking strikes at the heart of the philosophical challenge posed by the Shroud! If we want "proof" that Jesus Christ is the man in the Shroud, that claim is easier to make, since the image clearly matches the description of only one person in history. However, it is far more challenging to claim that the Shroud itself is scientific "proof" of resurrection.
Note that the scientific method is a natural, physical measure. It does not extend into the supernatural. We should never ask of science what its methods do not do. There is a tension between faith and science that seems to be unresolved and philosophically challenging. However, I think "tension" is good, as it invites each individual to have a unique encounter with the Shroud.
MKA: In your book, you indicate that the application of the historical method, combined with the scientific method, is still insufficient to reach the fullness of truth regarding the Shroud of Turin. The gaps in our historical and scientific understanding place us in the realm of mystery. How do you characterize the role that mystery plays in relation to the Shroud?
CW: The beautiful nuance of the Greek word "mustérion" for mystery probably characterizes this best. Mystery is something that has not been revealed YET. Unlike any other historical artifact, the Shroud seems to pull us further away from definitive answers and more into the realm of mystery. Objects of the material world always give up their mysteries, but the Shroud resists and continues to generate more mystery with every answered question.
MKA: You spend some time discussing the Apostle John—what he saw and did not see in the tomb, as recorded in John 20:1-9. In the context of Shroud knowledge, please explain the significance of what John "believed."
CW: I am struck by that passage in John's Gospel because he does not describe for the reader what is "missing" from the tomb, but what remained behind. He doesn't tell us what wasn't there (the body of Jesus) but instead describes what was there (burial linen). His way of knowing was based on something empirical, known with the senses, and not illusory.
MKA: One of the arguments against the Shroud's authenticity is the absence of any biblical reference to the burial Shroud beyond Resurrection Sunday. Does the "Discipline of the Secret" explain the silence?
CW: No, Jewish culture provides a better explanation for the Scripture's "silence" with no mention of the Shroud beyond Resurrection Sunday. Consider that Jewish culture, still influential in early Christianity, was aniconic. In other words, a culture that prohibited physical representations of the divine. Furthermore, there was no clearly articulated Incarnational theology or a theology of relics until the fourth century.
Interestingly, a sentence from the concluding paragraph of the famous 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) read: "We can conclude for now that the Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified man. It is not the product of an artist."
MKA: On numerous occasions, you have spent quiet time with the Shroud of Turin in Italy. Can you tell us how those experiences have shaped your understanding of the Holy Cloth?
CW: My experiences with the Shroud have been both personally moving and academically enriching…in many ways, paralleling what I discuss in the book. It demands that we use reason to understand its properties, but faith to fill the gap of what we do not apprehend scientifically or historically. Importantly, an encounter with the Shroud demands humility as something we cannot seem to fully know. To be in its presence is to acknowledge the limits of our human understanding. In the realm of such mystery, we are already in the presence of something greater than ourselves.
MKA: Cheryl, on behalf of Townhall and its readers, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Your book is a welcome addition to scholarly works that foster deeper reflection about the Shroud.
Myra Kahn Adams is a conservative political and religious writer. Her book "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible" reprints the first 56 volumes of this popular study. "Part 2," reprints Vols. 57 –113. Order it here.
Myra is also the Executive Director of the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit. You can help support our new exhibit in Orlando, Florida, opening on March 13, 2026. Contact: Myraadams01@gmail.com