Barrie Schwortz, a Jewish expert on the Turin Shroud, explains why he is convinced that it is authentic

Barrie Schwortz, a Jewish man who was part of a team that conducted the first in-depth scientific examination of the Turin Shroud, explains why he is convinced that the cloth is authentic

At the very beginning of my involvement with the Shroud, I was very skeptical about its authenticity.  I had no emotional attachment to Jesus and the subject matter because I was raised as an Orthodox Jew.  The main thing I knew about Jesus in those days was that he also was Jewish, and that was about it.

Examining the Shroud, I knew quickly that it wasn’t a painting because when you are up close and you see it, you can tell it’s not a painting.  But as far as its authenticity, it took another 18 years after we finished our examination and all the papers were published.

I still wasn’t completely convinced until one of our fellow team members, Allen Adler, another Jewish man who was a blood chemist, explained to me why the blood remained red on the Shroud.  I felt that old blood was supposed to be black or brown.  The blood on the Shroud is a red-crimson color.  So that was a deal breaker for me for a long time.  But ultimately, when that was explained to me and especially from my friend Al Adler, may he rest in peace, who also was involved in this not so much from a religious point of view as from a purely scientific point of view, he was the one who put the last piece of the puzzle in for me.  It was a shock to me when I came to the conclusion after almost 20 years that this piece of cloth was authentic.  And I got there based solely on the science.

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