THE SHROUD
FACE TO FACE
A DOCUMENTARY BY ROBERT ORLANDO
SUMMER 2023
THE SHROUD
FACE TO FACE
THE CRIME OF THE MILLENNIA
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ABOUT THE FILM
Robert Orlando claims that when we look through the lens of the Roman crucifixion, to find the “criminal Jesus”, we are coming face to face with the most transformative true crime story of Western history.
In a fresh approach, this documentary utilizes a New Testament and storyteller’s eye to examine the evidence behind the world’s most studied artifact and its connection to the historical Jesus. With new digital recreations, expert interviews, and the latest technology, the creators have reconstructed the actual crime scene surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion and present a mind-blowing fusion of faith and science for the first time.
Can the evidence behind the Shroud of Turin truly prove the story of Christ? From the bloodstain evidence we know the linen burial shroud did cover a man who suffered a brutal crucifixion, but we can also see details that go beyond a typical Roman form of execution to wounds particular to those suffered by Jesus as recorded in the gospel stories. The blood stained shroud indicates his crown of thorns, wounded side, the whip marks, and the presence of ferritin which proves extreme torment. This is actual blood with traces of hemoglobin, AB+ blood type, and a partial genetic profile, not artistic chemicals or dyes or paint. The film will also take you on a quest where you will see new scientific evidence being brought to light on radiological imagery. The evidence points to its authenticity not only as a burial shroud, but potentially the actual shroud of Jesus.
With the help of scientists and experts, Writer-Scholar-Filmmaker Orlando will reconstruct the narrative using forensic evidence to uncover whether the image on the Shroud could be the actual Jesus.
The church has yet to claim the Shroud's authenticity, but many popes have venerated it in its home at the Cathedral of Turin. Many skeptics continue to challenge its authenticity, but as Pope John Paul II said, "The Shroud requires every person to grasp its profound message humbly to his reason and life." In that, the Shroud might "mirror the Gospel." Orlando agrees that "in our expanding digital age connecting the gospel story with the scientific evidence will spark a renaissance of interest in the origins of the Christian story and its profound impact on World History."
New Book: The Shroud Face-to-Face releasing soon from Sophia Institute Press
The Shroud of Turin is the most mysterious and controversial Christian artifact that has survived. Could it be the burial shroud of Jesus? Or a medieval forgery, as some think? If so, why can't modern science expose it? Robert Orlando's book adds to the debate and sheds new light on this intriguing mystery.
– Craig A. Evans, John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins, Houston Christian University
“Robert Orlando is an impressive filmmaker, writer, and thinker. He and I did a book and film on “The Divine Plan”—the inspiring idea about our roles in The Divine Plan. His latest book on the Shroud of Turin strikes me as a further exploration of that same Divine Plan. Ultimately, a plan with an engrossing personal journey that brought him face to face with the divine mystery of The Shroud."
—Paul Kengor, Ph.D., editor of The American Spectator, professor of political science at Grove City College, and author of many books, including The Divine Plan (co-authored by Robert Orlando)
"This is a compelling and convincing account of the single most fascinating relic in the Christian world. Anyone seeking to understand the significance and history of the Shroud of Turin should read this book.”
MOST REVEREND ROBERT BARRON, BISHOP OF WINONA-ROCHESTER
“I am not a believer in the Shroud, but the subject undeniably remains fascinating, and Orlando’s work is both informed and entertaining. Readers will, with his personable guidance, enjoy debating with themselves what they should make of this most famous of all Christian relics.”
—Dale C. Allison Jr., Princeton Theological Seminary, author of The Resurrection of Jesus: Apologetics, Polemic, History.
"Whatever you think about The Shroud's authenticity, Robert Orlando is a skilled filmmaker and a great storyteller, whether in print or on film. His story about this famous relic is bound to tease your heart and mind and ask the question: could the Shroud provide scientific evidence about the death and resurrection of Jesus? Read the book, see the film with an open mind, and be surprised by where the evidence leads!"
-- Ben Witherington, III. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary, emeritus faculty St. Andrews University, Scotland.
“Robert Orlando does more than analyze an ancient archaeological object shrouded in mystery. This sleuth, scholar, and storyteller almost irresistibly draw us toward a face-to-face encounter with the one who asks each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” Whoever confronts this crime scene, this question, this face — believer or unbeliever — will never be the same.”
— Andrew Dalton, LC, STD, Professor of Theology, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum
The Greatest Science Project Ever Told
Murder, a true crime scene, controversies, leading scientists’ investigations, and a startling NASA study. “An incredibly detailed image of the man on the Shroud shocks the world and befuddles believers and skeptics alike. How to explain such a phenomenon?” writes Robert Orlando, award-winning writer, filmmaker, and director.
When Orlando was first approached about making a documentary about the Shroud of Turin, he was skeptical of the project—and the Shroud itself. Then he came across conflicting opinions in history and science. This, along with his desire to learn more about the life of Jesus and make sense of the final things, led him to investigate “a new crime scene.” His new documentary inspired this book with the same title.
“The murder of Jesus of Nazareth, a carpenter from a small town outside of Jerusalem, became the most historically debated crime scene in all recorded history,” Orlando explains. “Not only do people debate the historicity of the event, but unlike most other crime scenes, there’s a religious element. The murder of this simple carpenter somehow launches the largest, most widespread religion of modern times.”
Through his scholarly and detective work, Orlando fascinatingly connects historical, archeological, scientific, art, and theological research to unveil:
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Evidence that dates back to the time and place of Christ
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The results of a startling NASA study and leading scientists’ research
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A biblical clue to where the Shroud may have been hidden
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What Jesus experienced according to science, history, and Scripture
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A miraculous healing from the Shroud following the resurrection
Also included is a timeline of the Shroud’s history and an introduction to the key witnesses of Jesus’ Passion, death, and resurrection. While retelling the story of Christ through the lens of ancient customs and traditions, Orlando breaks open the mysterious discovery of the Shroud.
Orlando lays out numerous opinions and fact-based arguments in these gripping pages and systematically separates fact from fiction. He raises the question: Is the Shroud the connection between faith and science? If the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus, it is the key to unlocking the world’s greatest mystery and shedding light in an age of disbelief. In the words of Orlando, “The death of Jesus is the most consequential death in human history.”
"When we look through the lens of science at the Shroud to find the truth about Jesus, we are coming face to face with the most profound story of western history: A crucified and shamed man gives his life to change all humanity. How, in a brutal world, weakness, vulnerability, and sacrifice for others could revitalize the human spirit. To face Jesus in the exposed Shroud -- the bloodstains and whippings -- we see the picture proof Face to Face of how one man's suffering transformed the world. The power of the Shroud reveals the core historical event that has defined us as a people in the life and death of Christ."
-- Writer-Director Robert Orlando
ABOUT ROBERT ORLANDO
Robert Orlando, BFA, School of Visual Arts, is a filmmaker, author, scholar, and Executive Director of Nexus Media. His studies include film, religion, ancient and modern history, and biography as a scholar. As an award-winning writer/director, his films include thought-provoking documentaries such as Silence Patton, The Divine Plan, and Citizen Trump and the upcoming Shroud. His books include Apostle Paul: The Final Days, The Divine Plan, The Tragedy of Patton, Citizen Trump: A One Man Show, and Karl Marx. He is published in the book Writing Short Scripts. His articles have appeared in the American Thinker, The Catholic Thing, Daily Caller, HuffPost, Townhall, Patheos, and Merion West. Orlando has spoken at numerous churches, colleges, The White House, and The Vatican. He is currently finishing his graduate studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he presently resides.
CAST OF EXPERTS
GARY R. HABERMAS, Ph.D.
Dr. Cheryl White
Ben Witherington III
Mark Goodacre
Fr. Andrew Dalton, LC
Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ
Dale C. Allison Jr.
Dr. Emmanuella Marinetti
Dr. August Accetta, MD
Craig A. Evans, BA, MA, MDiv, PhD, DHabil
10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE SHROUD OF TURIN
1. In 1502, the house of Savoy placed the Shroud in the Sainte-Chapelle in Chambéry, which is now part of France. In 1532, a fire broke out in the chapel. It melted part of the silver in the container protecting the shroud, and this silver fell onto part of the shroud, burning through it. The burn marks and the water stains from where the fire was extinguished are still visible today.
2. The Shroud is currently housed at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. Security is tight for the frail Shroud of Turin. It is rarely shown to the public, and is guarded by security cameras and protected by bulletproof glass.
3. In 1898, The Shroud was photographed for the first time by an Italian named Secondo Pia. His pictures led to a startling discovery: The cloth’s faint yellowed image of a man, as seen with the naked eye, is actually a negative image that, when developed, turns into a detailed black and white positive photographic image. The image rests on the superficial surface of the linen cloth at a depth of 0.2 microns.
4. In 1972, Max Frei, a noted Swiss criminologist, was given permission to take dust samples from the Shroud that contained numerous pollen grains spores. He discovered 22 24 pollen samples species from plants unique to areas around Constantinople and Edessa.
5. John Jackson and Eric Jumper, using a VP-8 Image Analyzer designed for the space program, discovered the Shroud image contained encoded 3-D data not found in ordinary reflected light photographs.
6. The 1978 STURP Scientific summary report says, "No pigments, paints, dyes or stains have been found on the fibrils … 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 ... The bloodstains are composed of hemoglobin and also give a positive test for serum albumin ... The blood is male type AB ... the answer to the question of how the image was produced or what produced the image remains, now, as it has in the past, a mystery".
7. Textile expert Mechthild Flury-Lemberg revealed that the stitching of a seam on the Shroud that runs the entire length, known as the "side-strip," is typical of Jewish burial shrouds found in the ancient fortress of Masada in southern Israel. She verifies the Shroud as a style of textile used in First Century Israel.
8. The STURP team found that no substances have been manually applied to the cloth, including no substances such as paint, ink, dye, collagen binders, pigments, or stain were used to constitute the image. no substances found between threads, as with a dust rubbing.
9. The Shroud shows over 120 scourge (whip) marks compatible with Roman flagrum.
10. The Shroud does not contain any stains signs of body decomposition. The body was in rigor mortis when the image was formed. The resurrection happened on the third day before post rigor mortis decomposition had time to occur.
The Nexus Institute 501(c3) focuses on TV, motion pictures, books and screenplays, along with award-winning documentaries and shorts. Our team has years of experience in media storytelling and developing well crafted engaging content. We invite you to view some of our past projects, and participate in our new initiatives.