601Z Summer 2026 The Shroud of Turin: History's Greatest Find or Fraud?

The cult of Christian relics is as old as the New Testament itself. However, the greatest relic of all is also the most controversial, The Shroud of Turin. The Shroud—a piece of cloth 4.4 meters long and 1.1 meters wide—is said to be the burial shroud of Jesus which, when viewed as a photographic negative, also reveals the face and body of the crucified Jesus. So, is the shroud one of history's most important finds or is it a fraud? In this lecture series we will review the New Testament stories about Jesus's burial, the history of Christian relics, the Catholic Church's reaction to the shroud, what modern science has to say about the shrouds dating, and other continuing controversies. No reading required.

Jack Dalby is a retired Northern Virginia business owner who, for the past 15 years, has lectured on the topic of Christian origins at the Osher Lifelong Learning campuses of George Mason University, The College of William and Mary, American University, and Carnegie Mellon University.