Dr. Jeremiah J. Johnston was once a skeptic of the famed Shroud of Turin, the burial cloth believed by many to bear a fascinating image created during Christ’s resurrection.
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Johnston, author of “Peace of God Bible: Discover and Experience God’s Shalom Throughout the Bible,” told CBN News he is fully confident about the New Testament’s authenticity.
“The authenticity of the New Testament is without question,” he said. “The Bible is a historical book and … these are books about real people, real places, real events. Our scriptures are not fairy tales. They’re not legends. They’re not lore. And they are so well-evidenced.”
Among the elements that convince Johnston of the Bible’s real and authentic take are the findings coming from archaeologists who routinely explore information and relics dating back centuries.
“Archaeologists use six books to make sure that they’re digging in the right spot in Israel,” he said. “They always use these six books — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the Book of Acts, and then they use Josephus.”
Johnston continued, “So if the archeologists who dig, and many of them are not Christians, use the New Testament because … it’s very similar with what we expect the First Century world to be like, you better believe I’m going to use the Bible too.”
The Bible expert said there are dozens of evidence-based facts that point to the life, death, miracles, and resurrection of Jesus based on archaeological sources.
“Christianity … is the only religion that you can test against history, and it passes the test at every turn,” Johnston said. “And this is where things like the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus [are] so well evidenced, and what’s amazing is, I believe, as we get closer to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we are seeing a controlled revelation of discoveries tied to technology.”
Johnston specifically addressed the Shroud of Turin, which gives him peace about the reliability of Scripture.
“It’s the only artifact that we have outside of the Bible that gives evidence to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus all in one artifact,” he said. “And I’ve met many of the 102 scientists, and then the 102 scientific disciplines that have put their academic and reputation on the line to … prove — and that it’s the first time I’ve used that word — to prove that the shroud is not a hoax. It’s not man-made. There’s no pigment. There’s no dye. There’s no coloring.”
The Bible expert went on to say that there’s no way to explain the image on the Shroud — something he said is the real “kicker.”
“Why it’s there is because God demonstrated His love for you and me and that, when we were at our worst, God sent His best for us,” he said. “That’s the signature of the Shroud.”
Ultimately, Johnston said the Shroud has brought much peace to his life — a remarkable reality considering he was once a critic of the relic.
“I wrote a bestselling book called ‘Body of Proof’ on the resurrection, and I never mentioned the Shroud because I was a total skeptic on the Shroud,” he said. “That’s the funny part. I mean, I have a PhD from England … like, it was hammered into me that the shroud was a … forgery.”
Johnston said he was operating on sound bites and “not substance” when he discounted the Shroud, but that this changed once he began digging deeper and speaking with experts. Eventually, his entire perspective changed.
“I think it’s … the greatest evangelism discipleship tool I’ve ever seen in my ministry,” Johnston said.
His transition on the topic has been fascinating, considering how diligently he previously questioned it. But he now has absolutely no doubts, noting the pollen spores on the Shroud come from Jerusalem.
“I now believe the shroud is authentic,” Johnston said. “When you look at the blood and you see that it’s type AB blood, it’s human blood, it’s Semitic blood … and then the pollen spores.”
Watch him discuss more about the Shroud and his new book “Peace of God Bible: Discover and Experience God’s Shalom Throughout the Bible.”
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