The controversial piece of evidence that could prove Jesus was real

When it comes to tackling the big questions of history, one of the things people most want to know is whether Jesus Christ was real.

He's the founder of the world's largest religion, even people who aren't religious still celebrate his birthday, and he's got his very own banging rock opera in the form of Jesus Christ Superstar.

On top of that, people see him pretty much everywhere they go from toast to tangerines, although sometimes it's actually Foo Fighters frontman, Dave Grohl.

Based on the stories about him, Jesus seems like a pretty cool guy - what with his telling people to be nice to each other - but at the heart of it is the burning question about whether the dude was real or not.

Since it's been about two millennia since he lived and died we can't just ask him or his mates about it, so in lieu of living witnesses, scholars have to rely on evidence and records from the time.

Actual objects, which supposedly belonged to Jesus, are highly prized relics in Christianity. If genuine, they would seemingly indicate that he was real, though the authenticity of the relics is often questioned.

Santi Rodriguez / Alamy Stock Photo

One of the more controversial relics is the Turin Shroud, a piece of cloth which bears the faint image of a man's face.

The cloth is said to be the burial shroud Jesus was wrapped in after his crucifixion, and the image of the man's face is supposed to be his.

However, whether this holy relic is real or not is the topic of some debate, and the shroud has been scientifically tested in the hopes of working out whether it's the genuine article or not.

It's kept in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin, Italy, but the Catholic Church is sitting on the fence when it comes to the question of it being the shroud wrapped around Jesus.

Thanks to advances in modern science, the Turin Shroud has been more thoroughly tested in recent years, and some of the findings aren't looking good for it being a genuine piece of evidence.

In 1988, tests on the cloth found that there's a 95 percent chance it was made sometime between 1260 and 1390, so definitely a long time after Jesus was doing his thing.

Torontonian / Alamy Stock Photo

The Turin Shroud is not the only disputed item which was said to have come into contact with Jesus but later on had the authenticity questioned.

Pieces of the crucifix Jesus was crucified on, known as the True Cross, could be found all over medieval Europe - in large part because faking relics in an attempt to boost tourism was a very popular practice at the time.

Then there's the Lance of Longinus, which Jesus was said to have been stabbed with while he was up on the cross (as though getting crucified wasn't bad enough), with four different places saying they've got the original - or at least part of it.

Meanwhile, the supposedly authentic Crown of Thorns was rescued from the flames which engulfed Notre Dame in 2019, and was rehoused in the Louvre, while plenty of places claim to have authentic thorns plucked from the crown.

Then there was something called 'third class relics', basically an item that had been rubbed against the thing people were claiming it to be, in the hopes that it would be infused with some of the original relic's spiritual power.

robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo

While the authenticity of the Turin Shroud and plenty of other relics connected to Jesus is disputed, the consensus among academics is that Jesus was a real person.

Beyond the debate over whether he was actually the son of God or not, historians are pretty sure that Jesus was a real person.

Historical scholars of various faiths (or lack thereof) are pretty sure that there was a Jewish prophet from Galilee, who was baptised and later crucified by the Romans.

The book, Antiquities of the Jews, written in around 93 or 94 AD by the historian Josephus, mentions Jesus while the famous Roman historian, Tacitus, wrote in his book Annals in 116 AD about a 'Christus' who was executed by Pontius Pilate.

While this reference could have been forged later on by Christians, experts believe that was not the case, as Tacitus was not very nice about them in his writings.

So there you go, when it comes to Jesus Christ he was almost certainly a real person, but the Turin Shroud may not be the genuine article.

Topics: News, Science, World News

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker