No, there are not. In fact, as we shall see, Scripture clearly refutes the teaching that the Lord was buried in a ONE-PIECE BURIAL CLOTH (covering the whole body including the head) that has been labeled “the Shroud of Turin.” This Shroud was supposedly discovered and revealed in the 14th Century and is currently on display in Turin, Italy and thus the name “Shroud of Turin.” You can see pictures of it by going to the website www.shroud.com/examine.htm. It seems to have imprints on it resembling the marks that would result from one being crucified, along with other marks consistent with the physical wounds the Lord Jesus received before the crucifixion as he was tortured by His enemies. These, along with scientific tests that have been done on the linen cloth to determine its date, supposedly lend support to the view that this burial cloth could indeed be the one that Jesus was buried in. But again, Scripture is our sole Authority that we turn to in order to determine this claim, and several verses will completely dismiss this claim as being authentic. Here are the verses I’m referring to:

“Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the LINEN CLOTHS lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the LINEN CLOTHS lying there, AND THE HANDKERCHIEF that had been around His head, NOT LYING WITH THE LINEN CLOTHS, but folded together in a place by itself” (John 20:3-7….NKJV).

We might also add that when the body of Jesus was being prepared for burial by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, it is said that they “took the body of Jesus, and BOUND IT IN STRIPS OF LINEN with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury” (John 19:40). So, it is obvious that Jesus was NOT buried in a “one-piece linen cloth,” but in “strips of line” AND with a separate “handkerchief that has been around His head.” This is conclusive; we need not investigate any further since the Bible, which is inerrant, has spoken and we gladly accept its testimony as God’s infallible Word.

In closing, we might well ask, “Why is it so important for some to believe that the Shroud of Turin is the burial linen that Jesus was buried in?” Sadly, they seem to need PHYSICAL EVIDENCE of the Lord’s death and resurrection. But for the true believer all we need is God’s Word and we have many, many passages that testify of our Savior’s death, burial and resurrection (all the gospel accounts speak of this, the apostles preached this truth over and over again in the book of Acts, and the epistles emphasize this truth as the ground of our salvation). I would close with one of those precious passages upon which our salvation rests: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also your received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved….For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ DIED for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was BURIED, and that He ROSE AGAIN the third day according to the Scriptures” (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).  (371.3)  (DO)