By Jerome R. Corsi, author of “The Shroud Codex.”
I have been fascinated with the Shroud of Turin since I first saw it at a senior retreat at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio. I remember the image of the crucified man in the Shroud made a profound impact on me and I was impressed by the physical brutality of the crucifixion and the serenity of the face.
That initial interest led to me studying the Shroud for decades. I finally starting write a fictional novel about it last March, “The Shroud Codex,” about a hidden message contained within the cloth, because I believe a captivating story will draw many more people into investigating it. My models were Michael Crichton who used fiction to explore cutting edge science and the best-selling Dan Brown, author of “The Da Vinci Code.”
“The Shroud Codex” is essentially a “The Da Vinci Code” for believers. It’s a fast paced mystery, but not a preaching religious book. My skeptics — Dr. Stephen Castle and Professor Marco Gabrielli — end up still questioning at the end of the novel.
A key point I wanted to explore in writing the book is that faith and science do not have to be at odds, even though I take belief in God to involve a leap in faith. I don’t expect science or reason will ever take us 100 percent there.

What I find most fascinating is how the cutting edge of physics — particle physics and a multiple dimension universe — is converging with the traditional Christian understanding of the soul’s survival into an afterlife, very much as the physics of the “Big Bang” is coinciding with the way we as Christians have understood creation, as described in Genesis.
My personal belief is that the Shroud is the actual burial cloth of Christ–it is a true 3D image and it is hard to imagine how any medieval artist, regardless how brilliant, could have forged it– but I leave that decision to the conclusion of the reader. My goal is to get people to think seriously about how modern science can and does confirm key aspects of religion. The Shroud has deepened my faith because it has forced me to examine the facts and meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection more closely.
I was in Turin in February and met with the Archbishop’s committee and the head of the Shroud Museum. I have press credentials to return to see the Shroud and report for World Net Daily on May 2, 2010 when the Pope is will venerate the Shroud. I also met with the Vatican in February and the Pope’s Cultural Council helped introduce me to professional full-time staff researchers at the Vatican Secret Archives — they shared information with me from their most recent investigations and it was very helpful in writing “The Shroud Codex.”
Ultimately, I hope readers will have a better understanding of why the Shroud of Turin has fascinated so many millions — including me — for hundreds of years.
You can purchase “The Shroud Codex” on Amazon.com.