AN ATHEIST filmmaker who went on to prove the Shroud of Turin was a bluff is now convinced Jesus was buried in that cloth.
David Rolfe was a disbeliever when he began filming his first documentary on the mysterious cloth but converted to Christianity after finding shocking evidence.
Mr Rolfe began filming The Silent Witness to find out a prosaic explanation behind the Shroud of Turin – and how could it possibly have the blood-soaked imprints of a man who believers claim was Jesus.
However, while shooting the documentary – which won the 1978 BAFTA award – the filmmaker claimed he found astonishing evidence that forced him to believe it was real.
The famed Shroud of Turin – a piece of linen imprinted with the image of a bearded man – has been a mystery for centuries.
The 14-foot-long piece of cloth has a faint image of a man with severe wounds on various parts of his body.
It was first displayed publicly in 1350 and since 1578 has been preserved in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy – hence its name.
Believers claim Jesus was wrapped in the shroud before he was buried and that the image is him, while others have disagreed and branded it a hoax.
But Mr Rolfe says he believes the cloth is real – and there is no other explanation as to why the cloth has an imprint matching the description of Jesus.
He told MailOnline: “I started off as an atheist, and then became an agnostic.
“[But] now I’m now a Christian because I cannot possibly understand anything else that could have produced that image.
“I am convinced [the Shroud of Turin] is authentic, I personally have no doubt.”
To prove his case, Mr Rolfe took two pictures of the cloth – both positive and negative prints – to Dr Robert Bucklin in 1997 to conduct an autopsy.
He said the autopsy reports found three straight lines on the imprint of the man.
Interestingly, the Romans used a special kind of whip called a flagrum which had three leather bands with a ball of spikes attached at the end of each of them.
This also aligns with the Bible’s chapter Jon 12:1, which reads: “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.”
Mr Rolfe says he believes such intricate details is what makes the Shroud of Turin a real deal.
He added: “[The Roman flagrum] made a straight line of three and left as scars and blood marks on the back.
“The detail is just amazing, you can actually calculate the height of the people who carried out flagellation by these marks on the cloth.”
Since his first documentary, Mr Rolfe has produced over 90 short films that focus on the mysterious piece of cloth.
The filmmaker even opened a $1m prize to anyone who is able to reproduce the image on a cloth with the same marks of a wounded man.
But he said no one has been able to reproduce the image and claim the prize.
He added: “It could only be done by a process that we can’t possibly understand because it was the thing that created Christianity.
“It was the resurrection. It was a dead man who came to life, and it was a miracle.”
It comes after scientists made a shocking new discovery which suggests a burial cloth claimed to show an imprint of Jesus could be real.
New evidence suggests the cloth was made around 2,000 years ago – the same period when he was said to have lived and died.
Most estimates say Jesus was crucified in AD 33, based on the Julian calendar, Bible passages and gospels from the time – 1,991 years ago.
Researchers in 1988 claimed to have debunked the relic and proved it was from the Middle Ages – hundreds of years after Jesus.
Dr Liberato De Caro, lead author of the latest study, said the old research – which used carbon dating to estimate the shroud was made between the years 1260 and 1390 – was unreliable.
The Bible states Joseph of Arimathea was the man who wrapped Jesus’ body in linen before placing it in the tomb.
A passage from Matthew 27:59-60 reads: “Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a new linen cloth.
“He put Jesus’ body in a new tomb that he had dug in a wall of rock.”
THE Shroud of Turin is a mysterious piece of linen cloth which has left researchers debating its origins for centuries.
Many have suggested the cloth was used to wrap around Jesus before his burial following the crucifixion.
Others have said it was produced far too late to be used by Jesus.
The burial cloth has captivated the minds of historians, church chiefs and religious sceptics since it was first shown publicly in the 1350s.
Esteemed French knight Geoffroi de Charny gave it to the dean of a church in Lirey, France.
It was later dubbed the Holy Shroud when the suggestions that it was used for Jesus came about.
Many of these theories relate to how it features brown marks across it resembling a person’s face and body.
Scientists have said the feint markings could possibly belong to the son of God.
It is 14ft 5in long and 3ft 7in in width and actually features some burn marks.
The shroud was damaged in a fire in 1532 in the chapel in Chambéry, France and was later repaired by nuns.
Scientists have long been studying the Shroud of Turin with hopes of solving the long-standing mystery.
More than 170 peer-reviewed academic papers have been published about the linen since the 1980s.
Despite a variation in findings, many do believe it was used to bury Jesus.
