For centuries, the Shroud of Turin has captivated believers and skeptics alike, standing as one of the most enigmatic religious artifacts in human history. Yet, when Jonathan Roumie and Mel Gibson speak of it, their voices drop to hushed tones, filled with awe and spiritual weight that leaves listeners stunned. Roumie, who portrays Jesus in the acclaimed series The Chosen, and Gibson, director of the visceral film The Passion of the Christ, bring unique perspectives shaped by their intimate engagement with the life and death of Christ. Their conversation about the Shroud is no casual chat—it is raw, unscripted, and deeply moving.

Roumie’s discovery came unexpectedly during location scouting for The Chosen in Southern California. Wandering into a room dedicated entirely to the Shroud, he was struck not by religious artifacts or candles, but by a comprehensive scientific exhibit curated by one of the world’s foremost Shroud experts. The evidence presented was overwhelming: anomalies unexplained by medieval forgery, forensic details matching gospel accounts, and physical properties defying known human craftsmanship.

This moment was transformative for Roumie—a man who had prayed through every scene and sought to understand Jesus’s heart now stood before what might be the actual image of that same man. The timing was poignant; recent studies had debunked the 1988 carbon dating that labeled the Shroud a medieval fake, revealing the tested sample was from a repaired patch, not the original cloth. Even skeptics like Joe Rogan have taken notice, signaling the Shroud’s significance beyond religious circles.

The Shroud depicts a first-century Hebrew male, about six feet tall, scourged and crucified in precise alignment with gospel narratives. But what truly stuns scientists is how the image was formed. Unlike any painting or photograph, the Shroud’s image exists without paint, ink, or human touch. Its creation resembles the mysterious “shadows” left on walls after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima—where intense light bleached surfaces except where bodies blocked it.

In both cases, ultraviolet light played a crucial role. The Shroud’s image encodes exact distances between body and fabric, producing a perfect three-dimensional model when analyzed—something never seen in any human-made artifact. Microscopic examination reveals that only about one fibril out of every two hundred in the linen thread is discolored, and only on the outermost surface layer, with no trace of pigments or dyes. This points to rapid aging and oxidation caused by a laser-like UVB radiation, not medieval technology.

Further intrigue comes from the possibility that human DNA emits photons in the ultraviolet range; if amplified, the body itself could have been a source of this laser-like radiation, imprinting the image on the cloth. But what event could cause every cell in a human body to emit such concentrated UV light simultaneously?

The long-held claim that the Shroud is a medieval forgery was based on flawed carbon dating, as the sample tested contained cotton fibers and dye from repairs centuries later. The main cloth’s weave matches first-century textiles, consistent with Jewish burial practices, and contains no dyes or medieval materials. This evidence supports a date roughly two thousand years old.

Forensic experts have studied the wounds on the Shroud’s image, concluding it depicts a real man subjected to brutal Roman scourging with a flagrum whip, a crown of thorns pressed into the scalp, nail wounds through the wrists (not palms), and a spear wound in the side inflicted after death—all matching gospel accounts with remarkable anatomical accuracy.

Even more astonishing are bloodstains shaped unmistakably like the number three on the forehead, heel, head, and on the Sudarium of Oviedo—a separate cloth linked to Jesus’s burial. Blood typically flows randomly, so the recurring “three” is statistically impossible to be accidental. This number references the biblical “sign of Jonah,” symbolizing Jesus’s resurrection after three days.

Scientists analyzing the Shroud’s image conclude the creator possessed an intelligence and mastery of mathematics, optics, and physics far beyond medieval knowledge, combined with compassion that invites empathy rather than horror. For Roumie, the Shroud is a “fingerprint