Relics of the Christ

Joe Nickell is an investigator known for applying forensic and historical method to claimed paranormal and religious relics, and this academic book, published by University Press of Kentucky, examines the physical and documentary evidence for major claimed relics of Jesus, including the Shroud of Turin and True Cross fragments, against the standards of forensic and historical investigation. Its strength is systematic application of testable physical evidence, carbon dating, art historical analysis and documentary provenance, rather than treating a relic's veneration history as evidence of its authenticity. Its limit is that as a work with an explicitly skeptical investigative stance, it should be read alongside the devotional and theological literature these relics carry within their own traditions for the fuller picture of what they mean to believers.