BSTS Golden Jubilee Convention

Ian is an author of historical and religious books and one of the world’s most recognised authorities on the Shroud of Turin. He has written five books about the Shroud including the 1978 international best-seller, The Turin Shroud. He was one of the founder members of the BSTS, having chaired the meeting in 1976 which gave birth to the organisation, and was also the first editor of the BSTS Newsletter.

Ian’s presentation will reveal details of his recent historical research which has led to a ground-breaking new understanding of the Shroud’s middle years.

Father Dalton is a well-known international speaker on the Shroud whose approach bridges the gap between scientific observation and theological interpretation. He is based in Rome, where he teaches at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. He has also worked with international Shroud experts to develop a postgraduate certificate in Shroud Studies and teaches The Biblical Theology of the Passion of the Christ for that programme.

Father Dalton will delve into why the Shroud of Turin deserves widespread attention and how it can help to strengthen and deepen our faith.

Mark is a professional translator, interpreter and author of various history books including The Image of Edessa and The History of the Sudarium of Oviedo: How it Came from Jerusalem to Northern Spain in the Seventh Century A.D. He was editor of the BSTS Newsletter from 2002 to 2013.

Many Shroud sceptics often argue that the Shroud has no written history before it was recorded in Lirey in the mid-fourteenth century. The purpose of Mark's presentation is to show just how wrong and misleading this is, as there are in fact numerous references to the Shroud before this time.

David is an award winning film director whose extensive film credits include the 1978 BAFTA-winning documentary The Silent Witness. He has since produced and directed four further films about the Shroud, including Who Can He Be? which was released in 2022. David was editor of the BSTS Newsletter from 2017 to 2022.

David will be talking about the making of the film The Silent Witness and some of the extraordinary challenges and events that occurred throughout the production process.

Justin is a historian and author working within the coin industry. A fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society and a member of the British Numismatic Society, Justin is also a regular contributor to Coin News, the UK’s biggest selling coin magazine.

Justin’s presentation advances the theory that facial features on certain Byzantine coins from the seventh century onwards appear to echo the same distinctive asymmetries seen on the Shroud’s image. This provides compelling evidence that the Shroud, or an image derived from it, was seen and carefully copied by coin engravers in Constantinople who were keen to create an accurate likeness of the face on the mysterious image not made by human hands.

Michael has made a detailed study of dating evidence relating to the Shroud of Turin, including the controversial 1988 radiocarbon dating test. He is the author of The Shroud of Christ: Evidence of a 2,000 year Antiquity and has been the editor of the BSTS Newsletter since succeeding David Rolfe in 2022.

Michael’s presentation will outline many of the flaws and deficiencies found throughout every stage of the carbon dating process, which have led to widespread belief that the Shroud radiocarbon dating result cannot be trusted. He will also cover the 2022 dating measurement made using Wide Angle X-Ray Scattering which has dated the linen of the Shroud to the first century.