A new book on the historical evidence for Jesus has soared to the top of the bestseller charts as a prominent New Testament scholar argues that archaeological finds prove the authenticity of the Bible and the resurrection.
In “The Jesus Discoveries: 10 Historic Finds That Bring Us Face-to-Face With Jesus,” author Dr. Jeremiah Johnston points out 10 major archaeological finds, including the controversial Shroud of Turin and the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are historical artifacts that confirm biblical accounts.
The book reached No. 2 on Amazon’s nonfiction bestseller list last week, and No. 3 on the New York Times bestseller list this week. Johnston has recently shared his research on several popular podcasts, including the “Shawn Ryan Show,” which has reached more than 1 million views.
Johnston said he has spent the past four years traveling the world consulting with scientists and archaeologists studying these artifacts. He argues that the findings provide compelling evidence for the New Testament, regardless of a person’s religious background.
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A replica of the crown worn by Jesus Christ in “The Shroud of Turin: An Immersive Experience” on November 18, 2025 at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.
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“It turns out that we can learn 65 facts about the birth, life, ministry, miracles and, of course, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus before we even open the Bible. And no other religious figure on planet Earth has better evidence than this,” he told Fox News Digital.
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One discovery is the Shroud of Turin, believed by some to be a burial cloth wrapped around Jesus Christ, while others believe it is a 13th-century forgery. The Shroud is unique compared to other 1st century burial cloths because it shows the image of a tortured, crucified man.
“The fascinating thing about the Shroud of Turin is that it has an image of a brutal, suffering, crucified man on the front and back that when you see it in a photo negative, you actually see it in a positive photo and it takes your breath away,” Johnston said.
He said the details on the cloth showing the man’s injuries match the biblical story of how Jesus was killed.
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The Shroud of Turin or Shroud of Turin is a length of linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma similar to crucifixion. There is still no consensus on how the image was created.
“The red blood cells are broken down in the bilirubin because he’s been hurt. He has high levels of ferritin and creatinine. And then you see there’s a bruise on the left side, ribs five and six pierced,” Johnston said. He notes that the Shroud shows the man’s wrists and feet pierced instead of the man’s hands and feet, as art of later centuries often depicts the crucifixion.
He also said that the pollen samples taken from the cloth were from the Jerusalem area. He argues that no one has been able to replicate the fabric’s “mysterious properties, including its structural purity, lack of pigment and three-dimensional characteristics.”
“The picture is only 0.2 microns thin. You realize that’s about one-fifth the thickness of a strand of our hair?” Johnston said. “How superficial is the image on the Shroud.”
Johnston spoke with Italian physicist Paolo Di Lazzaro, a senior researcher at the ENEA research center in Rome, who spent five years recreating the image.
According to Johnston, Lazaro’s tests found that it “takes 34,000 billion watts of radiant energy delivered in 1-40 billionths of a second to create an image”.
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People during the unveiling of the virtual “Holy Shroud” for the Feast of the Shroudat Piazza Castello on April 28, 2025 in Turin, Italy.
Johnston believes the findings suggest it was created by a supernatural event.
“That’s why I say the Shroud of Turin is not the garment of death, it’s the garment of resurrection. It’s the moment when Jesus’ physical body came back to life,” he claimed.
The Shroud has only been carbon-dated once, in 1988, returning a date of 1260-1390. Johnston says recent peer-reviewed studies have “dishonored” the dating, arguing the sample was a contaminated area that had been patched up. He said new techniques using wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) “confirmed the first century date.”
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He points to other evidence that suggests the Shroud is older than the radiocarbon date, such as a similar image of Jesus in front of the seventh-century solidus of Emperor Justinian II.
The Shroud is just one invention that Johnston discusses in the book. He also described an artifact dubbed the “Jesus Cup” that dates back to 50 AD. The chalice is inscribed in Greek with a phrase describing Jesus as a sorcerer or sorcerer, which Johnston says was famous throughout the Roman Empire as Jesus’ healer.
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Other artifacts in the book include the James Ossuary, the Magdalene Papyrus, and Pontius Pilate.
Johnston said he wants to help Christians and non-believers see the historical evidence of Christianity.
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“Not one scrap of the New Testament would have been written” if it weren’t for the evidence-based belief that Jesus’ apostles saw him alive after death, he said.
“We should be suspicious of anything we commit our lives to,” he said. “The beautiful thing is, the deeper you go into Christianity with your questions, the stronger our faith becomes.”
Original article source: A new book on the archaeological evidence for Jesus rockets to the top of the bestseller list
