This week, we were able to catch up with Pamela Ewen as she wrapped up a bookstore tour promoting the latest release of her novel Secret of the Shroud. Pamela has spent the past 15 years researching the Shroud and digging to the very roots and origins of the Christian faith, even traveling to a rare exhibition in Turin, Italy to see it in person. Though many people do not believe the Shroud to be genuine, Pamela's research taken her on a journey of the heart--one that has left her convinced that it's not only real, but a miraculous gift and tangible reminder of Jesus' sacrifice. Here's what she had to say to say about her personal experience researching and writing her novel:

Q:  Tell us in 30 words or less about Secret of the Shroud.

A: Suspense fiction based on actual details of the most intriguing artifact of Christianity, the Shroud of Turin, the purported burial cloth of Jesus. Power. Revenge. At stake: Absolute Truth.

Q:  What gave you the idea to write this book?
   
I believe that Christianity today is under attack—that charismatic, powerful people desire to destroy the power of the church from within by shifting attention from true focus on the cross and the resurrection, which gives us an absolute standard for right and wrong, and toward a message that our beliefs are mere philosophy and that right and wrong, good and evil depend on the culture and circumstances. These efforts are often masked by celebrity, charisma, humor, or condescension—these are wolves in sheeps’ clothing, and I wanted to write about that. 

At the same time the Shroud of Turin has re-emerged, along with growing evidence that this is truly the burial cloth of Jesus. The Shroud is a fourteen foot long linen cloth bearing the detailed image, front and back, of a man who has been flagellated, crucified with nails in hands and feet, with a wound in his side and bloodied from a crown of thorns. After a century of intensive scientific scrutiny, science still has found no explanation for the detailed image of this crucified man bearing the marks and blood of wounds described in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And I ask myself, why has the full impact of the Shroud surged forth just now in human history?

In Secret of the Shroud these two forces collide—a wealthy, powerful man is confronted with the Shroud and a choice that may destroy him, a choice between truth and a lie. The first edition of this book was titled Walk Back The Cat. This newly released second edition, Secret of the Shroud, contains some new content and was issued in conjunction with the rare public exhibition of the Shroud in Turin, Italy last May, which I attended.  The title was changed for clarity, because actual evidence on the cloth reveals something so surprising and mysterious that we wanted to focus more on that. It’s information which you won’t often find in mainstream media, but which has now been authenticated by experts. 

Q: What type of research did you do for this book?

I researched if for many years. The Shroud is often (incorrectly) treated lightly, as though it were just another religious relic among many. I came across some of the scientific conclusions on the Shroud when writing my first book, a non-fiction book titled Faith On Trial. At that time I was an agnostic, and still a lawyer. I wanted so much to believe, but just couldn’t get there. I had questions. Studies in archeology, writings by ancient church fathers, scientific evidence, forensic evidence, medical evidence, and much more information that I found when writing Faith On Trial answered my questions. Like Doubting Thomas, all this evidence laid a strong foundation for faith and I became a committed Christian. The Shroud of Turin was one piece of evidence that lingered in my mind, and I turned back to it again when writing Secret of the Shroud. 

There are numerous books and peer-reviewed, scientific papers written on the various aspects of the mystery of the Shroud of Turin. (Most of these papers are now published on www.shroud.com.) The evidence that it is authentic is massive: the blood, the precision of the wounds in accordance with the Gospels, faint images on the cloth evident only with extremely sophisticated tools—very detailed scientific photography—circumstantial historical evidence, chemical and forensic evidence from samples taken from the cloth in the Vatican study mentioned below, and the mystery of the creation of the image itself, which no one yet understands. I reviewed everything and absorbed it all.

Q: Now that you have seen the Shroud of Turin, would you add or change some of the description currently in the book?

No. The Shroud was recently restored and the image contrast is not quite as dramatic as it was before, but it’s still clearly the image described above. Before going into the Cathedral for the viewing, pilgrims are shown the mysterious positive/negative element of the Shroud, which is this: The image on the Shroud is like the ‘positive’ image of a photograph, the actual print of a picture when it’s finished. Looking directly at the Shroud the image of the crucified man appears faint, difficult to see after two thousand years. But in 1896 when the very first photograph was taken of the Shroud, as the negative began developing in the solution, the photographer was stunned to see emerging through the fluid a finely detailed image of the mutilated body, the face, the wounds. This is an astounding fact about the image, one of the things that makes it so difficult to understand. And of course, the Shroud image was created about 18 centuries before photography was invented.

So Pilgrims going into the viewing knew this, and were not surprised to see that the Shroud image detail was not as clear as on the negative image photographs with which they are familiar. And that preparation was a good thing, because unfortunately, the 2002 restoration was performed by Turin authorities without input from scientists around the world who’ve spent their entire careers studying the Shroud, and as a result they made some shocking mistakes. For example, the linen was steamed, resulting in the loss of historically important folds in the cloth. Pollen on the cloth that established its origin was vacuumed off. Historical burn and water marks were repaired. All of these things were important because they traced the journey of the Shroud through the centuries. Luckily, in 1978 the Vatican permitted an international team of scientists to study the Shroud in detail for five days and those records still provide the frame of reference for all scientific studies. Our guide and friend, Barrie Schwortz, was the official documentary photographer during that ‘78 study, and his photographs of the cloth are extremely clear and detailed. If you’ve seen pictures of the Shroud, chances are they were Barrie’s—he’s internationally known for this work. Barrie has been kind enough to permit us to include one of his photographs, that of the face of the Man of the Shroud in this 2nd edition of my book, Secret of the Shroud. His pictures of the image are iconic, this one in particular. Barrie hosted the recent television documentaries on the Shroud aired on the Discovery Channel and the History Channel.

Q: Can you share with us some of the thoughts of the Shroud photographer, Barrie Schwortz, when he first photographed it in the 70s and now?

The exhibition in May was the first time that Barrie and most other Shroud experts had been allowed to view the cloth since its restoration. Of course the controversial restoration process and results had been written about and discussed since 2002. The exhibition was an emotional experience for everyone, particularly for Barrie. Some of the post-restoration changes seen in person (and described above) were shocking. Afterward we gathered in the courtyard of the Cathedral. Barrie noted that the quality of the lighting was probably responsible for the diminished color and contrast. Poor illumination at the exhibition made the Shroud appear grayish, rather than having the warm ‘straw-colored’ tone that it had before. The human blood on the Shroud pre-restoration was red and now appears dark gray. The red color on such an ancient cloth was unusual, but Shroud scientist Alan Adler explained the importance of this years ago. Torture of the Man of the Shroud over a long period of time would have caused blood cells to break down. That causes the liver to flood the blood with a substance called bilirubin, giving the blood a permanent red color—providing some confirmation of the Gospel testimony of the torture Jesus endured. The change in color was therefore a tragic loss of evidence. Color is Barrie’s expertise. He’s one of the few people in the world who’ve been allowed to light the Shroud for photography, so he is acutely aware of how the Shroud ‘should’ appear. Interesting fact: Barrie is Jewish, yet he’s spent his life studying the Shroud and acting as a ‘messenger’ for those seeking information. He believes the Shroud image is inexplicable. Check out my website for an interview he gave me while in Turin—he’s a fascinating person.

Q: What is the most remarkable thing about seeing the Shroud in person?
 
The Shroud is a miraculous gift—there is no other way to explain the survival of this piece of linen through the centuries bearing the image it bears. After more than fifteen years of research, I have come to believe that the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus, and that the image on the cloth is a picture of Christ at the moment of his resurrection. There is no way to describe how it feels to stand in the presence of the Shroud—emotionally this is a universe apart from seeing pictures of it. You are in the presence of tremendous love and it imprints your heart. And tremendous peace. I looked at the blood marks from the crown of thorns, the wounds, the remarkable kind face with one swollen eye, and knew that whatever turmoil we create here on earth, Jesus is with us, we are his children. This cloth bears that message, yet again. Again.

And again.

I cannot explain. Cannot fully describe this experience.

Q: Is writing suspense different from writing, say romance?

I don’t think so. Most stories that grab me contain suspense, regardless of the genre. If you think of great literary love stories, the reader is always teased with obstacles, misunderstandings, conflicts—will the lovers get together at last? Think of Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers—there’s enough suspense over the relationship between Michael and Angel in that book to keep you reading through the nights. Same with Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. So I think it’s really just a question of the writer’s focus in the storyline. But either way you have to fully develop the characters and the situation for readers to care about the outcome.