“Know this first of all, that in the last days, scoffers will come with scoffing, living according to their own desires.” — 2 Peter 3:3

It is perhaps the most famous piece of cloth in the world. For centuries, the Shroud of Turin has captivated the imaginations of the devout, the skeptical, and those unable to find the remote to turn off the History Channel during Easter Week.

Draped in mystery, shrouded in controversy and clothed in scandals, it has been the subject of endless debate. Is it a medieval forgery? Or is it the actual burial Shroud of our Lord and Savior?

Let me take you back in time to 1988, when it was announced that reputable scientists were using “modern” scientific technology and the objective media would be there for us to decipher what it all meant, people were excited. It’s difficult to imagine how big of a deal this was in so many Catholic households. I can tell you that, at the time, my parents believed it to be the burial cloth of your Savior and mine, Jesus Christ. I did too.

But then The Science spake from on high while standing next to microscopes and machines with blinking lights and declared the Shroud to be nothing more than a mere medieval forgery. For me, it was a gut punch.

I mean, they had machines with blinking lights! What force on Earth could stand against such authority?

I recall my mother being dubious about their scientific findings. I, who knew everything in the way that only 19-year-olds can know everything, declared, “Mom, it’s science!” I spoke slowly and explained carefully that there was no disputing The Science. I rolled my eyes at her childlike faith.

I don’t think I was alone. I’ve spoken to several people who said the news shook them. They remember it well. In our culture, there came to be seen a great divide between science and faith. On the one hand, you had these troglodytes with prayer candles who’d just been proven wrong by The Science, and on the other, you had the bespectacled geniuses standing next to machines with blinking lights.

The future, it seemed, was theirs. Western culture seemed to come to this altogether reasonable conclusion: Science should heretofore be considered the ultimate arbiter of truth, and all future questions should be laid at the altar of science.

I mean, science has never led us astray, right?

In college, I rediscovered my faith and found my wife. One morning, my wife and I were browsing through a garage sale, where I found a book on the Shroud for 25 cents. It posited that everything we thought we’d learned had been wrong. There began my journey (if a “journey” can include never moving from the couch). I read more than a dozen books on the Shroud, watched more videos than I can remember, and scoured the works of Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer.

I learned that the image on the Shroud is not the result of painting, dyeing, or any other known artistic technique.

So, to be clear, The Science dismissed the Shroud as a hoax without even understanding how it could have been created?

I also learned that the samples tested may have come from a portion of the cloth that was repaired after being damaged in a fire. On top of that, all the samples were taken from the same area on the cloth despite a committee of scientists recommending that seven samples from at least three separate areas of the cloth would be necessary for accuracy. To be clear, the carbon daters ended up taking only one sample and dividing it into three pieces.

Wait. What?

I further learned that the images of the wounds on the Shroud line up with those described in the Gospels. And I learned that the bloodstains seem to be actual blood. I also learned that the pollen on the Shroud is from ancient Israel.

Most recently, Italian scientists with letters after their names using lasers, wide-angle X-ray machines, and even more modern expensive gadgets with blinking lights indicate that the Shroud is about 2,000 years old, which would put it at just about the same time as that little incident you and I like to call the Resurrection.

So for those keeping score at home, science has uncovered that the Shroud is about 2,000 years old. The pollen is from Israel. They posit that the only way to create the image is with a massive burst of electromagnetic radiation. The blood on it is typically found in Israel. There is also chemical evidence that the blood on the cloth is high in the blood chemical bilirubin, which is consistent with a body that has been tortured.

Now even goggle-wearing nerds are scratching their heads upon being presented with the ultimate 21st-century conundrum: What if science leads to God?

This is not new. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and the rationality of creation has led many to believe in a Creator.

Johannes Kepler, who discovered the laws of planetary motion once wrote, “I am merely thinking God’s thoughts after him.” And Francis Collins, the leader of the Genome Project, said that the discovery of DNA points to a creator.

Ours considers itself a rational age, built on logic and science. We call our age “post-Christian.” A generally accepted axiom of our modern age is that something isn’t real unless it can be scanned by a laser. But if we’re to believe The Science, we’re now being told that the Shroud is real … because Science says so.

To me, this speaks of a loving God who is reminding us that we are not forgotten and he will chase us down in our disbelief.

It’s a beautiful and comforting idea that at the moment of his Resurrection, Jesus left some “Easter eggs” for us 21st-century scoffers. He reached out to us in our pride and ignorance and transformed the vehicle of our disbelief into one that leads us to belief. God knew that only our “rational” and “scientific” age could unlock the truth about the Shroud. There’s something wonderful, beautiful and reassuring in that. Jesus was crucified. He rose on Sunday. And he had us on his mind. Yes, us — the ones in the post-Christian age who’ve mostly turned from him. He cared enough about us to leave us evidence of the Resurrection (while also giving us an excuse to use lasers).

What a wonderful thought. God had our scoffing age in mind at the moment of his Resurrection. He left us clues that only we could unlock. That is a mind-blowing, soul-filling, heart-skipping-a-beat love.

The Science is shocked to learn that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. So I guess what I’m saying to all you folks who don’t believe in God is — trust The Science.