The Quest for the True Cross by Carsten Thiede and Matthew d'Ancona

Like their previous book The Jesus Papyrus, The Quest for the True Cross is a well reasoned investigation of the relics of the crucifixion ensconced in the chapel of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme Church of Rome. Having personally visited this Church and looked at the collection of relics there, the only one that seems very compelling is the Titulus Crucis which is the placard one sees depicted in scenes of the crucifixion of Jesus that typically reads “INRI”. The other relics such as the two thorns from the crown of thorns, the nail, the cross of the good thief, and two pieces from the cross of Christ could be the genuine articles, but they could also be pieces of someone else’s cross or simply pious frauds for the purpose of catechizing the faithful. In the book, Thiede recreates the story of Saint Helena and the plausibility of her actually finding the relics of the crucifixion in Jerusalem. He points out that historically, it is known that the Emperor Hadrian had a pagan temple built on Golgotha at the end of the 2^nd Jewish War as a means of defiling this Christian site and preventing Christians from going there to worship. The unintended result was that the sight caused pain to the Christian community there, but on the other hand it marked its exact location. Led by a vision and the Christian community, Helena had the temple torn down and beneath the rubble it was built on were found three crosses and the Titulus Crucis. This placard came to Rome with Helena who made her home there in the Sessorian Palace which later became the Church of San Croce. When the Church was being restored in 1492, some newly removed stucco revealed a brick marked Titulus Crucis. Behind the brick was a lead box containing this relic and others related to the crucifixion. For the next 500 years these relics are displayed in Rome in the Church. In 1998 a study was done on the plaque that revealed that its makeup, style, paint fragments, and visible words make it very consistent with 1^st Century Roman practices of crucifixion. Also the words appear in Latin, Greek, and Aramaic which is also consistent with the Gospels. Is this an actual relic from Jesus’ crucifixion so long ago? Of course there is no way to know with absolute certainty, but Thiede and d’Ancona present a plausible and reasonable case that shouldn’t be immediately dismissed.