Treasures from Heaven: Relics From Noah's Ark to the Shroud of Turin

by Steven Sora

A fascinating examination of the most famous religious relics of all time
Since the early days of the Church, Christians have venerated religious relics. In this fascinating book, Steven Sora tells the story of Christianity's most treasured artifacts-the Ark of the Covenant, Noah's Ark, the True Cross, the Spear of Destiny, the Shroud of Turin, and the Holy Grail-as well as lesser-known objects such as the Veil of Veronica and the bones and blood of Biblical figures such as St. Luke. After describing when and where these relics first came to light and what miraculous powers people believe they possess, he discusses what modern science can tell us about these much-revered objects-and what science still fails to explain.
Steven Sora (Easton, PA) is the author of The Lost Treasure of the Knights Solving the Oak Island Mystery and the forthcoming Secret Societies of America's From the Knights Templar to Skull and Bones.

Genres: Nonfiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Peter Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrifically written book collating the major relic mysteries of the world. I love reading about Noah's Ark, The Ark of The Covenant, The Shroud and soforth and this covers all the best and most interesting, is very well written and hard to put down. It's my favourite in terms of a compilation of the major relics, I wish the writer would make individual books for each, that would be brilliant.

[KR · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting chapter in this book was the first one on the shroud of Turin. Most of the chapters felt like a summary history of different relics.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up Catholic, I have always had a fascination with relics. I do think there is a power or spirit to an object, especially those with a unique past. The reverence held by so many people to an object adds to this power. This book was a great read, fairly balanced- neither too skeptic nor too insistent. The histories of the objects presented seemed concise and up to date for the time of publication. I know little of the history of the Crusades but it does seem that these objects and their importance was a rather large aspect in their beginnings and continuance.