Un cas particulier d'apologétique appliquée : l'utilisation des apocryphes pour authentifier le Mandylion d’Édesse et le Suaire de Turin

Some apocryphal texts – read in a biased, superficial and uncritical way – have been used with an apologetic function to support the historicity and authenticity of certain relics that are said to come from the apostolic period. A significant example is that of the Holy Shroud of Turin, a medieval cloth; the supporters of its authenticity believe that it was known to the authors of certain apocryphal texts, that its story is told in the Abgar cycle (where it would appear in the form of the cloth known as the Mandylion of Edessa) and that it is also recognisable in certain special iconographic representations.