Do the new X-ray tests on the Shroud of Turin show the 1988 carbon-14 date was flawed?
Robert Sungenis answers yes: carbon-14 results can be skewed, even by medieval dust, and the new tests point to a relic about 2,000 years old. He holds that this does not prove it is Christ's shroud, but that by elimination, given its wounds and bodily detail, it comes very close, and he expects God to give such signs before the end.
A viewer notes that recent X-ray testing on the Shroud of Turin has led even secular outlets to admit it dates to the time of Christ and that the 1988 carbon-14 test was flawed, and asks whether Robert agrees.
Answer
Yes, I do agree, because carbon-14 tests can be influenced by a number of things; even dust from the 14th century could have given a wacky C14 result and made it look like it came from the Middle Ages. With C14 it depends on what you are testing, and sometimes you have no idea. The way they did it recently, and it is about time somebody figured it out, showed a 2,000-year-old relic. Now, that does not prove it is Christ; it proves it came from that time. But it is not too far a stretch to ask who else would have created a shroud like this, showing all the bodily parts and wounds; by the process of elimination alone you come very close to proving it is Jesus Christ on the Shroud. You figure that before the end of the world God is going to give us something that says 'this is the true blue,' another piece of the puzzle, before he comes in the clouds.