Posted on 03/29/2006 6:56:47 PM PST by Flavius
PARIS (AFP) - The image of the crucifixion, one of the most powerful emblems of Christianity, may be quite erroneous, according to a study which says there is no evidence to prove Jesus was crucified in this manner. ADVERTISEMENT
Around the world, in churches, on the walls of Christian homes, on crucifixes worn as pendants, in innumerable books, paintings and movies, Jesus Christ is seen nailed to the cross by his hands and feet, with his head upwards and arms outstretched.
But a paper published by Britain's prestigious Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) says this image has never been substantiated in fact.
Christ could have been crucified in any one of many ways, all of which would have affected the causes of his death, it says.
"The evidence available demonstrates that people were crucified in different postures and affixed to crosses using a variety of means," said one of the authors, Piers Mitchell of Imperial College London.
"Victims were not necessarily positioned head up and nailed through the feet from front to back, as is the imagery in Christian churches."
The authors do not express any doubt on the act of Jesus' crucifixion itself.
But they note that the few eyewitness descriptions available today of crucifixions in the 1st century AD show the Romans had a broad and cruel imagination.
Their crucifixion methods probably evolved over time and depended on the social status of the victim and on the crime he allegedly committed, says the paper in April's issue of the RSM journal.
The cross could be erected "in any one of a range of orientations", with the victim sometimes head-up, sometimes head-down or in different postures.
Sometimes he was nailed to the cross by his genitals, sometimes the hands and feet were attached to the side of the cross and not the front, or affixed with cords rather than nails.
"If crucified head-up, the victim's weight may also have been supported on a small seat. This was believed to prolong the time it took a man to die," says the study, co-authored by Matthew Masien, also of Imperial College London's medicine faculty.
Crucifixion was widely practised by the Romans to punish criminals and rebels, but if the empire ever circulated instructions for the soldiers who carried out the gruesome task, none has survived today.
Nor is there any detailed account of the method of Jesus' crucifixion in the four Gospels of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) which are believed to be near contemporary accounts of the life of Christ.
And only one piece of archaeological evidence has ever been found about a crucifixion, mainly because crucified people were not formally buried but left on a rubbish dump to be eaten by wild dogs and hyenas, say Masien and Mitchell.
This case entails a young Jewish man, whose inscription on an ossuary, found near Giv'at ha-Mivtar in Israel, suggests his name was probably Yehonanan ben Hagkol.
The clue to his demise comes from an 11.5-centimetre (4.8-inch) iron nail that had been hammered through one of his heels, attaching it to the side of the cross. But there are no signs of any nail holes in the bones of the wrist or the forearm.
Over the past 150 years, there have been at least 10 books and studies to try to understand the physical causes of Jesus' death, and one US attempt, in 2005, even featured a "humane re-enactment" in which volunteers were attached to a cross in safe and temporary way, using gloves and belts.
These explorations have yielded a wide range of hypotheses, from heart failure and pulmonary embolism to asphyxia and shock induced by falling blood pressure.
Excruciating pain endured over the six hours between crucifixion and death, loss of blood, dehydration and the weight of the body on the lungs are cited as contributing factors.
But, the study says, these efforts have all been prejudiced by the automatic assumption, derived from religious images, that Jesus was crucified head-up.
Given the uncertainty as to exactly how he was crucified, the answer may only ever come if some new archaeological evidence or piece of writing emerges from the shadows of the past, it says.
Well, this is an upbeat thread that fills me with a cheery glow.
Actually doesn't matter how He died. All that matters is that He lived.
I agree. This is a bit like picking fly poop out of the pepper. He is risen and I have hope!
How dare a heretic question our history and tradition. Let us find him and stone him, burn his works, and torment him and his family. Let us rise up and storm his residence and the office of the newspaper that publishes such heresy. Let us burn all copies of this story as an example that what we believe is sacred and not to be questioned by infidels...
Sorry -- wrong religion
"Excruciating pain endured over the six hours between crucifixion and death, loss of blood, dehydration and the weight of the body on the lungs are cited as contributing factors."
Yeah, ya think?
I'm not a Bible scholar, but didn't Jesus show his wounds to his disciples?
Without hope there is nothing.
I believe Thomas can answer that one..
Oh Alec Baldwin, how ya doin"? /sarc
Well, I think we should just form a study group and make a decision.
(I think Paul dealt with this in 1Cor 15:1-19)
Hey this could have been posted on FR in 45 AD!
Upper room, tongues of fire?
I don't believe much what secularists have to say about Christianity.
Indeed he can. :)
jw
Seems to me that the Romans nailed an inscription over his head proclaiming him 'King of the Jews' and he was offered drink. Both items strongly suggest a vertical position. Further more, his wounds in hands and feet were witnessed after the resurrection. Finally (not sure if this is in the Gospels), I believe the thieves had their legs broken to hasten death, but there was no need to do the same to Christ since he was confirmed dead when the spear in the side released a flow of blood and water.
Exactly !!!!!
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
John 20:27-29 (KJV)
I have to laugh at the line that there are no accounts of crucifixions at that time. It seems to me that Luke, a physician, at the very least gave a detailed description of the manner of the crucifixion.
hence the phrase "doubting Thomas"...
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