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Is God Dead?
Last week we began to explore a common type of resurrection theory by looking at the offering of the atheist, David Mirsch. Picking up the story from last week, the plan, Mirsch explains, was to utilize common herbal drugs of the time (namely Shephard’s Purse, Mandrake, Myrrh, and possibly Opium) to aid in Jesus’ survivability during the crucifixion.
This concoction was then slipped into the “sour wine” container at the crucifixion site. Mirsch argues that Jesus first refused the sour wine offered him on the cross because enough time had not passed (Matt 27:34). Had he taken the wine at that point, he would have lost consciousness and appeared dead within a few minutes of having been crucified.
It was at the second offering of sour wine (Matt 27:48) that Jesus accepted the drink, the drink laced with the conspirator’s concoction that “produced a deep, almost comatose state that made Jesus appear dead.”
Mirsch maintains that Jesus suffered from a genetic disorder, favism, which manifested itself as hemolytic anemia, (premature destruction of red blood cells) and can produce the blood/water mixture observed when the Roman soldiers pierced the side of Jesus. He states, “The Roman soldiers merely pierced the skin of Jesus’ side with the intention of ascertaining whether or not the victim died.
This piercing of Jesus’ side, him being in the state of hemolytic anemia, would produce the flow of water and blood.” So, according to Mirsh, the spear thrust was not lethal. This scenario of a reversible, drug-induced coma, followed by a “mere piercing of the skin” of Jesus’ side was followed by premature removal of Jesus from the cross, displacement of his body to the tomb, and the subsequent resuscitation by Joseph and Nicodemus.
This all sounds possible until the evidence is more closely evaluated. The notion of a skin piercing is first contradicted by Mirsch himself; he states that “it was due to the occasional recovery of crucified victims that the Roman soldiers were ordered to mutilate the bodies before they could be removed from the cross.”
Since Jesus appeared dead to the soldiers, (and no need for breaking his legs), the carrying out of the order to mutilate the bodies was accomplished with a spear thrust through the skin, lungs, pericardial sac, and into the heart itself. Anything short of a lethal spear thrust is not only incompatible with standing Roman orders, it is in contrast with the Gospel accounts.
To best answer Mirsch, and other proponents of “swoon”-type theories, is to ask the singular question; “Is there good reason to believe Jesus survived crucifixion? What exactly was the human body of Jesus subjected to?” To gain a better understanding of what Jesus experienced physically, in order to ponder the question of the possibility that Jesus “swooned” and then was revived in the tomb, perhaps, we should consider what facts the medical community can bring to bear.
Over the years, several physicians have analyzed and described the process of the crucifixion from a physiological perspective.
In an article appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Drs. William Edwards, Wesley Gabel, and Floyd Hosmer report a medical perspective on the crucifixion, beginning with the sentencing of Jesus by Pilate. Flogging, referred to as scouring, involved the use of a short whip called a flagrum, consisting of several strands of leather to which small iron balls and sheep bone fragments were attached to the ends.
Under Roman law, the man was stripped and his hands were tied to an upright post. The flogging was applied to the back, buttocks, and legs. The initial lashes cut through the skin only then, as the process proceeded, “the skin of the back was hanging in long ribbons and the entire area was an unrecognizable mass of bleeding tissue.” The scourging produced a tremendous amount of blood loss initiating circulatory shock. The extent of the blood loss at this stage played a role in determining how long the victim would survive on the cross.
Medical experts grant Jesus as being in very good health and adept at traveling long distances by foot. However, the emotional stress and sleep deprivation endured from his arrest the previous evening, his various trials through the night, and the emotional toll “may have rendered Jesus particularly vulnerable to the adverse hemodynamic (blood flow) effects of scouring.”
This weakening of Jesus is attested to in the Gospels. Although it was customary for the victim to carry the cross beam (patibulum) of the cross, Simon of Cyrene was called to carry the patibulum for the weakened Jesus. (Mat 27:32, Mak 15:21, Luk 23:26) Once at the crucifixion site, the victim was laid on his back upon the patibulum, his arms outstretched. The hands were then either tied with rope or nailed to the patibulum.
The Romans preferred nailing and the Roman historian Tacitus wrote of Christian victims being “nailed to crosses.” Next, the victim, attached to the patibulum, was raised and set in place on the upright (stipes) of the cross. The feet were then nailed to the stipes either by placing one foot on top of the other and the nail driven between the tarsal bones or the nail was driven through the calcaneum (heel bone) of each foot and nailed to the sides of the stipes.
Join us next week as we continue to look at the likelihood (or rather, unlikelihood) that Jesus could have survived the Cross. Until then, ask yourself a brave question: is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ and live in Ardmore, OK. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@ isGoddead.com.
