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posted by LaminatorX on Saturday April 19 2014, @11:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the Down-the-hall-to-the-left dept.

Each year, Cahleen Shrier, associate professor in the Department of Biology and Chemistry at Azusa Pacific University, presents a special lecture on the science of Jesus' crucifixion detailing the physiological processes a typical crucified victim underwent based on historical documentation of crucifixion procedures used during that time period. According to Dr. Chuck Dietzen, the Romans favored it over hanging because it was a slow death taking as long as two days making it quite effective for quelling dissent. "It is important to understand from the beginning that Jesus would have been in excellent physical condition," says Shrier. "As a carpenter by trade, He participated in physical labor. In addition, He spent much of His ministry traveling on foot across the countryside."

Evidence suggests that Jesus dreaded his fate. The New Testament tells of how he sweated blood the night before in the garden of Gethsemane. A rare medical condition known as hematohidrosis may explain this phenomenon, Dietzen says. In this condition, extreme stress causes the blood vessels around the sweat gland to rupture into the sweat ducts. While few of these cases exist in the medical literature, many of those that do involve people facing execution.

Crucifixion was invented by the Persians in 300-400 BC. It was developed, during Roman times, into a punishment for the most serious of criminals and is quite possibly the most painful death ever invented by humankind. The Romans would tie or nail the accused to the cross being sure to avoid the blood vessels. While many people envision the nail going into a person's palm, it was placed closer to the wrist. The feet were nailed to the upright part of the crucifix, so that the knees were bent at around 45 degrees. "Once the legs gave out, the weight would be transferred to the arms, gradually dragging the shoulders from their sockets. The elbows and wrists would follow a few minutes later; by now, the arms would be six or seven inches longer," says Alok Jha. "The victim would have no choice but to bear his weight on his chest. He would immediately have trouble breathing as the weight caused the rib cage to lift up and force him into an almost perpetual state of inhalation." Suffocation would usually follow, but the relief of death could also arrive in other ways. "The resultant lack of oxygen in the blood would cause damage to tissues and blood vessels, allowing fluid to diffuse out of the blood into tissues, including the lungs and the sac around the heart," says Jeremy Ward.

Eventually the person being crucified would go into shock and die after organs failed. Medical science can also explain why blood and water spurted out of Jesus's body when a Roman stabbed him with a spear. That was likely a pleural effusion, in which clear lung fluid came out of his body as well as blood. Shrier says Jesus' stamina and strength were, most likely, very well developed so if the torture of the crucifixion could break a man in such good shape, it must have been a horrific experience. "I am struck every time with the stunning realization that as a flesh and blood human, Jesus felt every ounce of this execution," concludes Shrier. "What greater love than this can a man have for his friends?"

 
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  • (Score: 2) by d on Saturday April 19 2014, @12:32PM

    by d (523) on Saturday April 19 2014, @12:32PM (#33322)

    While I am not even sure if the person of Jesus actually existed, matching these particular Bible's claims to the facts seems to make sense to me. This makes me wonder - could you explain any paranormal thing this way, or were the descriptions based on an actual crucifixion, not necessarily Jesus's?

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by yellowantphil on Saturday April 19 2014, @02:57PM

    by yellowantphil (2125) on Saturday April 19 2014, @02:57PM (#33343) Homepage

    I'm no historian, but from what I understand, there is good evidence for the existence of a rabbi named Jesus who lived at the time (Historical Jesus [wikipedia.org]). I don't think that Jesus' crucifixion is in much doubt, and in any case it isn't paranormal: plenty of people got crucified back then.

    For that matter, there are plenty of historical accounts in the Bible that hold up to modern scrutiny. The example that comes to mind is the sailing trips in the book of Acts. They are recorded in detail, with trip durations, sailing routes, prevailing winds, and weather. I guess that it matches what we know of sailing in the Mediterranean in that time period very well, so that the simplest explanation for the account in the Bible is that someone actually did hop on a boat and record his travels.

    • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:10PM

      by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:10PM (#33346) Journal

      Did you read your own link? The "evidence" is frankly third and even fourth hand and if it were a court of law it would be tossed right out the gate. if you want to believe in Jesus or Odin or Zoroaster (in fact a LOT of what is attributed to Jesus seems to be lifted from Zoroaster) that is fine and dandy but actual scientific proof that this person existed? Its just not there.

      And frankly that is the most damning evidence of all IMHO, as anybody who has done some reading about the Roman Empire knows that when it comes to paperwork they made the Nazis look sloppy by comparison as they tried to keep records on just about everything....you telling me that a guy walking on water and raising the fricking dead wouldn't have gotten an "FYI" memo or twenty? There are write ups on more than a dozen self proclaimed "holy leaders" stirring up trouble in the area, yet we are supposed to believe that a guy that is supposedly so powerful that blindness and lepers are being cured left and right wouldn't have made a shit-ton of paperwork go flying between Israel and Rome?

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      • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:43PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:43PM (#33363)

        ...There are write ups on more than a dozen self proclaimed "holy leaders" stirring up trouble in the area...

        Were any of these named Brian?

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by sgleysti on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:53PM

        by sgleysti (56) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:53PM (#33370)

        Ok, I'm with you in basic conclusion, but your second paragraph is a rather amorphous argument from silence. Josephus would be a better choice, as he listed messianic claimants in Judea (more specific), and the passage about Jesus in that section is an obvious forgery. Another is the impossible dating of Jesus' birth in Luke, which runs into actual Roman records on Herod's death and Quirinius' time of service in the government, not a lack of records.
         

        I say all of this because, to the religious mind, such things are easily ignored. It is better to use the book against itself. For instance, the account of the afterlife in Job 3 is markedly at odds with that in Daniel 12 or Revelation 20(? near the end); Job 3 even says, in verse 17, "there the wicked cease from their turmoil" -- contra Jesus in Luke 13:28. The view of the afterlife we get after the Jews spent time in Babylon is totally different from the view in pre-Babylonian scripture, because in Babylon they had contact with Zoroastrianism (as you mentioned), which has heaven and hell and forces of evil warring against god and so on.
         

        Even that, my dad wouldn't buy, perhaps because it involves accounts and theories about history that are not biblical. Perhaps conflicts among gospel accounts would work better -- the birth narratives and resurrection accounts have several irreconcilable inconsistencies. Jesus ascends from Bethany, Galilee, and a mount near Jerusalem, depending on who you read. In Mark, he tells the disciples to go to Galilee, and in Acts (I think) he tells them to wait in Jerusalem -- you can't do both! In Acts he waits 40 days to ascend, while in the others, he doesn't seem to. Judas hangs himself in one account, but in another he falls and his guts spill out. Different groups of women go to the tomb in each gospel, see something different, and do something different in response to what they see. The events of the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke could not all have happened in the time span allotted, and so on. This is just from memory...
         

        There are places where Jesus or Paul seem to believe that the end of the world is coming very, very soon. 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 is a good example. Luke 21:32 (and context) is another.
         

        The problem of evil is another good one, as it is an inconsistency in the character of god himself. It's also helpful to note that god supposedly loves mankind, but still sends people to hell if they don't believe in Jesus, even though a majority of people will die without hearing about him. This makes sense for an apocalyptic prophet who believes the world will end soon speaking to "god's chosen people," which is a limited set; Jesus says things like "give up everything and follow me." All of this makes a lot less sense in our world.

      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:54PM

        by Bot (3902) on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:54PM (#33372) Journal

        > you telling me that a guy walking on water and raising the fricking dead wouldn't have gotten an "FYI" memo or twenty? There are write ups on more than a dozen self proclaimed "holy leaders" stirring up trouble in the area, yet we are supposed to believe that a guy that is supposedly so powerful that blindness and lepers are being cured left and right wouldn't have made a shit-ton of paperwork go flying between Israel and Rome?

        And what the purpose of the paperwork was? Making things easy for future historians or keep the empire safe and sound?

        Having been a Roman authority I would have not advertised left and right the fact that a powerful guy with great appeal to the masses was not on my side. So the memo would have been confidential.

        Instead, the "false messiah of the week" could be treated differently.

        In other words, conclusions can't be drawn until all possible objections are proved wrong. The crucifixion study itself is not applicable to the Jesus situation because the hypothetical guy had had a hypothetical flagellation and he might have died even before getting the first hypothetical nail.

        Happy Easter!

        --
        Account abandoned.
        • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Monday April 21 2014, @03:44AM

          by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Monday April 21 2014, @03:44AM (#33839) Journal

          Are you SERIOUSLY telling me you would let such a person GAIN in strength and followers instead of calling for aid? And this guy is traveling so its not like you could just keep your mouth shut and hope nobody found out because if you don't get on top of this the regent the next town over may tell Rome "We got a big mess on our hands and this fucknuts let it get out of hand, maybe you should seriously have a talk about how he is doing his damned job" and rat you out. Not to mention there are plenty of examples in the historical record of local leaders doing exactly that, calling Rome to send some extra troops and squash shit before it got unruly.Hell even WE do that shit this very day, see the troop surge. Shit gets out of hand, you call the cavalry and get more boots on the ground, this is military 101 and is as old as dirt.

          So I'm sorry but there would be no logical or even illogical reason for a leader who was NOT a follower of Jesus to not sound the alarm and call Rome, if for no other reason than to have some troops from a nearby outpost sent to help restore order. And again you really can't have the story without the miracles...you telling me the Romans wouldn't have paid DAMN good money for a guy that could heal the sick and raise the fricking dead? Hell if for no other reason to do like Pharaoh did with Moses and say "okay, lets see what you can do".

          --
          ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
          • (Score: 2) by Bot on Monday April 21 2014, @05:05PM

            by Bot (3902) on Monday April 21 2014, @05:05PM (#34052) Journal

            > Are you SERIOUSLY telling me you would let such a person GAIN in strength and followers instead of calling for aid...

            I said the report would have been confidential. Confidential, as in the latin verb confido, could have been verbal communication, for two reasons 1. same speed as written communication, in those times. 2. Writing down "We have a guy that by way of his powers shows our belief system is a sham and that our Caesar is a nobody" and send it across the empire, with all connected risks, is terribly stupid.

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            • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Tuesday April 22 2014, @04:47AM

              by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Tuesday April 22 2014, @04:47AM (#34251) Journal

              Sorry but I call bullshit. Most likely the regent (unless he saw it with his own eyes) would think the "miracles" were a scam and would have written something like "We have this magician that is passing himself off as the son of God and using his tricks to gain an army. We need you to send group X from outpost Y to come put a big stop to his ass before things get out of hand. Please advise as to what action to take until the troops arrive, because there is the risk of rebellion if we go in underpowered. Awaiting reply".

              Remember one of the BIG force multipliers Rome had was their signal network, which allowed a message from the farthest outpost to reach the heart of the empire in less than 2 weeks. In an era where a message could take years to get from one side of the country to another? That gave them a HUGE military advantage. This network wasn't encrypted so the proper way to word shit without losing one's job would be SOP and well known and again, there is NO reason not to call for aid before shit got out of hand. Remember they were the occupying force in the country so quashing rebellion would have been job #1 for any regional leader.

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              • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday April 26 2014, @10:34PM

                by Bot (3902) on Saturday April 26 2014, @10:34PM (#36717) Journal

                I dunno when Rome needed to send reinforcement so urgently that a courier with a confidential message was out of the question.

                Are you talking about before the crucifixion, where Jesus behaved more or less like John the Baptist who did not pose much of a threat, physically?
                When his life was exchanged for Barabba's? (now THIS is something I would not have advertised upstream)
                Or after the crucifixion, when his followers begin to go around and behaved like Jesus and John? But then we start having documents...

                You might not like my hypothetical scenarios, I don't like yours.

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                • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Sunday April 27 2014, @12:43AM

                  by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Sunday April 27 2014, @12:43AM (#36734) Journal

                  You have to remember you are reading the SANITIZED version of events, for something closer to the source read the gospel of Thomas (oldest copy less than 200 AD) and the gospel of Judas (oldest copy less than 130 AD) that paint a FAR different picture. in fact if you consider Judas to be a reliable witness then Judas was trying his damnedest to push Jesus into the role of liberator of Israel and thought right up until it was too late that Jesus would incite the followers to overthrow the occupiers.

                  If you read about the history of the book itself, instead of the text that has been censored and rewritten probably a dozen times? its pretty damned fascinating. I believe it was the king of Constantinople that finally put his foot down in, again IIRC, the late third century that basically told the priests "get the story straight or I'll have you hanged" that forced the priests to come together and decide on a "true" book which caused a LOT of what was in there before to be tossed because groups within the clergy objected to this part or that part.

                  But in any case you have several other supposedly "lesser" leaders named in texts of that period, yet somebody that again was healing the sick and which according to the gospel had throngs lining up just to touch his robes didn't even get an "FYI", when what he was preaching was in direct opposition of the state sponsored religions which were frankly making serious bank for the occupiers? I'm sorry but that just isn't believable, not when we can see what actually did get written up by the lackeys of Rome back then.

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                  ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
      • (Score: 1) by artman on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:59PM

        by artman (1584) on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:59PM (#33373)

        And nobody in government has ever covered something up.

        Before you ask no I did not read the link.

        --
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      • (Score: 2) by umafuckitt on Saturday April 19 2014, @05:58PM

        by umafuckitt (20) on Saturday April 19 2014, @05:58PM (#33397)

        you telling me that a guy walking on water and raising the fricking dead wouldn't have gotten an "FYI" memo or twenty?

        That's not what he seems to be saying. He seems to be talking about a historical figure upon whom myths of miracles were latter added. He seems to be saying that there were no miracles. So nothing for the Romans to write down. At most the Romans might have recorded the existence a new Judaic sect/cult and have also recorded the execution of its Rabbi. Then again, there were lots of similar cults around that time.

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @08:05PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @08:05PM (#33429)

        FTFS: As a carpenter by trade
        That is not even what the "original" Greek texts say.
        Those say "tekton": literally "hand worker". [google.com]
        There is no evidence (again, given the 4th-hand nature of what was written many years after he was dead) that his daddy owned a carpenter shop or even any tools.
        The modern version of "tekton" would be "day laborer" or "hired hand".

        The "evidence" is frankly third and even fourth hand
        The first mention of "Jesus" by A LEGIT HISTORIAN was in 94CE. [google.com]

        -- gewg_

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by Buck Feta on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:44PM

      by Buck Feta (958) on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:44PM (#33366) Journal
      >> rabbi named Jesus

      This is merely a confusion in the translation. It was a rabbit named Jesus rather than a rabbi. This explains much of the modern traditions of the Easter Bunny (Jesus), bringing eggs (salvation) and chocolate (eternal bliss), with the proviso that children (mankind) must search for his gifts and accept the reality of his existence.

      >> hop on a boat and record his travels

      I think the hopping is the clincher in proving my theory. Dan Brown eat your heart out.
      --
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      • (Score: 1) by yellowantphil on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:13PM

        by yellowantphil (2125) on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:13PM (#33379) Homepage

        I stand corrected. Thank you, Mr. Feta, and may the Bunny bless you.

        • (Score: 1) by Buck Feta on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:25PM

          by Buck Feta (958) on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:25PM (#33383) Journal

          And His chocolatey blessings upon you, good sir.

          --
          - fractious political commentary goes here -
      • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Saturday April 19 2014, @06:54PM

        by Lagg (105) on Saturday April 19 2014, @06:54PM (#33411) Homepage Journal

        I hope all of you that were responsible for this not being +5 are hard boiled in hell.

        --
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by sgleysti on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:02PM

    by sgleysti (56) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:02PM (#33344)

    or were the descriptions based on an actual crucifixion, not necessarily Jesus's?

     

    I think this makes the most sense. The gospels peg Jesus' followers as uneducated Palestinian Jews, while the writers of the gospels were literate Greek speakers. The gospels were written anywhere from 40 to 70 years after the crucifixion supposedly happened, and they show signs of literary embellishment and borrowing from other myths.

     

    As an example of literary embellishment: Mark's gospel was written first. It has no birth narrative, and the resurrection account is fairly simple -- at the tomb, the women find a boy in a white robe (literary device to represent an angel) who tells them Jesus isn't there. Matthew and Luke have conflicting birth narratives, both as regards the date (look up a guy named Quirinius) and the events that took place. Furthermore, the tomb scene in Matthew involves an earthquake and a legion of Roman soldiers who are paralyzed by an angel. No other accounts mention this.
     

    If these things interest you, there is good material available on it: Debates on the resurrection between Mike Licona (evangelical christian) and Bart Ehrman (agnostic, former evangelical) and, separately, Richard Carrier (atheist) are quite good. Licona is more thoughtful in his argument and far more fair in debate than a blowhard named William Lane Craig, who debates the same topic.
     

    Richard Carrier and Robert Price both write for the mythicist position, which states as you do that Jesus probably didn't exist. My favorite book on this topic, however, is "The Myth of the Resurrection" by Joseph McCabe. I share his sympathy with the mythicist position and also his belief that there may have been an itinerant preacher in Judea at the time who was later embellished into the Jesus we know.