Did Jesus Die?

Introduction

For over 2,000 years, many atheists, scientists, historians, etc. have attempted to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ by providing alternative explanations. At first glance, the explanations appear to be reasonable, or even substantial; however, upon further examination, they fail to account for all the historical, geographical, and archaeological factors which were present at the time of Jesus' death. There are several prominent theories that have been proposed, and they are as follows: (1) the Jewish leaders stole Jesus' body, (2) Jesus was not actually dead, (3) Jesus' disciples stole the body, (4) the women went to the wrong tomb, (5) the resurrection story is a legend that evolved over time, and (6) the appearances of Jesus were hallucinations. For the sake of being concise, this paper will focus solely on the objection that Jesus was not actually dead. The theory that Jesus did not truly die is also known as the "swoon theory," and it was a prominent belief during the nineteenth century; however, biblical and historical evidence ultimately refutes this theory. 

Jesus Was Not Actually Dead

As mentioned above, the notion that Jesus did not actually die is referred to as the "swoon theory." In 1828, Heinrich E.G. Paulus published his book, The Life of Jesus, and this was the first time the theory was proposed. Essentially, Paulus posited that rather than dying Jesus fell into a comatose state, was removed from the cross, then buried in a tomb. Later, he revived, pushed the stone aside, escaped the Roman guards who were posted outside the tomb, then evaded capture. Interestingly, Paulus went so far as to affirm that Jesus appeared to his disciples following his escape, but he ultimately died shortly after due to his injuries. In 1969, Hugh J. Schonfield, a radical New Testament scholar, penned a book called The Passover Plot. In his novel, he attempted to resurrect the swoon theory by making modifications to it. Essentially, Schonfield proposed that Jesus sought the help of men like Lazarus of Bethany and Joseph of Arimathea to construct, and carry out, an elaborate hoax. According to Schonfield, Joseph asked an unidentified individual to provide Jesus with a drink while he was on the cross, and the drink caused Jesus to lose consciousness, which made him look as if he was dead. Unfortunately, none of the people involved in the plot foresaw the spear wound that was inflicted to Jesus' side by the Roman guard. This wound ultimately proved to be fatal, and after being removed from his tomb the following day, he regained consciousness for a brief period of time before dying and being reburied in an undisclosed location. While these two versions of the swoon theory appear plausible, they fail to account for the horrendous violence imposed on an individual who is crucified. Additionally, they fall short of addressing the three primary facts established regarding the verifiability and validity of Jesus' resurrection.

Refuting the "Swoon Theory"

In antiquity, one of the most gruesome, torturous, and shameful methods of execution was crucifixion. It likely originated with the Babylonians and Assyrians, but it was also used by the Persians, the Phoenicians, and the Romans; however, the Romans are most well-known for using it. They utilized, and perfected, this method of execution for 500 years until Constantine I abolished it in the 4th Century AD. Typically, the individual being crucified would die within 4-6 hours, and death would be the result of multifactorial pathology including hemorrhaging and dehydration, which could lead to hypovolemic pain and shock, after-effects of compulsory maiming and scourging, and progressively violent asphyxia resulting from impairment of the respiratory movement. Furthermore, it is an established fact that the Roman guards, who presided over the execution, were required to remain at the site until the individual was pronounced dead. In fact, the guards would often precipitate death by spearing the victim in the heart, fracturing the fibula and/or tibia, striking powerful blows to the chest, and igniting a fire at the bottom of the cross to enhance the victim's asphyxiation. The details related to crucifixion were presented to establish the ghastly and spine-chilling nature of this execution method and to force the reader to pause and question, "Can anyone survive such a grisly torture method?" The answer is no. While this historical and medical evidence strongly refutes the notion that Jesus did not die, as it would have been impossible for him to survive apart from an act of God, the rest of the section will be dedicated to biblical evidence of his resurrection.

As mentioned above, there are three irrefutable facts regarding Jesus' death that most biblical scholars, even those who deny the resurrection, agree upon. They are as follows: (1) the empty tomb, (2) the postmortem appearances of Jesus, and (3) the disciples coming to believe in the resurrection. This is not the time and place to expound upon the three facts; however, historians must consider them as evidence left behind by history. Similar to police detectives who gather and analyze evidence, then draw logical conclusions based on what they have found, responsible historians cannot dismiss these three facts as mere myths or fabrications. Additionally, in Acts 17:30-31, Paul writes, "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." Paul, a disciple of Jesus, was an eyewitness to not only the Messiah's life and death but also his resurrection. All in all, the verses above reiterate the fact that Paul was able to testify to seeing the risen Jesus after he was crucified and buried. He, along with many of the disciples, believed so strongly in the resurrection of Jesus that they were willing to die violent deaths rather than deny the risen Christ. More specifically, Paul was beheaded, Peter was crucified upside down, Andrew was severely scoured and hanged on a X-shaped cross for two days before taking his final breath, James was decapitated with a sword, Philip was crucified, Bartholomew was beaten, flogged, and crucified upside down, Thomas was burned in an oven, Matthew was axed with a halberd, and James was clubbed to death. Ultimately, the question that must be raised is, "Who would endure such a gruesome death for a lie?" Most people, who are reasonable, would conclude that it is a far stretch to claim the disciples suffered horrendous deaths for an event, which never happened.

Conclusion

While there are numerous theories that are rooted in the denial of the resurrection of Jesus, biblical and historical evidence ultimately refutes them all, particularly the swoon theory, which posits that Jesus did not actually die; thus, he could not have risen from the grave. If this theory were to be true, then the entire foundation of Christianity would crumble; however, the evidence presented above suggests that it would not have been possible for Jesus to survive crucifixion apart from an act of God. In summary, there have always been, and there always will be, critics and skeptics who attempt to discredit the validity of the Bible, but historical, geographical, and archaeological evidence proves the verifiability of Scripture and all its claims.

Bibliography

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