What Was The Physical Cause Of Jesus Death?

On the physical death of Jesus Christ

PMID: 3512867

W D Edwards and colleagues, Journal of the American Medical Association, 1986.

Abstract

Jesus of Nazareth was subjected to Jewish and Roman trials, was flogged, and was ultimately condemned to death by crucifixion after being found guilty.It is likely that the scourging resulted in deep stripelike lacerations and significant blood loss, which created the setting for hypovolemic shock, as demonstrated by the fact that Jesus was unable to carry the crossbar (patibulum) to Golgotha because of his debilitated state.His wrists were nailed to the patibulum at the site of the crucifixion, and his feet were attached to the stipes when the patibulum was raised onto the upright pillar (stipes) at the site of the crucifixion.The primary pathophysiologic result of crucifixion was an interruption in the normal function of the respiratory system.

As a result, hypovolemic shock and fatigue asphyxia were the primary causes of death in this case.The stab of a soldier’s spear into Jesus’ side was the final nail in the coffin of Jesus.The modern medical interpretation of historical data shows that Jesus was dead when he was brought down from the crucifixion, according to tradition.

Cited by 8 articles

Jesus Christ was crucified, and medical perspectives on his death are presented. G. Habermas, J. Kopel, and B. C. Shaw. Habermas G, et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Bayl Univ Med Cent). Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2021 Jul 30
34(6):748-752. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2021.1951096. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34733010
Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2021 Jul 30
34(6):748-752
doi: 10.1080/08998280.2021.1951096
eCollection 2021. PMC paper available for free.
Fatal and non-fatal injuries caused by suspension trauma syndrome: A thorough review of definition, pathogenesis, and treatment issues Petrone P, Espinoza-Villalobos S, Baltazar GA, Sreide K, Stright A, Brathwaite CEM, Joseph DK, Espinoza-Villalobos S, Baltazar GA, Sreide K, Stright A, Brathwaite CEM, Joseph DK. P. Petrone and colleagues pMID: 34512820 World Journal of Emerging Medicine 2021
12(4):253-260 doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2021.04.001. World Journal of Emerging Medicine 2021 PMID: 34512820 PMC article that is completely free. Review
The crucifixion’s forensic and historical components are discussed. The Journal of Forensic Science and Medical Patholology published a paper by RW Byard on June 5, 2016, titled Forensic Science and Medical Patholology, 12(2):206-8, doi: 10.1007/s12024-016-9758-0. There is no abstract available.
Crucifixion and median neuropathy are two terms that come to mind. John M. Regan, Khalid A. Shahlaie, and John C. Watson. Regan, John M., and John C. Watson. The Behavioral Neuroscience of the Brain. 3(3), 243-8, doi: 10.1002/brb3.132, published online March 18, 2013. PMID: 23785656. Brain Behav 2013. PMID: 23785656. Free PMC article.
According to the Rotating Circular Genetic Code, the most frequently used codons per amino acid and per genome in the Code of Man when compared to other organisms are as follows: Castro-Chavez F, Castro-Chavez F, Neuroquantology, December 2011, vol. 9, no. 4, p. 500. 10.14704/nq is the reference number. 2011.9.4.500. Neuroquantology was published in 2011 under the PubMed ID: 22997484. PMC article is provided for free.

The Science of the Crucifixion

Dr.Cahleen Shrier, associate professor of biology and chemistry at the Department of Biology and Chemistry, delivers a special lecture on the science of Christ’s crucifixion on a yearly basis.She goes into depth on the physiological processes that a typical crucified victim went through, and she instructs her pupils on how to see Christ’s death on the cross in a fresh light.Although the exact actions depicted in this scenario may not have occurred in Jesus’ individual situation, the tale is based on historical evidence of crucifixion techniques that were in use at the time of Jesus’ death.

Please be advised that the material that follows is realistic and graphic in nature.Understanding that Jesus would have been in superb physical condition from the beginning is critical.He participated in physical labor because he was a carpenter by trade.

In addition, he traveled throughout the countryside on foot for much of the duration of His ministry.
His stamina and strength were most likely extremely well developed at the time of his death.
Keeping this in mind, it becomes evident exactly how much He suffered: If this torment could break a guy in such good form, it must have been a horrifying experience for him.

Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:37-42, Luke 22:39-44

Following the celebration of the Passover, Jesus leads His followers to the Garden of Gethsemene to pray.During His frantic prayer concerning the events that would take place, Jesus sheds blood droplets.There is a rare medical illness known as hemohedrosis, which occurs when the capillary blood veins that supply the sweat glands get damaged or destroyed.Blood that has been released from the vessels combines with the perspiration, resulting in the body sweating blood droplets.

This condition is caused by mental pain or extreme anxiety, a state that Jesus conveys in his prayer, ″my soul is greatly saddened to the point of death,″ which means ″my soul is grieved to the point of death″ (Matthew 26:38).Because of the tenderness of the skin caused by hemohidrosis, Jesus’ physical state deteriorates gradually.

Matthew 26:67-75, Mark 14:61-72, Luke 22:54-23:25, John 18:16-27

Walking nearly two and a half kilometers from Pilate to Herod and back is a significant portion of Jesus’ journey. He hasn’t slept in days, and he’s been insulted and abused mercilessly (Luke 22:63-65). Aside from that, his skin is still sore as a result of the hemohedrosis. His physical state continues to deteriorate.

Matthew 27:26-32, Mark 15:15-21, Luke 23:25-26, John 19:1-28

Pilate ordered that Jesus be flogged in accordance with Roman law prior to his crucifixion.Tradition dictated that the guilty be stripped nude, and the flogging was applied to the area between the shoulders and the upper legs.There were numerous leather strips in the whip’s construction.Metal balls were positioned in the midst of the strips and struck the skin, causing severe bruising.

On top of that, sheep bone was glued to the ends of each strip for added strength.After making contact with Jesus’ skin, the bone penetrates into His muscles, ripping pieces of flesh away and revealing the bone beneath.After the flogging, the flesh of Jesus’ back is ripped into long ribbons.

It is at this moment that he has lost a significant amount of blood, which causes his blood pressure to drop and sends him into shock.
Jesus’ hunger is the normal response of His body to His suffering since it is a result of the body’s natural attempt to correct imbalances such as decreasing blood volume (John 19:28).
If He had consumed more water, His blood volume would have grown significantly.
A crown of thorns is placed on Jesus’ head, and a cloak is slung over His back by Roman soldiers (Matthew 27:28-29).

The garment aids in the formation of a blood clot (much like placing a piece of tissue on a cut after shaving) and so prevents Jesus from suffering more blood loss.
They strike Jesus in the head (Matthew 27:30), causing the thorns from the crown of thorns to press into his flesh and cause him to bleed profusely.
He also suffers injury to the facial nerve, which results in tremendous agony running down his face and neck as a result of the thorns.
Soldiers spit on Jesus as they ridicule Him, further demeaning His dignity (Matthew 27:30).
They pull the garment from Jesus’ back, and the blood begins all over again.

Jesus’ physical state grows increasingly precarious.Jesus is clearly in shock as a result of the tremendous blood loss that has occurred without replenishment.As a result, he is unable to bear the cross, and Simon of Cyrene is tasked with this responsibility (Matthew 27:32).

Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-41, Luke 23:27-49, John 19:17-37

The Persians invented the crucifixion sometime between 300 and 400 B.C.It is very probably the most agonizing death that civilization has ever devised in its history.Because crucifixion is recognized as a type of protracted, severe torture, the English language has derived the word ″excruciating″ from the word ″crucify.″ 1 Slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and the most heinous criminals were the only ones who received such a punishment.Those who died were nailed to a cross; nonetheless, it is likely that Jesus’ cross was not the Latin cross, but rather a Tau cross (T).

The vertical portion (the stipes) is firmly anchored to the ground surface.The accused only drags the horizontal portion (the patibulum) up the hill, which is a long distance.A sign (the titulus) is located on top of the patibulum, signifying that a formal trial for a breach of the law has taken place.

In the case of Jesus, this is translated as ″This is the King of the Jews″ (Luke 23:38).
Due to the fact that the accused must be nailed to the patibulum while still lying down, Jesus is flung to the ground, reopening His wounds and causing blood.
They fasten His ″hands″ to the patibulum with nails.
The wrist is included in the Greek definition of ″hands.″ It’s more likely that the nails pierced through Jesus’ wrists than through his hands.

If the nails were driven into the flesh of the hand, the weight of the arms would cause the nail to rip through the delicate flesh.
As a result, the upper body would not be nailed to the cross anymore.
When a cross is inserted in the wrist, the bones in the lower region of the hand sustain the weight of the arms, and the body stays nailed to the cross for the duration of the ceremony.
When the enormous nail (seven to nine inches long)2 strikes the hand, it destroys or severes the primary nerve supplying the hand (the median nerve).
This causes Jesus to experience continual searing anguish up both of his arms.

Once the victim has been tied, the guards will lift the patibulum and set it on top of the stipes that have already been laid in the soil.During the lifting of the cross, Jesus’ whole weight presses down on His nailed wrists, causing His shoulders and elbows to become dislocated (Psalm 22:14).3 In this posture, Jesus’ arms are stretched to a minimum of six inches longer than they were at their starting point.Most likely, Jesus’ feet were nailed through the tops of the columns, as shown in popular culture.

When the body is in this posture (with the knees flexed to roughly 90 degrees4), the weight of the body presses down on the nails, and the ankles support the weight of the body.
As opposed to the hands, the nails would not rip through the delicate tissue as they would have done with the hands.
A second time, the nail would inflict serious nerve damage (since it would sever the dorsal pedal artery of the foot) and excruciating agony.
Breathing normally requires the diaphragm (the big muscle that divides the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity) to move down in order to take in air.
The chest cavity is enlarged as a result, and air is drawn into the lungs automatically (inhalation).

The diaphragm rises in response to the exhalation of breath, which compresses the air in the lungs and drives the air out (exhalation).As Jesus dangles from the cross, the weight of His body presses down on the diaphragm, causing air to enter and remain in His lungs throughout the duration of His death.In order to breath, Jesus has push up on His nailed feet, which causes even greater suffering.During exhalation, air must flow through the vocal chords in order for them to function properly.From the crucifixion, according to the Gospels, Jesus communicated seven times.It is incredible that He lifts himself up to say ″Forgive them″ despite his anguish (Luke 23:34).

Suffocation occurs as a result of the difficulty in exhaling, which is a laborious process.Because of the buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood, there is a high concentration of carbonic acid in the blood.The body reacts immediately, causing the impulse to breathe to be triggered.Meanwhile, the heart is beating quicker in order to circulate the available oxygen.

The reduced oxygenation of the tissues (resulting from the difficulty in exhaling) causes tissue damage, and the capillaries begin to leak watery fluid from the blood into the tissues as a result.
This leads in a build-up of fluid around the heart (pericardial effusion) and in the lungs (pulmonary effusion) (pleural effusion).
The person is effectively suffocated by his or her collapsing lungs, failing heart, dehydration, and inability to provide sufficient oxygen to the tissues.

5 The diminished oxygenation also causes damage to the heart itself (myocardial infarction), which ultimately results in cardiac arrest and death.Causing the heart to explode is a condition known as cardiac rupture, which occurs when the heart is under extreme stress.6 The most likely cause of Jesus’ death was a heart attack.Suffocation occurs after Jesus’ death, as a result of the soldiers breaking the legs of the two prisoners who were crucified with Him (John 19:32).

Death would therefore occur more quickly as a result of this.The fact that Jesus was already dead when they arrived meant that they did not have to break His legs (John 19:33).The soldiers wounded His side, rather than His neck, to ensure that He was no longer alive (John 19:34).It is said that ″blood and water flowed forth″ (John 19:34), alluding to the watery fluid surrounding the heart and lungs, as a result of this action.As unpleasant as the details of Christ’s death are, the depth of Christ’s anguish serves to demonstrate the true extent of God’s love for His creation.Instructing students about the anatomy and physiology of Christ’s crucifixion serves as a constant reminder of the glorious evidence of God’s love for humanity that occurred on that fateful day at Calvary.

As a result of this lesson, I am able to partake in communion, which is the commemoration of His sacrifice, with a thankful heart.
Every time I think about it, I am struck by the incredible awareness that Jesus, as a flesh and blood human being, felt every ounce of this punishment.
What kind of love can a guy have for his buddies that is greater than this?

General Resources

″The Crucifixion of Jesus,″ by C.Truman Davis, is available online.Journal of Arizona Medicine, vol.22, no.

3, 1965, pp.183-187.Edwards, William D., and colleagues, ″On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,″ in The Physical Death of Jesus Christ, edited by William D.

Edwards, et al.
The Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 255, number 11 (1986), pages 1455-1463.
Published on March 1, 2002

Christ’s Death Under Medical Examination: Doctors’ Investigation of the Crucifixion Published in AMA Journal

When Jesus Christ died on the crucifixion, it was a study in the anguish of a man whose arms and legs, their main nerves potentially pierced by spikes, fired searing jolts of pain through a body already depleted of blood from a severe whipping, a study in human suffering.
At least three hours had passed before Jesus succumbed to an extraordinarily severe sort of blood loss-induced shock and a type of asphyxia that was not usually associated with the crucifixion.
Eventually, he may have experienced a climactic cardiac seizure, maybe caused by a blood clot bursting loose inside his arteries and causing deadly damage to his heart muscle at the time of his death.
His final episode of acute heart failure, which may have been triggered by a catastrophic change in the rhythm of his heartbeat, is more likely to have occurred, according to some estimates.
Assuming he did in fact incur a lance wound after losing consciousness for what appeared to be the final time, the spear point most likely penetrated the heart, discharging a mixture of blood and fluid that had collected as a result of the growing asphyxiation.

The point of the lance most likely entered Jesus’ heart as well, but the impact was inconsequential since the man popularly believed to be the son of God was already dead when the Roman soldier lifted his weapon against him.
At the very least, these are the results of the most comprehensive medical assessment of the anguish of Christ’s death that has ever been published in a scientific publication.
The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) last week in an article by the same name.
Perhaps most surprisingly, the new review appears to be the first significant medical examination of the Crucifixion to be published in this century, according to the authors.
In the last few years, no major medical magazine has explored the subject in any depth.

According to Dr.
George Lundberg, editor of the journal and himself a pathologist, the post-mortem review of Jesus’ death revealed ″nothing surprising,″ and he went on to say, ″I believe the descriptions are realistic, make good sense, and are consistent with what one would expect to see in the case of a crucifixion death.″ Leaders in pathology from throughout the country concur that the review is a fascinating piece of conjecture, but not a definitive conclusion.
Indeed, topics that are steeped so deeply in history, philosophy, and religion cannot be answered with absolute clarity at this time.
To the contrary, according to Dr.
Michael Baden, deputy chief medical examiner for the city of New York, not only is it impossible to draw truly reliable medical conclusions about Christ’s death, but attempting to do so too vigorously may cause faith and science to become hopelessly confused.

A number of high-profile cases, like the killing of President John F.Kennedy and the overdose death of comedian John Belushi, have been brought under Baden’s scrutiny.According to Baden, Jesus’ death was not only a typical crucifixion, but it was also the most well-known of all time.According to Baden, ″there is something beautiful about faith, and (it) stands on its own two feet.″ In attempting to provide faith-based scientific grounds, a conflict is always generated.″They are two distinct types of religious belief.″ According to my opinion, it is difficult to give scientific exactitude…to accounts that do not allow for that level of exactitude.″ Several aspects of Baden’s perspective are comparable to those of the Roman Catholic Church, according to Father Newman Eberhardt, a professor of church history at St.

John’s Seminary in Camarillo who has studied the church’s history.
The fact that the Crucifixion took place under total divine supervision makes 20th-century pathology meaningless, according to Eberhardt, if one believes, as Christians do, that Jesus Christ was God’s son in the end analysis If the belief in the deity of Jesus is denied, any attempted research over 2,000 years after the fact will be ineffective at diagnosing the problem.
″These phenomena,″ Eberhardt asserted, ″cannot be explained by natural causes.″ The church was established in order to instruct people on how to go to paradise.
″She doesn’t have any insights into biological principles.″ Undeterred by whether science has any relevance to such a fundamentally religious issue, doctors who have reviewed the new crucifixion pathology findings have noted that at least some of the science may rely for its most definitive conclusions on medical evidence that is at the very least controversial and possibly suspect.
The Shroud of Turin is the most important piece of evidence in this chain of evidence since it is widely believed to be the real burial garment of Jesus, yet its authenticity has never been proven.

The shroud has been a source of controversy for decades, and it is still awaiting what may be a critical evaluation—radiocarbon dating—that could assist to determine whether its fiber genuinely belongs to the time of Jesus.
The shroud is under the hands of the Roman Catholic Church, which has made it clear that a decision on how or whether the shroud will be scientifically dated will not be made for at least another year.
Assuming that the shroud was used as a burial cloth for Christ and that it contains an image of his body at the time of burial, it may be able to confirm more scientifically than anything else the nature and severity of the injuries he sustained as well as reveal something about his overall physical appearance.
However, if the shroud turns out not to be real, as three eminent pathologists agreed, the majority of the medical judgments in the recently released review would be invalidated on the basis of scientific evidence.
A further point to mention is that the Mayo Clinic pathologist who is the primary author of the new study is a ″born-again″ Christian who, according to him, brought a strong desire to confirm the tenet of faith that Christ died on the cross, thus making the Resurrection a genuine miracle to his review.

However, he asserted, the study team was successful in putting aside its personal beliefs in order to undertake a credible scientific and historical investigation.
He thanked the team for their efforts.
While acknowledging that he has only performed autopsy in hospitals, Dr.
William D.
Edwards stated that he had never participated in a postmortem examination of a person who had been hanged or subjected to an extensive beating before.

Most modern pathologists and medical examiners have never seen a crucifixion victim, however one specialist who was questioned by The Times admitted that he had strapped himself to a cross in order to witness firsthand the effects of the crucifixion on respiration.
The Mayo Clinic evaluation was written by Edwards, but it included research contributions from Wesley Gabel, a Methodist minister in Rochester, Minn., where the clinic is located, and Floyd Hosmer, a Mayo Clinic medical illustrator who produced a series of detailed scientific drawings translating the melding of scripture, history, and science into graphics tailored for a medical audience.
Edwards is a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.
On the biblical front, the review draws heavily on sources that are standard references in conservative ″born-again″ Christianity, such as books by bible scholar Josh McDowell, among other sources.
Phenomena in the Medical Field According to Edwards, Gabel, and Hosmer, the events of Good Friday are associated with the following medical phenomena: The night before his death, certain scripture sources claim that Jesus was in extreme emotional torment, and that his perspiration had the appearance of blood on his forehead and on his cheeks.
It is possible that Christ suffered from hematidrosis, a rare medical disease in which blood is transported to the sweat glands and emerges from the body mixed with perspiration, according to the Mayo Clinic team’s interpretation of the account.

– The fact that Jesus’ career forced him to travel long miles on foot through what is now Israel, as well as his brief religious trial on blasphemy accusations and the anguish of crucifixion, very probably contributed to his good physical health prior to those events.However, on the morning of the Crucifixion, Jesus was most likely exhausted and suffering from extreme mental distress, both of which would have undermined his total physical strength.- In the aftermath of Christ’s trial and condemnation, he was subjected to an extremely painful scourging with a sort of whip that may have contained shards of jagged bone and metal wrapped into its thongs.This was the first stage in his execution procedure.A considerable volume of blood was lost during the whipping, which may have accounted for up to a quarter to a third of the body’s total blood flow, according to reports.- The blood loss paved the way for the start of shock to occur sooner rather than later.

Further support for the deepening shock idea is provided by the fact that Christ could not bear the weight of his own cross when he was ordered to carry it to the execution place.
– Jesus was nailed to the crucifixion with spikes that were five to seven inches long and were driven through his wrists and both feet, one through each foot.
Although there are no major arteries near the sites of the nailings, it is possible that the spikes struck one of a number of important main nerves.
What would have happened would have been ″excruciating flaming bolts of pain in both arms,″ according to the doctor.
A similar amount of discomfort would have been experienced if the cuts had happened on the feet.
– Jesus would have been hanging on the cross, with the majority of his weight supported by his arms and his knees bent beneath him.

In the traditional symptoms of crucifixion, the posture would have started to impair his respiratory capacity almost immediately, causing a steady decrease in the amount of oxygen being mixed into his circulation and laying the stage for eventual asphyxiation.- The pain would have been excruciating because severe muscle cramps, agonizing shooting pain from the nerve injuries, and the struggle to maintain breathing by lifting the weight of his body with his arms could have been compounded by other discomforts such as insects burrowing into his ears, eyes, and nose, and birds of prey attacking the wounds would have been a constant source of worry.- Because of the way Jesus’ respiratory system had been weakened, it would have been incredibly difficult for him to speak, as the Scriptures claim he did seven times from the cross.Exhalation, the component of breathing that allows a crucifixion victim to speak, is the most torturous part of the process.Jesus was most likely managing his intake of air and oxygen using the muscles of his belly, rather than his chest, because the chest’s role in breathing would have been significantly reduced.- Hypovolemic shock, a state comparable to that experienced by severe bleeding victims who are about to die, was likely to develop as a result of the blood loss that occurred before to the Crucifixion and the physical toll of the event itself.

As a result of this stress, the signs of congestive heart failure would have manifested themselves in Jesus’ respiratory system, and blood clots would have formed on the major arteries and valves of the heart.When one of the clots finally broke free in the final hours of Christ’s torture, it might have triggered a catastrophic cardiac seizure, explaining the biblical depictions of a seemingly climactic, final moment of pain that were recorded.- The possibility that there was no such climactic heart attack exists, and that the death was caused more likely by shock, the final overpowering impact of exhaustion-induced asphyxia, or some other unexpected, acute heart failure episode exists.It is possible that the development of a deadly heart arrhythmia had an impact on that final moment.

Although it is not clear based on the available evidence, it is possible that Jesus’ death was influenced by an actual cardiac rupture, a situation popularized in the traditional layman’s perception of the Crucifixion, in which Christ is said to have died as the result of a broken heart.- Regardless of what occurred in this chain of events, it was ultimately responsible for his death.However, despite the fact that the biblical stories include inconsistencies, conventional Christian theology claims that a Roman soldier stabbed the moribund Christ with the tip of a spear.A mixture of blood and clear fluid was released from the chest cavity as a result of the suffocating effects, according to the report.The wound appeared to have entered the chest cavity.

The tip of the spear most likely penetrated the heart as well, although the damage was little by that point.
Between three and six hours had passed since Christ had been nailed on the cross.
The Mayo Clinic paper found that ″the overwhelming weight of historical and medical evidence shows that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted.″ It’s possible that the most crucial (conclusion) is not how he died, but whether he died.
Traditional interpretations predicated on the premise that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at conflict with contemporary medical understanding.″ A telephone interview with Edwards revealed that if he had to choose just one conclusion, it would not be one that was medical in nature.
″It would be theological,″ Edwards said.
″I believe that the most important conclusion we can reach is that Christ died on the cross.″ When it comes to alternative theories of the Resurrection,″ the belief that Jesus rose from the grave three days after his death, many people believe this self-evident, and the significant consequences are more theological than medical in nature.

For example, some skeptics have contended that Jesus was not dead when he was carried from the crucifixion and that the Resurrection may therefore have been a fraud, as Edwards pointed out.″I believe the authors would incline (to claim) that our (medical results) do not contradict the scriptural Crucifixion, but this is not because we set out with that prejudice on mind,″ said the researcher.It’s just the way things turned out.It appears that our findings provide considerable evidence in favor of the literal, biblical understanding of a supernatural, miraculous bodily resurrection.″ Dr.Robert Bucklin, a deputy San Diego County medical examiner who has been studying the Shroud of Turin since the 1940s and is a devout Christian, recalled that when Edwards and the two other authors first submitted their article for publication in the American Medical Association journal a year or so ago, the conclusions did not take any account of the clinical evidence that may be contained in the Shroud of Turin.

He is now considered to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on the shroud, and he is certain of its authenticity.When the Journal of the American Medical Association asked Bucklin to serve as a review editor for the journal, he was provided with a copy of an earlier draft of the new study, which is standard practice among major medical publications.On the phone, Bucklin expressed his delight at learning that a significant portion of the final version of the Edwards analysis was based on evidence from the shroud.Bucklin asserted that, in the absence of the shroud, ″you can only speculate″ about the physiological causes of Jesus’ death.

Although Bucklin believes the shroud to be authentic, he cautioned against placing undue reliance on the new medical conclusions as being entirely factual because, even if the shroud is what it is claimed to be, drawing pathological conclusions nearly 2,000 years after an event is ″extremely difficult to do.″ ″I’ve been to court far too many times,″ Bucklin admitted emphatically.He asserted that, according to his own examination of the pathophysiology of the Crucifixion, weariness had a less significant part in the cause of death than pure asphyxia.Bucklin reportedly had aides bind him to a cross for a few minutes so he could better grasp the physiology of what happens during crucifixion, according to his account.The right to bring in other disciplines has been granted to you.

Bucklin explained that ″you can put it all together and, when you do, you have a very complete picture of what happened that day in Jerusalem.″ However, putting too much trust in such medical analysis may lead to a misunderstanding of the situation.
Taking this approach, Bucklin argues, is contrary to the profoundly religious essence of Christian understanding of the life of Jesus Christ.
Among the many things to bear in mind is that the Bible makes it quite plain that Christ willed his own death, according to Bucklin.
″That does not rule out the possibility that these other things (medical occurrences) occurred.″ I am not attempting to argue that his death was not caused by anatomical factors.
Ultimately, though, it must be said that he willed his death at that exact time.″ A telephone discussion with Baden revealed that he concurred, stating that the ″challenge here is to interpret faith in the light of scientific principles.″ As Baden pointed out, the new Crucifixion study is ″clearly more historical than medical in nature,″ and ″would not be acceptable in a court of law if we were looking at a someone who was discovered in comparable circumstances today.″ ″There were other things going on here (in this instance).″ ″I believe that if this were a modern-day case, it would necessitate a diagnosis that included exposure and weariness, as well as lacerations to the back, (head), and chest,″ says the author.

How did crucifixion kill?

Suffocation, loss of bodily fluids, and multiple organ failure are all possible outcomes.
It wasn’t nice, but for those of you with strong constitutions, take a big breath and continue reading.
″The weight of the body pulling down on the arms makes breathing extremely difficult,″ says Jeremy Ward, a physiologist at King’s College London.
″The weight of the body pulling down on the arms makes breathing extremely difficult.″ Aside from that, the heart and lungs would cease to function as blood was drained via the incisions.
Crucification was first used as a punishment for the most heinous of crimes by the Persians around 300-400 BC, and it was refined into its current form during the Roman era.

The upright wooden cross was the most popular method of execution, and the length of time it took for victims to die depended on how they were executed.
Those accused of thievery were frequently bound to the cross and, because their arms were stronger than their legs, they could often live for several days.
One of the most horrific techniques of crucifixion was raising the arms straight over the victim’s head.
″That can last anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour – it’s virtually hard to breathe under such conditions,″ Ward explains.
Someone who is nailed to a cross with their arms extended out on each side should expect to survive no more than 24 hours if they do not die.

It was planned to drive seven-inch nails through the wrists in order for the bones there to be able to sustain the body’s weight.
In this case, the nail would have severed the median nerve, causing not only excruciating agony but also paralysis in the victim’s hands.
The feet of the crucifix were fastened to the upright section of the cross, causing the knees to be bent at about 45 degrees.
Executors would frequently break the legs of their victims in order to prevent them from being able to use their thigh muscles as support, which would expedite death.
It was probably unnecessary, because their strength would not have lasted more than a few minutes even if they had not been injured in any way.

The weight of the body would be shifted to the arms as soon as the legs gave way, progressively drawing the shoulders out of their sockets.A few minutes later, the elbows and wrists would be added, resulting in arms that were six or seven inches longer.The victim would have no option but to take the weight of the world on his shoulders.He would instantly experience breathing difficulties as the weight would push his rib cage to elevate up, forcing him to maintain an almost constant state of inhalation and exhalation.Suffocation would normally be the next step, although the relief of death might possibly come in other forms as well.″The resulting 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,″ explains Ward.

″The fluid would diffuse out of the blood into tissues, including the lungs and the sac around the heart.″ In addition to stiffening the lungs and making breathing even more difficult, the increased pressure surrounding the heart would limit its ability to pump blood.

The Truth of What It Is Like to Be Crucified

A faith-based religious film was one of the most violent and gory films of all time, and it was also the biggest earning R-rated picture in American history, generating more than $600 million upon its premiere in 2004.
Fans were forced to put down their popcorn when Mel Gibson’s ″The Passion of the Christ,″ which featured a bloodied to the point of being unrecognizable Jim Caviezel as Jesus during his final 12 hours before the crucifixion, was released, and critics complained that the story was lost in the execution of the Savior.
When it came to ″The Passion of the Christ,″ respected film reviewer Roger Ebert declared it was ″the most violent film he had ever seen.″ Gibson drew inspiration for his vision from the four Gospels as well as other sources such as literature and art.
The apprehending, torturing, scourging, and crucifying of Jesus Christ were all presented in graphic detail in this film.
Although he eventually published an edited, less explicit version of the film for broader distribution, even that was deemed too disturbing to receive even a R classification.

Despite being disturbing, the detail is historically accurate in its presentation.
According to Father Mark Inglot, pastor of St.
John’s Student Center and St.
Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing, Michigan, ″I sometimes think people view a crucifix to be a piece of jewelry without thinking about what it truly is: the ultimate picture of sacrifice and love.″ In his words, ″the crucifixion is a bleeding, shattered mess.″ Despite this, the myth has held people’s attention for thousands of years.
According to Inglot’s partner, Fr.

Dan Westerman, ″I’ve never seen a necklace with an electric chair on it before.″ ″The cross represents torture,″ says the author.
Lansing-based emergency department physician Dr.
John Dery works at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing.
″The form of interrogation ‘torture’ that is currently being contested in the press is nothing compared to the method that the Romans used to achieve their goals.
When Jesus was alive, torture was intended to mentally destroy someone before the Romans ever began to physically harm the individual,″ he explains.

″It all started with a tense night of suspense and dread at the prospect of what lay ahead.″ Could the fear that Jesus felt as he awaited his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane have shown itself in his perspiration being ″like drops of blood,″ as the Gospel of Luke claims, as a tangible manifestation of his fear?″It is conceivable for your eyes to bleed from time to time, although this is not common.It’s possible that the drainage system is clogged while you’re suffering nosebleeds,″ explains Derry.As seen in the film, once the Romans initiated physical torture, they caused a lingering death with the greatest amount of anguish possible.In order to open up flesh wounds, the whip would be used initially, followed by a series of scourges to open up the sores, according to Dery.″The goal was to cause them to bleed as much as possible so that they would become dizzy and lightheaded later on, increasing their chances of passing out.″ Using whips with jagged shards of metal on them that tore through flesh and muscle, this type of repetitive, thorough scourging was intended to weaken the subject.

Apparently, even the Romans thought it was too gruesome to nail someone to a cross in the middle of a city, so they tied the 70-100 pound crossbeam to the tattered, shredded, bloody back of their victim and forced them to drag it through the streets, in Christ’s case, to the outskirts of town known as the hill of Calvary.
In the words of the author, ″that was all part of the jeering and humiliating process.″ Despite the fact that artwork frequently shows Christ nailed to the cross through his palms, Gibson and Dery are convinced otherwise.
In order for the wrist bones to carry the whole weight of the body on the crucifixion, ″the nailing to the cross was not done via the hands, but rather between two bones below the wrist,″ says Dery, the nailing was done between two bones below the wrist.
If you had a nail driven through your middle and ring fingers, it would feel like lightning passing through your fingertips.
He chose a perfect location for the bomb because it would not hit any major blood vessels, but it would strike the median nerve, which would create a seizure in those fingers and force the hands to stretch down in a painful contracture as a result.

He or she would not be able to unwind.″ In the case of the nailing of the feet, Dery claims that a similar method was used.
It was customary to attach the feet to a cross between the second and third metatarsals in order to support the body weight on top of the huge bones of the feet.
According to Dery, the survival instinct would require those nailed feet for leverage while on the cross, whether you believe it or not.
In addition, when you normally take a deep breath, you draw the muscles of your diaphragm down.
To put it another way, you actively take in air and passively expel when you breathe.

The difference is that when you’re left hanging from a cross, your arms are outstretched, which allows you to breathe in comfortably but force air out of your lungs with effort.
In order to evacuate air, you’d have to lift your body up with your hands or push it up with your feet.
To pull air out of your lungs, you must exert considerable effort.
Breathing really kills you since you are unable to expel the air from your lungs.
″ When the Romans ultimately decided that their crucified captives should die, they shattered the prisoners’ legs, causing them to be unable to lift themselves up and their entire body weight to hang by their arms on the cross.

To make sure Christ was tortured for as long as possible, the Romans administered myrrh to him through a sponge, which served as an analgesic and helped to ease some of the agony.
″They were looking for as much humiliation as they could get,″ Dery explains.
″Christ was naturally dehydrated and thirsty, but being awake and alive for a longer period of time meant being out in the open sun with bugs crawling all over open wounds and eating away flesh.″ It’s possible that’s why Jesus, who was plagued with agony to the point of asking for death, cried out, ″My God, my God, why have you left me?″ near the end of his life.
However, while Gibson’s film included some gruesome flourishes such as a crow pecking out the eye of an antagonistic man who was crucified alongside Jesus, it wasn’t absolutely necessary, given that the realities of the cross were almost certainly far worse than what Hollywood could depict in its filming.

The Night before He Died

Passion Week began on Thursday, the fifth day of Jesus’ sorrow and pain, the week of his atoning sacrifice—the terrible precursor to his triumphant resurrection—and it was a bleak day.
In accordance with his instructions, Peter and John traveled to Jerusalem and, upon seeing a specific man, made arrangements with him for the use of a spacious upper apartment, which they subsequently prepared for the Lord and the Twelve in order to celebrate the Passover with them.
It was that evening, when they were all there, that there began to be disagreement among them over ″which of them should be reckoned the greatest,″ just as there had been on previous occasions.
(See also Luke 22:24.) ″He that is greatest among you, let him be as the youngest; and him who is foremost, let him be as he who serves,″ the Lord said to the brethren in part.
(See also Luke 22:26.) The previous time a similar argument arose, Jesus used the example of a small kid to admonish his tense followers.

″Verily I say unto you, unless ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not get into the kingdom of heaven.
″Whosoever, therefore, humbles himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.″ (Matt.
18:3–4).
(Matt.
18:3–4) However, on this Passover night, he set a more dramatic precedent as a magnificent prelude to the even greater and incomparable example he was to set later that evening in his agony in Gethsemane, where ″his sweat was like great drops of blood falling to the ground″ (Luke 22:44), and his suffering and humiliation throughout the night and the following day culminated in his crucifixion and death the following day.

As John described it, ″He rises from his dinner and throws his clothes away; he then takes a towel and wraps himself in it.″ After that, Jesus fills a basin with water and begins to wash the disciples’ feet, wiping them with the towel around his waist,″ says the Bible.
(See also John 13:4–5.) As he cleaned their feet and put his clothing on, he remarked to them: ″Do you understand what I have done to you?″ They replied: ″Ye call me Master and Lord, and you are correct; because that is what I am.″ If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, then you, too, should wash one another’s feet.
″For I have set an example for you, that ye should do as I have done vnto you.″ (See also John 13:12–15.) Answering the disciples’ questions about grandeur with such a beautiful and holy example was a fitting response.
A little time later, the Lord declared, ″Surely, verily, I say unto you, that one of you will turn against me.″ (See also John 13:21.) After a while, he ″dipped the sop″ and handed it to Judas Iscariot, telling him, ″That thou dost, do it immediately.″ (See also John 13:27.) ″Then, having gotten the sop, Judas quickly walked out into the darkness,″ the story continues.
(See also John 13:30.) With the knowledge of what was about to take place, the Lord then stated to the eleven apostles, ″Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him″ (John 13:31), and ″Little children, but a little while while I am with you….

″Wherever I go, you will not be able to follow; therefore, I say to you.″ (See also John 13:33.) ″A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another,″ the Lord spoke to his apostles in a context similar to this.’If ye have love for one another, all men will know that ye are my followers,’ says the Lord.(See also John 13:34–35.) The question that naturally arises in the mind of someone familiar with Jesus’ teachings is, ″Why did he name this a new commandment when he had been preaching love from the beginning of his ministry?″ Love serves as the foundation for all of the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount.That talk also emphasized the need of not just loving one’s neighbor, but also of ″loving one’s enemies, blessing those who curse you, doing good to those who hate you, and praying for those who despitefully use you and persecute you,″ according to the Bible.(See Matthew 5:44.) His acts of kindness included washing the leper and healing the palsied man, the centurian’s servant, and the woman with a hemorrhagic fever, among a long list of other people.He gave the ability to talk to the deaf, the ability to see to the blind, and the ability to hear to the deaf.

Ignoring the presence of demonic spirits, Jesus threw them out and revived the widow’s son as well as Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus from the dead, among others, returning them to human life.
He helped the needy, educated people to donate charity, fed the masses, and forgiven crimes while also teaching mankind how to forgive.
Besides that, he had condensed all of the commandments into the first and second commandments, which were to love the Lord with all of one’s heart and soul as well as one’s intellect and power, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself.
Jesus says this in Mark 12:28–31.) The previous commandments were not immediately repealed as a result of the new pronouncement Jesus made to his disciples, however.
Instead, the Lord attempted to persuade his disciples that really abiding by the first and second commandments would inevitably imply abiding by all of the others.

It is impossible to love the Lord with all of one’s heart, all of one’s soul, all of one’s mind, and all of one’s power while also violating the Lord’s other precepts at the same time.
During his first epistle, the apostle John stated: ″Brethren, I send you no new commandment, but an old commandment, which ye have received from the beginning of time.″ ″The ancient commandment is the message that you have received from the beginning of time.″ (See 1 John 2:7.) His explanation later stated, ″For this is the message that you have received from the beginning, which is that we should love one another.″ In 1 John 3:11, the Bible says, ″Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: for the darkness is passed, and the genuine light now shineth,″ John stated, quoting the Lord’s words: ″Because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.″ … ″He who loves his brother is one who abides in the light.″ (See 1 John 2:8, 10.) In these passages, John the Beloved provides a crucial indication as to the significance of Jesus’ words in his explanation of the commandment to love as being both ″old″ and ″new,″ in which he refers to it as both ″old″ and ″new.″ The commandment to love ″the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thine soul, and with all thine might″ (Deut.
6:5) and the commandment to love one’s neighbor as one’s self (Deut.
6:5) were both written down in the Bible, dating back to the time of Moses at the very least.
(See Leviticus 19:18.) The commandment to love was, without a doubt, ″ancient.″ According to John, when Jesus entered the earth, he was ″the genuine light,″ and the ″new commandment″ was ″true in him″ and ″now shineth.″ (See 1 John 2:8, 10.) He was ″the genuine light,″ the physical incarnation or personification of that commandment, and he was the source of all illumination.

The heavenly example of love was and continues to be Jesus Christ.
As a result of his arrival, the commandment to love was given a second time and so became ″fresh.″ In our dispensation, John’s allusion to the commandment to love as being both ″new″ and ″old″ in his day is equivalent to the gospel and certain of its portions being described as both ″new″ and ″everlasting″ in their respective times.
(See D&C 22:1 and D&C 132:4) However, the text argues that the Lord’s remark of ″a new commandment″ has extra significance, since when he stated, ″I give unto you, that ye love one another,″ he offered his followers a new standard by which to measure their love for one another.
Before, Jesus had preached the principle of ″love thy neighbor as oneself,″ but now he has urged people to ″love one another; as I have loved you.″ It was no longer acceptable for man to love himself or others based on his or her own mortal selves; instead, he had to love others based on the divine standard, which was the Lord himself.
His instructions to the 12 Nephite followers when he posed them the question: ″What kind of men ought ye to be?″ followed a similar pattern.

after which Jesus responded to his own question by proclaiming, ″Verily, I say unto you, even as I am.″ (See 3 Ne.
27:27 for further information.) He is the Divine Criterion, and it is after him that we should model our lives.
When a great Book of Mormon prophet declared, ″But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whomever is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him,″ he provided us with greater insight into the ″new commandment″ and Jesus as our model of love.
For this reason, my beloved brethren, pray to the Father with all of your heart’s energy, that ye may be filled with the love that he has bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become sons of God; that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; and that we may be purified even as he is purified.″ Amen.” Morris (7:47–48) explains that Throughout these teachings of Mormon, delivered via his son Moroni, we learn that charity is the pure love of Christ, and that the pure love that Christ possesses is the sort of love that he wishes to see in all of mankind, including ourselves.
Because he also declared to his apostles, ″By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have love one toward another,″ the passage provides us with still additional insight into what the Lord was trying to convey when he added, ″A new commandment I give unto you.″ (See also John 13:35.) The Lord had already instructed his disciples to love everyone on the face of the earth in his previous teachings on love.
In other words, it was a wide or comprehensive commandment: to love everyone and to love one’s neighbor as one’sself.

However, there had previously been disagreement among the Twelve over the subject of grandeur in the context in which Jesus delivered the ″new commandment.″ Although the others were unaware of it at the time, one of their number, Judas Iscariot, would that night openly betray the Lord and them, and the Lord would offer his life as the ultimate example of love within a few hours after that betrayal.When we look at these circumstances, we find the Lord delivering an instruction on love that was not only wide and universal, as had been the former instruction, but was also precise and extremely particular, as was the earlier instruction.In other words, Jesus instructed his disciples to love one another as much as he loved them personally.Furthermore, if they loved one another, all men would know that they were his disciples; simply loving people in general is not enough; disciples must love one another particularly in order to be recognized as such.Briefly stated, the scriptures provide us with at the very least these three fundamental insights into the Lord’s ″new commandment.″ One way to think about it is that God’s mandate to love is both ″new″ and ″old,″ since the restored gospel shows both a new and a ″everlasting″ covenant.Second, the ″new commandment″ establishes a higher standard of love for humans, since the Lord instructed his disciples to love one another ″as I have loved you″ in it.

Third, the Lord stated that the love that his disciples would have for one another would be the distinguishing characteristic of his followers.
The ability to ″love all mankind,″ a handy abstraction behind which even the pseudo-humanitarian may hide, is not enough for a disciple of the Lord; he or she must also have a personal love for other disciples.
For the original Twelve, it represented a significant challenge, one of which they appear to have been fully conscious.
In addition, the repercussions for us as disciples, who are held to the same standard as Jesus’ love, are no less sobering.

O Blood and Water – Wikipedia

It is a prayer to the Divine Mercy given by Jesus to Saint Faustina Kowalska, known as O Blood and Water (Polish: O krwi I wodo).
According to the Diary, the complete language of the prayer is as follows: ″O blood and water, which burst forth from the heart of Jesus as a fountain of compassion for us, I/we place our confidence in You.″ In the original Polish, it reads: ″O krwi I wodo, która wytrysna z serca Jezusowego jako zdrój miosierdzia dla nas, ufam/-y tobie″ (On the waters and the water), which means ″On the waters and the water.″ It might be thought of as an extension of the ejaculatory prayer Jezu, ufam tobie (″Jesus, I put my confidence in You″), which is situated beneath the Divine Mercy picture (according to Diary 47).
It is mentioned three times in the Diary (pages 84, 187, and 309), with the first occurrence being on August 2, 1934.
Saint Faustina Kowalska was promised by Jesus Himself that if she said this prayer on behalf of a sinner with a contrite heart and confidence, I would grant him the gift of conversion (186).
It is frequently prayed during the hour of mercy (3 p.m.), when someone does not have time for a longer prayer like the Chaplet of Divine Mercy due of their responsibilities, such as a workday (as recommended in Diary 1320, 1572).

It is also used in a variety of different contexts, particularly when someone comes into contact with a sinner (as Jesus requires passim in the Diary).
It invokes the Divine Mercy that has been extended to humanity as a result of Jesus’ death on the cross.
The grace of sacraments, represented by the blood and water from His side pierced by a spear (John 19:34), represents aid and forgiveness (cf.
Diary 299).
Additionally, the meaning of the red and white light in the Divine Mercy artwork is explained below.

References

University of Glasgow
Saint Faustina
Divine Mercy in Action
Divine Mercy in Action

What Did Jesus Really Look Like? New Study Redraws Holy Image

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Following new study by Joan Taylor, it has been suggested that Jesus was of normal height, with short black hair and brown eyes, as well as olive-brown complexion.
(Image credit: Painting by Cathy Fisher, depicting Jesus with shorter garments and hair in conformity with the latest results.) Quickly searching for ″Jesus″ on Google will provide a range of photos depicting a tall, white person with long, blondish hair and a beard, with a beard.
But what was Jesus’ physical appearance like?
According to a recent book by a professor, Jesus most likely did not look anything like the image we have today.
According to the Bible’s Gospels, Jesus was a Jew who was born in Bethlehem in 4 B.C.

and spent a brief period of time in Egypt as a kid before settling in Nazareth with his parents.
Joan Taylor, professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King’s College London, said in her book ″What Did Jesus Look Like?″ that these sources make no mention of what Jesus looked like, except from a few references to the attire that he and his disciples wore.
T&T Clark published a paper in 2018 titled ″It’s very interesting how little is made of it, and what he looked like,″ Taylor said in an interview with Live Science.
Despite this, both Moses (the prophet who is claimed to have guided the Israelites) and David (the warrior who is said to have killed Goliath) were characterized as being attractive individuals in the Hebrew Bible.
Additionally, Taylor writes in her book that the oldest creative images of Jesus date back at least two centurie