Investigating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ; A New Transdisciplinary Approach by Andrew Loke

Author:Andrew Loke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

5.3 Addressing the swoon hypothesis

The swoon hypothesis (Jesus swooned on the cross, survived the crucifixion, exited the tomb, and showed himself to the disciples later) has been popularized among laypeople by novelist Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (2003). However, it has been widely rejected by scholars since David Strauss refuted it in the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, it is mentioned by Barbara Thiering (1992), who speculates that Jesus merely passed out after being administered snake poison. Duncan Derrett (2005, pp. 397–400) argues that the disciples realized that the proclamation of the resurrection would help business and attract rich followers, and on the reappearance of the swooned Jesus after the crucifixion the question the disciples had would be ‘how would this be of benefit to us?’ He postulates that Jesus then conveniently died of gas gangrene, and the disciples cremated the corpse and later reported that he had ascended.

To evaluate the swoon hypothesis, consider first the brutality of Roman flogging and crucifixion. The Romans normally carried out brutal flogging before crucifying a victim (Hengel 1977, p. 29). Ancient sources report of people whipped to the bone (Josephus, Jewish War, 6.304), whipped till their intestines were exposed (ibid., 2.612), and whipped till their ‘veins and arteries’ became visible (The Martyrdom of Polycarp 2.2).

While the Romans did not invent crucifixion, they made it into one of the most barbarous forms of cruelty (Bauckham 2011, p. 95). Nailing was the preferred method of securing the victim on the cross (Hengel 1977, pp. 31–32, n. 25; several texts indicate that Jesus was nailed to the cross; John 20:25; Acts 2:23; Col. 2:14; Gos. Pet. 6:21; Justin Dial. 97), and while hanging there victims were tortured in various gruesome ways such that Josephus (Jewish War 7.203) would refer to crucifixion as ‘the most pitiful of deaths.’ The flogging, beatings, and nailing to the cross would have left Jesus suffering from severe blood loss, dehydration, inadequate respiration, and strenuous physical exertion, eventually resulting in cardiovascular collapse which was the probable cause of death in Jesus’ case (Edwards et al. 1986).

Sceptics might object that Josephus mentioned a case of survival after crucifixion. In his autobiography, he recalls successfully pleading with Titus to take down three of his crucified friends; they were treated by Roman physicians and one of them survived (Josephus, Life, 420).4 Vermès (2008, p. 145) observes that according to Mark’s portrayal Jesus remained on the cross for such a short time that Pilate wondered whether he was truly dead when Joseph of Arimathea asked for his body (Mark 15:44), and Vermès speculates that the piercing of his side by one of the executioners was a later invention introduced by John (19:34) to dispel doubts as to whether Jesus was dead. It might be objected that in the case of Josephus’ report, his friends were taken down with the intention of sparing them, while in the case of Jesus’ crucifixion there was no intention of sparing him, and those who crucified him would have ensured that he was dead.

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