Crucification of Christ? A Myth busters review?

Question

If a bolt has to go through his chest + piece of wood behind then the bolt needs to be at least 24” long and 1.5” diameter minimum. To drive a Bolt in 12” dry wood it takes heavy blows from a substantially heavy hammer and off course wood needs to be supported from behind.

As heavy blows cannot be hit when the cross has been erected in upright position therefore it has placed on ground and then hit in place. Later must have been planted in the ground. Given that only few people can witness the crucification.

Lets suppose a nail is hit to hiswrist . The blow of the hammer will cause a revolution of the cross/ or Torsion which means ecery time a blow is taken it must be reset in position.

Sorry, Bolt thorugh the chest wa my logical assumption as the weight of the body was more at abdomen and was thinking of balancing the weight

Answer 1

Where is it mentioned that a bolt was put through Jesus' chest?...

Why would such a bolt (or nail) have to be long enough to go all the way through the wood?...

It does not take 1-1/2" diameter nail to hold up a person...

Once Jesus was nailed to the cross-beam... he would have been lifted up for all to see... so only the initial part would be witnessed by the crowd directly surrounding the cross...

How big of an area around the guards do you think they had while they nailed Jesus to the cross?... now how many people would it take to surround that area shoulder to shoulder.. say.. 3 deep.. all of those people could witness the nailing.

Answer 2

izofblue, may I add something to what you said? I agree that a stake is a possibility, but only a possibility, not a sure thing.

It's true that a stauros is BASICALLY a stake, but a cross is basically a stake. Adding a crosspiece doesn't make it any less a stake. A secondary meaning is 'a wooden instrument of torture or execution' and that includes stakes with crosspieces added. In the first century, the writer Seneca says that stauroses were "fashioned in different ways" so since there was variety in them, how can you be absolutely sure there was no crosspiece?

Also, the word xylon simply means something made of wood and has no reference to shape. (xylo = wood). A tree, a stake, and a stake with a crosspiece - they're all made of wood, so the word xylon doesn't shed any light on the subject at all.

The fellow who wrote the Companion Bible was wrong if he was saying that a stauros couldn't be a cross because there are ancient writings that describe stauroses and cruxes (the equivalent of stauros in Latin) as being cross-shaped as well as being a simple stake. I think the Comp. Bible was originally written in the 1800's; possibly the writer wasn't familiar with some of the historical documents.

Answer 3

You are correct in your view that it wasn't a "cross" that Jesus died on. I am going to include some information that you might find interesting about this subject.
The Greek word generally translated “cross” is stau·ros′. It basically means “an upright pale or stake.” The Companion Bible points out: “[Stau·ros′] never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle . . . There is nothing in the Greek of the [New Testament] even to imply two pieces of timber.”

In several texts, Bible writers use another word for the instrument of Jesus’ death. It is the Greek word xy′lon. (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) This word simply means “timber” or “a stick, club, or tree.”

Explaining why a simple stake was often used for executions, the book Das Kreuz und die Kreuzigung (The Cross and the Crucifixion), by Hermann Fulda, states: “Trees were not everywhere available at the places chosen for public execution. So a simple beam was sunk into the ground. On this the outlaws, with hands raised upward and often also with their feet, were bound or nailed.”

Now after they were bound or nailed, they were dropped into a pit that was dug, or like you said, 'planted in the ground' You can only imagine the pain!!

Answer 4

Not much of a myth buster are you! Jesus may have been nailed through the wrists and the feet, and a spear was stuck in his side later on. Never had a bolt in his chest.

You must also be reminded that crucification was not some sort of special death sentence placed on Jesus because he was the Son of God, put simply the standard method of execution the Romans had at that time.

The "miracle" of Jesus' crucifixion was not in the manner in which he died, but in the belief that he rose from the dead 3 days later.

Answer 5

In crucifixion there were no nails driven through any part of the body. The hands were tied to the post with strong rope at the wrist. This left the person hanging which made breathing difficult as there was pressure on the chest. It must have been an excruciating and laborious death because the convict took about three to five days to die. Many of them would become delirious.

Answer 6

You're overlooking the fact that there was no bolt through the chest, just the hands/wrists and feet/ankles. You might be thinking of Dracula- it's an easy mistake. This was absolutely done while the cross was horizontal. Crucifixion was meant to be a drawn-out, awful way to go. A nail through the chest would have ruined their fun.

Answer 7

Do you really think the body cannot be supported by a large spike through each arm placed between the radial and distal ulna? You don't believe that old myth about the hands, do you?

And WHO thinks the cross was erected before the condemned was put on it? Where are you getting this rot? Thousands of people were crucified. If Jesus even existed, he was just one of many killed by this very popular method.

Answer 8

um, a bolt DIDN'T go throught His chest! it was a spear that went up diagonally through His chest and into His heart to check if he was dead. And DUH the cross was on the ground when they drove the nails into His hands and feet! AND, there WERE only a few people on Mt. Calvery. There were some wqtching from below but the majority of it was soldiers and His Mother, Mary, His friend, Mary Magdalene and His Apostle, St. John. You're stupid.

Answer 9

You have never gone hunting, shot and killed a deer.

It is easier to dress a deer by taking its hid legs and nailing them to a tree.

The cross was on the ground Christ was laid on the cross. a nail was driven in the wrist of each hand. a nail was driven through both heals giving support to the body.
The cross was then lifted into a hole in the ground and spiked in steady.

A strong man, healthy, could endure 3 days on the cross. Death was caused by suffocation.

Answer 10

for one their was nothing driven into Jesus chest he was cut with a blade and they had him laying down and strapped on the cross before they put the nails in afterwords the made them carry the cross to the site and the whole was already their when they stood him up right and then put the bolts thought his feet and buried the cross