I earlier blogged about the “last shout” of Jesus before he left this world (When Jesus went out with a loud voice . . .) and one reader responded by saying that the shout itself was a miracle that proved the divine power of Jesus, at least to the nearby centurion. The argument is that at the point of final asphyxiation a loud shout would normally be impossible.
I personally think such a “miracle”, if that were the case, is quite anticlimactic in comparison with the sun turning black at the time of a full moon and a bodily resurrection, unless, perhaps for a physician. But since then, while reading for another blog post, I came across the following in the Wikipedia entry on Crucifixion:
Experiments by Frederick Zugibe have, however, revealed that, when suspended with arms at 60° to 70° from the vertical, test subjects had no difficulty breathing, only rapidly-increasing discomfort and pain. This would correspond to the Roman use of crucifixion as a prolonged, agonizing, humiliating death.
Neil Godfrey
Latest posts by Neil Godfrey (see all)
- When a Priest Loses His Faith - 2021-10-17 17:58:04 GMT+0000
- A Few Memories from the visiting Met - 2021-10-15 14:56:24 GMT+0000
- Finding Jesus in (or through) Josephus - 2021-10-13 08:22:19 GMT+0000
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to Vridar. Thanks!