Swoon hypothesis

The swoon hypothesis is any of a number of ideas that aim to explain the resurrection of Jesus, proposing that Jesus did not die on the cross, but merely fell unconscious ("swooned"), and was later revived in the tomb in the same mortal body. This 200-year-old hypothesis is still the subject of debate in popular circles but the scholarly literature considers it uncontroversial that Jesus died during the process of crucifixion.[1]

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Death and Resurrection of Jesus
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18th and 19th centuries

Early proponents of this theory include German Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, who suggested in around 1780 that Jesus deliberately feigned his death, using drugs provided by the physician Luke to appear as a spiritual messiah and get Israel to abandon the idea of a political messiah. In this interpretation of the events described in the Gospels, Jesus was resuscitated by Joseph of Arimathea, with whom he shared a connection through a secret order of the Essenes — a group that appear in many of the "swoon" theories.

Around 1800, Karl Venturini proposed that a group of supporters dressed in white — who were, with Jesus, members of a "secret society" — had not expected him to survive the crucifixion, but heard groaning from inside the tomb, where Jesus had regained consciousness in the cool, damp air. They then frightened away the guards and rescued him.

A third rationalist theologian, Heinrich Paulus, wrote in works from 1802 onwards that he believed that Jesus had fallen into a temporary coma and somehow revived without help in the tomb. He was critical of the vision hypothesis and argued that the disciples must have believed that God had resurrected Jesus. Friedrich Schleiermacher endorsed a form of Paulus' theory in the early 1830s.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Movement, proposed a theory in his 1899 book Jesus in India[2] that Jesus traveled to India after surviving the crucifixion.

20th century

Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, in their 1982 book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, speculated that Pontius Pilate was bribed to allow Jesus to be taken down from the cross before he was dead. In 1992, Barbara Thiering explored the theory in depth in her book Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 2006, Baigent published The Jesus Papers, a book that describes how Jesus may have survived the crucifixion. Other proponents of various "swoon theories" include:

Name Date Book Reference
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 1899 Jesus in India [3]
Henry Leffmann 1904 The Mental Condition and Career of Jesus of Nazareth [4]
Ernest Brougham Docker 1920 If Jesus Did Not Die on the Cross [5]
Harvey Spencer Lewis 1929 The Mystical Life of Jesus
Werner Hegemann 1933 Christ Rescued [6]
Sufi M. R. Bengalee 1946 The Tomb of Jesus [7]
Khwaja Nazir Ahmad 1952 Jesus in Heaven on Earth
Robert Graves and Joshua Podro 1957 Jesus in Rome [8]
Hugh J. Schonfield 1965 The Passover Plot [9]
Raymond W. Bernard 1966 The Secret Life of Jesus the Essene
Aziz Kashmiri 1968 Christ in Kashmir
Donovan Joyce 1972 The Jesus Scroll [10]
Andreas Faber-Kaiser 1977 Jesus Died in Kashmir [11]
Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln 1982 The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail [12]
J.D.M. Derrett 1982 The Anastasis: The Resurrection of Jesus as an Historical Event [13]
Paul C. Pappas 1991 Jesus' Tomb in India: The Debate on His Death and Resurrection [14]
Fida Muhammad Hassnain 1994 A Search for the Historical Jesus
Holger Kersten 1994 Jesus Lived in India [3]
Barbara Thiering 1994 Jesus the Man [15]
Kenneth V. Hosking 1995 Yeshua the Nazorean: The Teacher of Righteousness [16]
Abubakr Ben Ishmael Salahuddin 2001 Saving the Savior: Did Christ Survive the Crucifixion? [17]
Johannes Fried 2019 Kein Tod auf Golgatha [18]

In contrast, modern skeptics of swooning claims, such as board certified diagnostician Dr. Alexander Metherell, assert that Jesus having survived crucifixion is "impossible" and "a fanciful theory without any possible basis in fact."[19] Further example may be found in a thorough analysis conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association, which concluded Jesus was very probably dead even prior to the spear being thrust into his side, and that any swoon hypothesis is entirely irreconcilable with contemporary medical science.[20]

Islamic perspective
See also: Islamic views on Jesus' death

Inadvertently, the biggest proponent of the swoon hypothesis in the modern era would likely be Muslim preacher Ahmed Deedat of South Africa, whose book Crucifixion or Cruci-fiction has been widely printed and distributed all over the Muslim world. He also wrote several books on this topic.[21][22][23][24] He takes a critical look at the events in the four Gospels and theorizes an alternative scenario of what really happened, a scenario very similar to the swoon hypothesis.

Another contemporary Muslim scholar, Zakir Naik, also used these theories in a debate with Pastor Ruknuddin Henry Pio.[25]

The Islamic position on the subject of crucifixion is highlighted in verse of the Qur'an: "and for their unbelief, and their uttering against Mary a mighty calumny, and for their saying, 'We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God' -- yet they did not slay him, neither they killed him by Crucifixion, only a confusion was made to them".[26]

Ahmadiyya perspective

According to the late 19th century writings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, the theological basis of the Ahmadi belief is that Jesus was only "in a swoon"[27] when he was taken down from the cross. Ahmad argued that when Jesus was taken down from the cross, he had lapsed into a state similar to Jonah's state of "swoon" in the belly of a fish. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad interpreted the phrase in Deuteronomy 21:23: kī qilelat Elohim taluy, "… for a hanged man is the curse of God", as suggesting that "God would never allow one of His true prophets to be brutally killed in such a degrading manner as crucifixion". Following his ordeal, Jesus was cured of his wounds with a special 'ointment of Jesus' (marham-i ʿIsā).".[28][29][30]

Rajneesh movement

Indian Philosopher Rajneesh has also argued that Jesus survived the Crucifixion and his argument is similar to the swoon hypothesis.[31]

Supporting arguments

Short stay of Jesus on the cross

It was uncommon for a crucified healthy adult to die in the time described by the Gospels; the Gospel of Mark reports that Jesus was crucified at nine in the morning and died at three in the afternoon, or six hours after the crucifixion. Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus had died so soon (Mk 15:44). The average time of suffering before death by crucifixion is claimed by some to have been observed to be 2–4 days; moreover, the 17th century philosopher Justus Lipsius claims that victims of crucifixion survive for as long as 9 days.[32]

However, the precise duration of crucifixion until death occurs would depend on the type of crucifixion, the amount of blood loss already inflicted from the flogging and scourging performed beforehand, and the general physical health of the individual being executed. Also, if a spear was thrust into the exposed side of Jesus as expressly recorded in the Gospel of John account, such an event could have inevitably contributed to an extremely rapid death absent immediate, sophisticated medical attention.

Lack of eyewitness accounts of Jesus' dead body

Jesus' body, as per the Gospel narratives, is not seen by eyewitnesses nor reported upon as such after his death. No elaborate funeral arrangements and no public viewing of the corpse are recorded to have taken place. Jesus' body is removed from the cross into the custody of his executioner, Pontius Pilate. Soon thereafter, Jesus' body is given by Pilate to a member of the Jewish council, Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man and a secret follower of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea, along with a Pharisee named Nicodemus, wrap Jesus' body in linen and transport the body to a nearby, stone-covered burial chamber.[33]

Jewish religious law (halacha) forbids embalming, and therefore Jews generally bury their dead as soon as possible: "Jewish burials take place as quickly as possible, following a principle of honoring the dead (k'vod hamet).[34]

The transfer of Jesus' body by the local authorities into the hands of a rich influential follower and execution of a quick burial lend support to the swoon hypothesis, allowing a swooned Jesus to be removed from the cross, quickly hidden away from public scrutiny with room to recover from his ordeal in an above ground burial chamber on private property.

Counter-arguments

Jesus' state of health

The swoon hypothesis has been criticized by many, including medical experts who, based on the account given in the New Testament, conclude that Jesus was definitively dead when removed from the cross.[35] Many others consider it unlikely that Jesus would be capable of inspiring faith in those who saw him after barely surviving a crucifixion, including the 19th century rationalist theologian David Strauss, who wrote: "It is impossible that a being who had stolen half dead out of the sepulchre, who crept about weak and ill and wanting medical treatment... could have given the disciples the impression that he was a conqueror over death and the grave, the Prince of life: an impression that lay at the bottom of their future ministry."[36]

Medical arguments

Using the work of Samuel Haughton, commentators Frederick Charles Cook and Josh McDowell argued that the death of Jesus in the Gospels could not have been fabricated, as the text displays medical knowledge not available at the time. Haughton wrote that the description in the Gospel of John of the flowing of "blood and water" after the soldier pierced Jesus' side with a spear was prescient of an as-yet undiscovered medical condition called respiratory acidosis: "... With the foregoing cases most anatomists who have devoted their attention to this subject are familiar; but the two following cases, although readily explicable on physiological principles, are not recorded in the books (except by St. John). Nor have I been fortunate enough to meet with them."[37][38]

Medical authorities W. D. Edwards, W. J. Gabel and F. E. Hosmer offered the following analysis in regard to the New Testament Greek and the medical data:

"Jesus of Nazareth underwent Jewish and Roman trials, was flogged, and was sentenced to death by crucifixion. The scourging produced deep stripelike lacerations and appreciable blood loss, and it probably set the stage for hypovolemic shock, as evidenced by the fact that Jesus was too weakened to carry the crossbar (patibulum) to Golgotha. At the site of crucifixion, his wrists were nailed to the patibulum and, after the patibulum was lifted onto the upright post (stipes), his feet were nailed to the stipes. The major pathophysiologic effect of crucifixion was an interference with normal respirations. Accordingly, death resulted primarily from hypovolemic shock and exhaustion asphyxia. Jesus' death was ensured by the thrust of a soldier's spear into his side. Modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead when taken down from the cross."[39]

Referencing the famed Romano-Jewish historian Josephus, scholar William Lane Craig argues:

"Josephus tells of how he had three acquaintances who had been crucified removed from their crosses, but despite the best medical attention two of three died anyway (Life 75:420-21). The extent of Jesus' tortures was such that He could never have survived the crucifixion and entombment. The suggestion that a man so critically wounded then went on to appear to the disciples on various occasions in Jerusalem and Galilee is pure fantasy."[40]

Forensic pathologist Frederick T. Zugibe has described the swoon hypothesis as completely unfounded and contradicted by medical evidence.[41] According to Zugibe the long spikes that penetrated Jesus' feet would have caused massive swelling and severe pain beginning in the first hour on the cross and over the next few days would have been massively swollen and infected beyond any immediate healing capability.[41] Jesus would not have been able to stand or walk on his feet for at least a month or longer. Zugibe argued that it was not possible for Jesus to have survived his crucifixion and no drugs or medications of the time would have been able to stop the pain Jesus had experienced or put him into a deep sleep to feign death.[41]

gollark: Idea: discrete cosine transforms.
gollark: > On Sunday, baidicoot declared that the first demo would be released soon-ish (but not now). Although the engine was ready, some minor features like controls needed to be added before it met with the lord's approval. But, due to baidicoot's phenomenal genius, the demo was finished in just a few hours, uploading “epeleptic demo” to his GitHub at 2020-04-12 16:48 UTC+0100. This was the first release of EWO, v0.1.0.0, also known as “EPILEPSY DEMO”.
gollark: I agree.
gollark: True, true.
gollark: I've read two and heard of one other dystopia novel built around the "disputes settled with single combat" thing, which is kind of a bad sign for the idea of allocating resources that way.

See also

References
  1. Bergeron, Joseph W. "The crucifixion of Jesus: review of hypothesized mechanisms of death and implications of shock and trauma-induced coagulopathy." Journal of forensic and legal medicine 19.3 (2012): 113-116.
  2. Jesus in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
  3. O'Collins, Gerald; Kendall, Daniel (1996). Focus on Jesus: Essays in Christology and Soteriology. Fowler Wright Books. p. 169. ISBN 0-85244-360-9
  4. Leffmann, Henry (1904). The Mental Condition and Career of Jesus of Nazareth Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge. Philadelphia.
  5. Zugibe, Frederick Thomas. (2005). The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry. M. Evans & Company. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-59077-070-2
  6. Jocz, Jakób (1981). The Jewish People and Jesus Christ After Auschwitz: A Study in the Controversy Between Church and Synagogue. Baker Book House. p. 234. ISBN 0-85244-360-9
  7. Bengalee, Sufi Matiur Rahman (1963 edition). The Tomb of Jesus. Ahmadiyya Muslim Association.
  8. O'Collins, Gerald; Kendall, Daniel (1996). Focus on Jesus: Essays in Christology and Soteriology. Fowler Wright Books. pp. 157-158. ISBN 0-85244-360-9
  9. O'Collins, Gerald; Kendall, Daniel (1996). Focus on Jesus: Essays in Christology and Soteriology. Fowler Wright Books. pp. 158-159. ISBN 0-85244-360-9
  10. O'Collins, Gerald; Kendall, Daniel (1996). Focus on Jesus: Essays in Christology and Soteriology. Fowler Wright Books. pp. 161-164. ISBN 0-85244-360-9
  11. Burke, Tony. (2017). Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictions: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha. Cascade Books. pp. 276-277. ISBN 978-1-5326-0374-7
  12. O'Collins, Gerald; Kendall, Daniel (1996). Focus on Jesus: Essays in Christology and Soteriology. Fowler Wright Books. pp. 164-166. ISBN 0-85244-360-9
  13. O'Collins, Gerald; Kendall, Daniel (1996). Focus on Jesus: Essays in Christology and Soteriology. Fowler Wright Books. pp. 167-169. ISBN 0-85244-360-9
  14. Pappas, Paul Constantine (1991). Jesus' Tomb in India: Debate on His Death and Resurrection. Asian Humanities Press. ISBN 978-0895819468
  15. O'Collins, Gerald; Kendall, Daniel (1996). Focus on Jesus: Essays in Christology and Soteriology. pp. 171-173. ISBN 0-85244-360-9
  16. Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 79. ISBN 0-8028-4368-9
  17. Salahuddin, Abubakr Ben Ishmael (2001). Saving the Savior: Did Christ Survive the Crucifixion?. Jammu Press. ISBN 978-0970828019
  18. Fried, Johannes (2019). Kein Tod auf Golgatha. Verlag C.H. Beck. ISBN 978-3406731419
  19. Strobel, Lee (1998). The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. pp. 200–201. "Once a person is hanging in the vertical position, crucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. The reason is that the stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put the chest into the inhaled position; basically, in order to exhale, the individual must push up on his feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment. In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot, eventually locking up against the tarsal bones. After managing to exhale, the person would then be able to relax down and take another breath in. Again he'd have to push himself up to exhale, scraping his bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross. This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and the person wouldn't be able to push up and breathe anymore... [Jesus] was already in hypovolemic shock from the massive blood loss even before the crucifixion started. He couldn't possibly have faked his death, because you can't fake the inability to breathe for long. Besides, the spear thrust into his heart would have settled the issue once and for all. And the Romans weren't about to risk their own death by allowing him to walk away alive.
  20. Edwards, M.D., William; Gabel, Mdiv, Wesley; Hosmer, M.S., Floyd (21 March 1986). "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ". Journal of the American Medical Association. Clearly, the weight of the historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured death. Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge.
  21. "Who moved the Stone" (PDF).
  22. "Resurrection or Resuscitation" (PDF).
  23. "Was Jesus Crucified" (PDF).
  24. "Crucifixion or Crucifiction" (PDF). by Ahmed Deedat
  25. "Debate: Was Jesus Christ (PBUH) Really Crucified? Dr. Zakir Naik debates Pastor Ruknuddin". HasbunAllah. 2 April 2013.
  26. "The Holy Quran - Chapter: 4: An-Nisa'". www.alislam.org.
  27. Faruqi 1983, p. 98.
  28. Schäfer & Cohen 1998, p. 306
  29. "Jesus Did Not Die on the Cross".
  30. "Jesus in India - Tomb of Jesus - Where Did Jesus Die - Jesus in Islam - Al Islam Online". www.alislam.org.
  31. "Jesus". OSHO – Transform Yourself through the Science of Meditation.
  32. "Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ". Archived from the original on 29 January 2011.
  33. "Could Jesus Have Survived the Crucifixion?".
  34. "Jewish Funeral Customs: Saying Goodbye to a Loved One". by Lisa Alcalay Klug at the Jewish Federations of North America.
  35. Edwards, William D (1986). "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ". Journal of the American Medical Association. 255 (11): 1455–63. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.621.365. doi:10.1001/jama.1986.03370110077025. PMID 3512867.
  36. David Strauss, The Life of Jesus for the People, vol. 1, 2nd edition (London: Williams and Norgate, 1879), p. 412.
  37. Jesus, a Fraud, a Lunatic or the Messiah? Resurrection: Hoax or History? Pre-Resurrection, part 1 @ answers2prayer.org
  38. Christianity HOAX or HISTORY, Chapter 1, Back from the Grave @ greatcom.org (for more details see Josh McDowell, New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, pages 223-225).
  39. On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ, by William D. Edwards, MD; Wesley J. Gabel, MDiv; Floyd E. Hosmer, MS, AMI (whole JAMA article in PDF file format).
  40. Craig, William (2010). On Guard. Colorado Springs, CO: DavidCCook. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-4347-6488-1.
  41. Zugibe, Frederick T. (2005) The Crucifixion of Jesus, Completely Revised and Expanded: A Forensic Inquiry. M. Evans & Company. pp. 161-162. ISBN 978-1-59077-070-2
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