The Swoon Theory: A Viable Hypothesis?

 

    Atheists, Gnostics, and the devil alike share one goal–To keep you from experiencing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this often leads them to invent wild and outrageous theories to get you to doubt what the Bible says is true. One such theory concerning the resurrection is the SWOON THEORY. The swoon theory is the idea that Jesus Christ did not really die at His crucifixion but was merely unconscious when He was laid in the tomb, and there He was revived from unconsciousness.  

   What are the implications if this theory were true? Would it even be possible for a man to survive the cross? And if, indeed, the swoon theory can be proved or disproved, what does it matter to us? I will give you all the answers to these questions and more. Now, first we will start with the medical evidence. And if the medical evidence does not convince you, then probably nothing will. A Roman crucifixion was one of the most brutal ways of execution ever invented. An ancient eastern text written by the historian Josephus states this in his “Antiquities 12, chapter 5”:

 “But the best men, and those of the noblest souls, did not regard him, but did pay a greater respect to the customs of their country than concern as to the punishment which he threatened to the disobedient; on which account they every day underwent great miseries and bitter torments; for they were whipped with rods, and their bodies were torn to pieces, and were crucified, while they were still alive, and breathed.”

    There is no possible way that Jesus could have survived the cross. The doctor Alex Metherell, M.D., PH. D, who, when asked by Lee Strobel in his book “The Case for Christ”, if there were ANY possible way that Jesus could have survived the cross, states this: “ABSOLUTELY NOT. Remember that Jesus was already in hypovolemic shock from the massive blood loss even before the crucifixion started. He couldn’t have possibly faked His own death, because you can’t fake the ability 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. It’s a fanciful theory without any possible basis in fact”.    Similarly, 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:

“ Modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead when taken down from the cross.”

Now, I believe that these statements alone completely throttles the swoon theory. But, I will add onto this. 4 other medical evidences:

    When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22:44 says:

    “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Now, before you scoff at this account as being completely exaggerated and false, you should know that this is an extreme medical condition called hematidrosis. It only happens during a prolonged period of extreme psychological stress. So, imagine Him, in such agony, contemplating what He came to this earth for–to die a brutal Roman death at the cross. 

    So, Jesus was obviously in a weakened condition. But then, it just got worse. 

    When Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the guards took Him, and interrogated Him. Then, John 19:1 describes what they did to Him. 

    “So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands”. What was scourging? Well, according to CARM.ORG: 

    “In scourging, a soldier used a whip called a flagrum consisting of leather straps embedded with metal and glass fragments with small metal balls sewn into the end of each thong.  This whip was brought down with full force and when struck against the back of Jesus, was pulled thus tearing the skin off, exposing muscle, and maybe even exposing His very bones.  Undoubtedly, His back was reduced to an oozing mass of mutilated flesh.  Scourging stops when it is determined that the victim is near death or 39 lashes were reached.  39 was the number of mercy according to Jewish law.  By this time, Jesus was in great pain, suffering severe blood loss, and was becoming very weak and thirsty. Only after this was He taken to be crucified.”

Jesus would have been beaten nearly beyond recognition, Fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, Chapter 52, verse 14. 

    “. . . So His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men…”

    In light of this, It is not surprising that many prisoners died before ever making it to the cross.

    On the cross, Jesus suffered the worse torture ever known to humanity. Not only present were the jeering guards, the mocking Pharisees, and the weeping woman, the devil was there, mocking right along with them. Jesus was in absolute agony. CARM.ORG, 

    “Jesus was led away to the cross and finally, He was nailed to a crossbeam.  Normally a person was laid down upon the cross beam and a nail driven into one wrist.  Then the other hand was pulled very tightly, and another nail driven into the other wrist.  The nails were usually about 6-8 inches long.  Placing the nail in the wrist severs the median nerve resulting in a burning pain as well as paralysis in the hand.

    Once Jesus was lifted to the cross, His feet were nailed to it.  But, in order to do this, His knees were bent, and the feet brought up a bit to allow them to lie flat against the stake so they could be nailed to it.  Once suspended, the force of gravity brings the weight of the body down and the shoulders and elbows dislocate by popping out of joint, ripping ligaments.

       Because of the outstretched position of the arms, the chest cavity is in a perpetually expanded state and it is very difficult to breathe.  With the severe loss of blood from the scourging and crucifixion, Jesus would have become dehydrated, and His body would have less blood to carry oxygen. Therefore, His heart would beat faster as it attempted to compensate and His need for oxygen would increase greatly. In order to breathe, Jesus had to push up on the nails in His feet to allow His chest enough flexibility to inhale.  Pushing up on the nails is not only excruciating, but this meant that He had to scrap His raw, beaten back against the rough wooden stake.  This whole process of breathing and exhaling by pushing up on the nails only increases in intensity as time passes.  Soon, the body gets to the point of no return and the heart either ruptures or the person dies from asphyxiation.  But, before that happens, the blood loss results in extreme thirst as the body craves water to restore the lost blood.  Jesus said, “I thirst” (John 19:28), whereupon a soldier offered Him some sour wine (Luke 23:36), but Jesus refused it because He would not seek to escape any part of the ordeal. In order to prolong the suffering, sometimes, the Romans would place a very small seat nailed to the stake so that the victim could partially sit on it.  This would allow a small amount of rest and would greatly increase the time it took to die, sometimes several days.  But in Jesus’ case, since He was so badly beaten before He got to the cross, He died in a short amount of time.  It was, therefore, not necessary to break His legs to prevent Him from pushing up on the nails in His feet so He could breathe.”

    In light of all of that, there was another horrific form of torture that only would take superhuman strength to even survive. It was this. God the Father turned His face away from Him, and every single sin you and I ever have and ever will commit was heaped on Him, and the fury and wrath, and holiness of God beat upon Him for 6 hours. A normal human being would not have been able to last even a second of the fury of God. And He took on all of it for 6 hours.

    Even if Jesus were in a prime condition, He would not be able to move the heavy stone Himself to get out of the tomb. 

    But His body was not in prime condition. He was in hypovolemic shock! It’s unthinkable that He could have moved the stone away from the entrance of the tomb. Therefore, He would not be able to exit. He would have certainly starved or suffocated. 

    There is not a chance that Jesus could have been able to walk at all after what He went through on the cross. Actually, according to Alex Metherell in “Case for Christ” again, His hands and feet were paralyzed from the 8–inch nails that would have been driven into them on the cross! 

       Also, and I believe maybe most importantly, in His most awful, mutilated condition, it’s ridiculous to think that Jesus would have inspired the Disciples and convinced them to think that He was the victorious Son of God who had triumphed over the grave. And it certainly wouldn’t have spurred them to start a worldwide movement and initiate the emergence of the Church. 

    So, now that we have examined the evidence regarding whether Jesus could have actually survived the vicious torture of the beatings, and the agony of the cross, and shown that it was imposable that He could have even stood, let alone merely fainted and then revived later, I will examine the implications of the importance of the swoon theory. If this theory were true, then Christianity would be doomed. If Jesus did not die on the cross, but merely swooned, and was revived later, then what do we have? We have religion, similar to Confucianism, where we simply live by the man’s precepts, and follow a moral code. But the good news is this: The swoon theory is not true. Jesus did really die to pay for our sins. And, even better, He rose from the grave after 3 days, conquering death and ascending back into heaven. And I believe that we should take His death, burial, and resurrection seriously, with fear and trembling. Thank you.