For seventy years, we have been taught that Jesus died on the cross from asphyxiation (strangulation) because in the hanging position he was unable to exhale. This theory is not based on sound science. This book explains the medical cause of Jesus's death and why even Pilate was surprised how soon Jesus had died. The dramatic changes that took place in Jesus's body from the Last Supper until death are described in layman's terms. To add to the injustice, Jesus's condemnation to death was illegal under the Jewish law of his time--a fact supported by a review of the political and religious dynamics. Profits from the sale of this book are being donated to organizations that support the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

What does the most infamous criminal proceeding in history--the trial of Jesus of Nazareth--have to tell us about capital punishment in the United States? Jesus Christ was a prisoner on death row. If that statement surprises you, consider this fact: of all the roles that Jesus played--preacher, teacher, healer, mentor, friend--none features as prominently in the gospels as this one, a criminal indicted and convicted of a capital offense. Now consider another fact: the arrest, trial, and execution of Jesus bear remarkable similarities to the American criminal justice system, especially in capital cases. From the use of paid informants to the conflicting testimony of witnesses to the denial of clemency, the elements in the story of Jesus' trial mirror the most common components in capital cases today. Finally, consider a question: How might we see capital punishment in this country differently if we realized that the system used to condemn the Son of God to death so closely resembles the system we use in capital cases today? Should the experience of Jesus' trial, conviction, and execution give us pause as we take similar steps to place individuals on death row today? These are the questions posed by this surprising, challenging, and enlightening book

Commenting on how Christianity is unique among the worlds religions, Fleming Rutledge writes, Until the gospel of Jesus Christ burst upon the Mediterranean world, no one in the history of human imagination had ever conceived of such a thing as the worship of a crucified man. In this book Rutledge looks at the crucifixion of Christ from every angle, considering the entire spectrum of themes and motifs used in the New Testament to interpret Christs horrific death by public torture. Only in such a rich interplay of themes, she argues, can the full gospel of Christs death for the salvation of the world be fully understood and fully embraced. Nearly two decades in the making, Rutledges Crucifixion addresses the singular absence of preaching about the cross in churches today. As theologian Robert Jenson says, This justly celebrated preacher has been digging into the doctrine of atonement for many years. Here is the rich harvest of her labors -- a resource especially for preachers like herself.

This ground-breaking work offers a unique apologetic argument for the validity of the Gospel accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection. Dr. Bergeron's medical expertise allows him to examine the medical aspects of Jesus' death and as well as the hallucination hypothesis which attempts to discount Jesus' resurrection. This book explores the following areas: ? Jesus' claim to be the son of God and the Messiah of Hebrew prophetic literature ? Evidence of the trustworthiness of the Gospel as reliable eyewitness testimony ? The social and political context leading up to Jesus' execution ? Roman crucifixion practices in public executions ? Physiological mechanisms that ultimately led to Jesus' death ? A medical analysis of hallucination hypotheses for the disciples' belief in Jesus' resurrection and the inability of hallucination to explain away the biblical accounts of Jesus' resurrection

This study shows that the belief in Jesus' crucifixion is a matter of faith, not historical evidence. The book explains the serious issues in the Gospel narratives and compares them with the Qur'an's assertion that Jesus was not crucified.

What Christ suffered during his Passion — for you — is a powerful source of reflection and meditation. While we know that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem around A.D. 33, the details of his sufferings and death have been confused and obscured over the past two millennia. In What Christ Suffered: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Passion, Dr. Thomas W. McGovern provides the most accurate, up-to-date understanding of the physical sufferings of Jesus Christ, drawing on ancient Greek and Latin literature about crucifixion, discoveries of ancient images, archaeology, medical reenactment studies, and medical case reports. This volume corrects decades of myths and misunderstandings presented in books and articles and on websites — myths the author himself disseminated for years until he reanalyzed the data utilizing twenty-first-century advances in modern medicine and archaeological discoveries. This medical investigation of the Passion allows readers to enter more fully than ever into the reality of what Jesus suffered for our redemption. Drawing on the teachings of Pope Saint John Paul II in Salvifici Doloris, this book invites the reader to a deeper understanding of the meaning and value of human suffering — and how to practically apply it in their lives. By his sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus has won salvation for the whole world, redeeming even our sufferings through his incredible act of love. ABOUT THE AUTHOR A native of Escanaba, Michigan, Dr. Thomas W. McGovern completed his M.D. at Mayo Medical School. His eight years in the U.S. Army included two years of infectious disease and vaccine research and a dermatology residency at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Denver. He trained in Mohs surgery and Cutaneous Oncology at the Yale University School of Medicine and has practiced Mohs Surgery and Reconstruction for skin cancer in Fort Wayne since 2000. He serves on the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) national board and chairs the Young Member Advisory Committee. He is “living the dream,” cohosting Doctor, Doctor, the official weekly radio program of the CMA, which airs on EWTN and is available as a podcast. He and his wife of 30 years, Sally, are raising seven homeschooled children who gladly get a break from his “dad jokes” when he speaks at conferences.

Recent scholarship on the historical Jesus has rightly focused upon how Jesus understood his own mission. But no scholarly effort to understand the mission of Jesus can rest content without exploring the historical possibility that Jesus envisioned his own death. In this careful and far-reaching study, Scot McKnight contends that Jesus did in fact anticipate his own death, that Jesus understood his death as an atoning sacrifice, and that his death as an atoning sacrifice stood at the heart of Jesus' own mission to protect his own followers from the judgment of God.