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The Historical Bedrock Pertaining to Jesus’ Fate
knowledge, engaged in the most comprehensive investigation of the facts pertaining to the resurrection of Jesus. Although he has provided lists of varying lengths in the past, Habermas now identifies three minimal facts that are regarded as indisputable by almost all scholars writing on the subject:
1. Jesus died by crucifixion.
2. Very shortly after Jesus’ death, the disciples had experiences that led them to believe and proclaim that Jesus had been resurrected and had appeared to them.
3. Within a few years after Jesus’ death, Paul converted after experiencing what he interpreted as a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to him.
We will discuss these at length in order to see if we are warranted in regarding them as historical bedrock.
Jesus’ Death by Crucifixion
Crucifixion was a common form of execution employed by the Romans to punish members of the lower class, slaves, soldiers, the violently rebellious, and those accused of treason.65 It was usually preceded by torturing the victim brutally. The Romans normally carried out flogging before crucifying a victim.66 From the late first century BC through the end of the first century AD, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Livy, Philo, and Josephus report of people being tormented with whips, fire, and all sorts of tortures before they were crucified.67 In the second century, Lucian reports of a man who was whipped, his eyes put out, and his tongue cut off before being crucified.
The whipping itself, scourging, could be quite brutal. Although a subsequent crucifixion is not mentioned, in the middle of the second century, The Martyrdom of Polycarp reports of people whose flesh were “so torn by whips” that their “veins and arteries” became visible.69 Josephus tells of a man who, just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, was whipped to the bone by one of Pilate’s successors in Jerusalem.70 He also reports that a group was whipped until their intestines were exposed.71 Having undergone this type of treatment prior to crucifixion, we can only imagine what the victim looked like while on the cross. In the first century, Seneca described crucified victims as having “battered and ineffective carcasses,” “maimed,” “misshapen,” “deformed,” “nailed,” and “drawing the breath of life amid long drawn out agony.”72
After being tortured, the victim condemned to the cross was often followed by crowds while being escorted outside the city walls where he was nailed or bound to a cross or tree.73 Nailing appears to have been the preferred method.74 Sometimes the victims were nailed in different positions.75 Brutal treatment was occasionally dished out on victims on the cross.76 In the last quarter of the first century, Martial describes a theatrical performance in graphic detail during which a condemned man was substituted for the actor at the appropriate moment and crucified in the theatre, after which a bear was loosed on him that tore him to pieces while alive on the cross.77 Josephus reports a particularly brutal treatment where after being whipped severely with rods, some were crucified, and that while alive their wives and sons were killed and their now dead infant sons were hung around their necks.78 One can easily understand why Cicero referred to crucifixion as “that most cruel and disgusting penalty,” “the worst extremes of tortures” and “the terror of the cross.”
There are at least four reasons for believing that Jesus of Nazareth died as a result of being crucified. The first evidence is that Jesus’ death by crucifixion is multiply attested in a fair number of ancient sources, Christian and non-Christian alike. It is very probable that Josephus reported the event in his original version of Antiquities 18:3.80 Tacitus, Lucian, and Mara bar Serapion are all certainly aware of the event.81 Lucian adds that Jesus’ crucifixion took place in Palestine.82 In Christian sources, Jesus’ execution is widely reported, with and without specifying the mode of crucifixion. All four canonical Gospels report Jesus’ death by crucifixion as do numerous other books and letters of the New Testament that refer to it regularly. Moreover, there is no ancient evidence to the contrary.
Chapter One: Important Considerations on Historical Inquiry Pertaining to the Truth in Ancient Texts
1.1. Introductory Comments
1.2. Theory
1.3. Method
Chapter Two: The Historian and Miracles
2.1. Introductory Comments
2.2. David Hume
2.3. C. Behan McCullagh
2.4. John P. Meier
2.5. Bart D. Ehrman
2.6. A. J. M. Wedderburn/James D. G. Dunn
2.7. A Turning Point for Historians
2.8. Burden of Proof in Relation to Miracle Claims
2.9. Summary and Conclusions
Chapter Three: Historical Sources Pertaining to the Resurrection of Jesus
3.1. Introductory Comments
3.2. Sources
3.3. Conclusion
Chapter Four: The Historical Bedrock Pertaining to the Fate of Jesus
4.1. Introductory Comments
4.2. The Historical Bedrock Pertaining to Jesus’ Life
4.3. The Historical Bedrock Pertaining to Jesus’ Fate
4.4. Conclusions
Chapter Five: Weighing Hypotheses
5.1 Summary of Where We Have Been and Our Intent
5.2 Geza Vermes
5.3 Michael Goulder
5.4 Gerd Lüdemann
5.5 John Dominic Crossan
5.6. Pieter F. Craffert
5.7 The Resurrection Hypothesis
5.8 Summary and Conclusions
Summary and Further Conclusions
Bibliography
