The Science of Crucifixion
Before we go into the science of how crucifixion is done, we got to answer what is crucifixion? Used in ancient times, crucifixion is a form of capital punishment by nailing one’s body to a wooden cross and being hung until they bled to death. If you were to die through this process, it would be considered disgraceful because of how vulnerable it makes you seem. It originated in the Middle East in the empire of Persia, then began to spread throughout both Asia and Europe. This method was used to primarily show examples of traitors of the country, war prisoners, and of the worst kind of criminals in the country. Alexander the Great made it a staple within his empire, then the Romans began to use his method (Cook 1). They would use the method to punish citizens convicted of high treason to a higher degree than the previous users. If the crime was not as serious, then they would just be tied to it and left hanging until they are dead from lack of sustenance. Clearly, we can see the cruelty of the use of crucifixion, but now we need to talk
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No records have been made of it in the Old Testament because of this cruelty until Josephus wrote about the crucifixion of about eight hundred Pharisees (Fairchild 1). We all know the story of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins through the process of crucifixion; his feet and arms bound by nails driven into the wooden cross ever so tight (Matthew 27: 32-56). He was crucified to be made an example of Roman power over the “King of the Jews”. Soldiers would mock Jesus, preparing him for his crucifixion (Matthew 27: 27-31). They did not want someone to have more power over the people than them, so they gave Him a punishment fit for a “King”. In the end, we need to know exactly how Jesus died on the cross from a scientific standpoint rather than
Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offence or a capital crime. In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principally, treason and murder, that is, the deliberate premeditated killing of another person. In the early 18th and 19th century the death penalty was inflicted in many ways. Some ways were, crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, impalement, beheading, burning alive, crushing, tearing asunder, stoning and drowning. In the late 19th century the types of punishments were limited and only a few of them remained permissible by law.
A common topic of artwork throughout history has been the crucifixion of Christ. Since it is such a common topic, it makes it very easy to see how artwork changed and developed from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The painting on the left, The Crucifixion by Pietro Lorenzetti, shows the usual characteristics of a painting from the Middle Ages. The facial expressions are not varied or very in depth, Jesus and the other saints have the typical halo that is used very often, and the colors are mostly all bright, making nothing in particular stand out. The second painting, on the right, is by Caravaggio and is titled The Flagellation of Christ. There is an obvious shift from one painting to the next. Caravaggio’s piece is much more realistic.
In his Crucifixion, with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist Mourning (c.1460), a piece within the Northern Renaissance collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rogier van der Weyden portrays a stark image of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The right panel of the diptych depicts the gruesome image of a crucified Christ. Weight pulls the emaciated body down into a Y-shape, contrasting the T-shape of the cross it is mounted on. The only movement comes from the loincloth wrapped around Christ’s waist that dances in the wind. Blood visibly trickles from the corpse’s wounds. Behind the body, a red cloth is draped down the grey wall. At the base of the cross sits a skull and bone. The left panel portrays the Virgin Mary swooning in despair as Saint John attempts to support her weight. Her hands are clasped in prayer as she gazes up at her lifeless son. Both figures are clothed in pale draping robes. The vibrant red of the cloth that hangs from the grey wall in the background contrasts the subdued colors of the
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they did not brake his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear, pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. (The Holy Bible, John. 19:32-34)
A man sits immobile in a steel chair with a metal cap resting on his bald head. A priest reads selections from the Bible telling him he will go to Heaven if he confesses his sins to God. The man just smiles as the security guard pulls the switch, and one thousand volts of electricity flows through the man's body. His entire frame shakes in convulsions as his head bobs up and down with the shock. In a couple of seconds the man's life is over. The priest prays, makes the sign of the cross on his chest, and, turning slowly, walks out the door. Capital punishment has been around for many years and has spanned many centuries.
Punishment/Capital Punishment and the Christian attitude towards it has been a topic that has been and still is being debated today. Punishment, but in particular, Capital Punishment, is a complicated topic to discuss, especially when it comes to Christian attitudes and the ethics towards it. The purpose of this report is for people to have a better understanding of what this Christian attitude is or what these Christian attitudes are towards Punishment/Capital Punishment in relation to Christian ethics. In this report, you will learn about the history of capital punishment, the different Christian groups against Capital Punishment and what the Bible says about it as well, all in relation to Christian ethics.
The crucifixion periscope is one of the most read and studied stories of the gospels, second only to the story of the resurrection. Luke’s presentation of the darkest day in Christianity is appropriately not as poetic and literary elegant as some of his other writings, yet dramatic. He stresses some common Lukan themes of forgiveness, prayer and universalism.
This extreme penalty was instituted by God subsequent the flood of Noah. According to Genesis 9:5-6, God says, "From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his image. "This is restated in the Ten Commandments, where God mandates, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13) .Romans 13:1-4 says, "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil." In regards to Romans 13:1-4, a Christian is clearly taught to be in subjection to the governing authorities. This is a provision for harmony. The evidence states that the bible clearly states that if you take ones life, yours should be taken. This is stated abundantly throughout the bible therefore christian doctrine supports that the death penalty is a necessary
As I looked into crucifixion and how it started I found that before Jesus was crucified, more than 30,000 men, in Israel alone, had already been crucified. It all started by this guy named Ormazd from Persia. He thought that the earth was sacred, so he did not want to defile the earth by killing criminals on it so he put them on a large pole and left them there to die.
The Web. 15 May 2014. The "Jihad Time Line." Crucifixion: The Muslim Revenge. N.p., n.d. Web.
The death penalty has existed almost as long as civilization itself, established in the Eighteenth Century B.C. in one of the first large societies, by the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which prescribed the death penalty for 25 unique crimes. Furthermore, the death penalty continued to be used in early civilization, such as in the Hittite Code, the Draconian Code of Athens and the Roman law of the Twelve Tablets, which spanned hundreds of years. At the time, most death sentences were horrific and painful, including drowning, beating, burning, impalement and crucifixion. Later, in countries such as Britain, hanging became the predominant method of giving capital punishment, and William the Conqueror, who ruled at around that time, abolished the death penalty altogether, then, a dramatic move. However, the death penalty was restarted in the Sixteenth Century under Henry VII, where thousands and thousands of people w...
..., then they lanced his flesh with knives; after that they stoned him with stones, then pricked him with their swords; and last of all they burned him to ashes at the stake" (86). Faithful's death and Jesus's death on the cross are both horrific ways to die.
I know the of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, I understand that he came to save the world, and the way He died the brutality of it had to be that way in order to fulfill prophesy. In the dream of the rood the writer say as Jesus is approaching the cross “He climbed on the high gallows, bold in the sight of many, when he would free mankind. I trembled when the Warrior embraced me, yet I dared not bow to earth, fall to the ground 's surface; but must stand fast” that offers me a different perspective of the crucifixion portraying Christ as strongly and boldly facing
Capital punishment is the death penalty, or execution which is the sentence of death upon a person by judicial process as a punishment for a crime like murdering another human and being found guilty by a group of jurors who have listen to a court hearing were the District Attorney and the defendant argue their sides of the case. Historical penalties include boiling to death, flaying, disembowelment, crucifixion, crushing (including crushing by elephant), stoning, execution by burning, dismemberment.(2008) The U.S., begin using the electric chair and the gas chamber as more humane execution then hanging, then moved to lethal injection, which in has been criticized for being too painful. Some countries still choose to use hanging, and beheading by sword or even stoning.
Capital punishment is the punishment of death for a crime given by the state. It is used for a variety of crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and treason. Many countries also have the death penalty for sexual crimes such as rape, incest and adultery. Lethal injection, the electric chair, hanging and stoning are all methods of execution used throughout the world. Capital punishment has been around since ancient times; it was used in ancient Rome, and one of the most famous people to be crucified was Jesus Christ.