OripahsTrebor

I am a HJer who most certainly does not believe in Jesus' divinity and an agnostic. I do believe that he lived and was crucified, and I could only be vague about Jesus' life. But I must ask, how was Jesus crucified. Could we ever know the details or this will forever be shrouded in mystery? I am asking whether Jesus was crucified with nails through his hands (most likely wrists) and feet or his was simplied left to hang on the cross? Was the crucifixion with nails an interpolation to make the life of Jesus harmonious with the account of Isaiah 53 as Jesus as the Suffering Servant. A cursory glance at the Gospels show that "nails" was not mentioned in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I wonder if there is a silence regarding this in Paul's letters. Also this question is relevant, as some Christian apologists would point out that Christianity could be falsified if the Apostles see the dead body of Jesus. The body would be decayed if left for a long time, but if he was crucified with nails, it would be easy to discern the marks on his hands and feet.

So what is the evidence that Jesus was crucified with nails?

mikem

Hi Oripahs. In John's gospel, chapter 20, Thomas says that he will not believe unless he sees the nailmarks in Jesus hands. In one of his letters, Paul refers to carrying about on his body the marks of Christ, but he does not elaborate, and he may be speaking metaphorically rather than literally.

Gospel of John was written towards the end of the 1st century CE AT THE EARLIEST. That would indicate that at this time a tradition had arisen that Jesus was nailed to the X. We know from archaological evidence that this was one of the ways the Romans affixed condemned criminals to a cross. I read somewhere that in some cases, the Romans would use both nails and rope. Possibly Jesus hands were tied and his feet nailed? The simple fact is - we don't know.

Amaleq13

To my knowledge, there is a single piece of archaeological evidence indicating that nails were used. The heel bone of the victim still had a nail through it.

Other than that, I think there are writings describing the practice as involving nails but, IIRC, rope was sometimes also involved to avoid having the weight of the victim tear the body free of the nails.

joedad

Here's a link from my favorites list:

http://www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu...ucifixion.html

Ben C Smith

You are correct, Doug, as a quick run through Martin Hengel, Crucifixion in the Ancient World and the Folly of the Message of the Cross (or via: amazon.co.uk), confirms for me. See especially pages 31-32 (including the footnotes). Nails seem to have been the norm, but rope was not unheard of.

Ben.

OripahsTrebor

I thought nails weren't the norm, hence my OP. So "crucifixion" in the Gospels implied nails were used.

gnosis92

For Bart Ehrman, and myself, the fact that Paul preached Christ crucified, is strong evidence that the Jesus tradition is historical, not mythical as alleged by MJ'ers, since prior to Christianity we have no evidence of any group of Judaism believing in a suffering messiah, and certainly not one who would be crucified. The MJ'er interpretation of a purely spiritual Christ does not have any primary first-century documents to prove its case, other than a rather idiosyncratic interpretation of Pauline corpus.

joedad

Roman nails were certainly plentiful in the first century. It is not like they were a rarity so that instead of nails ropes were used.

Roman Nails

Most likely, crucifixion was a case of securing the legs with nails and using ropes to secure the arms. At least this is what the evidence seems to indicate. A crucified Jesus would have been both nailed and roped into place.

Amaleq13

Thanks for the confirmation, Ben.

It also occurs to me that the addition of ropes would mean that an individual could be nailed through the palms.

Doug Shaver

Neither is there any evidence of any group of Judaism believing in a messiah who, rather than liberating Israel, would liberate the entire world from the bondage of sin.

Neither is there any evidence of any group of Judaism believing in a man being the only begotten son of God, or in a virgin birth.