The swoon theory proposes that Jesus did not actually die on the cross but fell into a coma-like state and was revived in the tomb. It was later modified to suggest Jesus faked his death as part of an elaborate hoax to fulfill prophecies. However, the theory is refuted by nine key pieces of evidence, including that Roman soldiers were trained to verify death, Jesus' wounds were fatal, and the disciples would not have been transformed if Jesus merely recovered from injuries. The swoon theory ultimately fails to account for the undisputed facts surrounding Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection accounts.
The swoon theory proposes that Jesus did not actually die on the cross but fell into a coma-like state and was revived in the tomb. It was later modified to suggest Jesus faked his death as part of an elaborate hoax to fulfill prophecies. However, the theory is refuted by nine key pieces of evidence, including that Roman soldiers were trained to verify death, Jesus' wounds were fatal, and the disciples would not have been transformed if Jesus merely recovered from injuries. The swoon theory ultimately fails to account for the undisputed facts surrounding Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection accounts.
The swoon theory proposes that Jesus did not actually die on the cross but fell into a coma-like state and was revived in the tomb. It was later modified to suggest Jesus faked his death as part of an elaborate hoax to fulfill prophecies. However, the theory is refuted by nine key pieces of evidence, including that Roman soldiers were trained to verify death, Jesus' wounds were fatal, and the disciples would not have been transformed if Jesus merely recovered from injuries. The swoon theory ultimately fails to account for the undisputed facts surrounding Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection accounts.
The swoon theory proposes that Jesus did not actually die on the cross but fell into a coma-like state and was revived in the tomb. It was later modified to suggest Jesus faked his death as part of an elaborate hoax to fulfill prophecies. However, the theory is refuted by nine key pieces of evidence, including that Roman soldiers were trained to verify death, Jesus' wounds were fatal, and the disciples would not have been transformed if Jesus merely recovered from injuries. The swoon theory ultimately fails to account for the undisputed facts surrounding Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection accounts.
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Swoon theory
Proposed by Heinrich E.G. Paulus in The Life of
Jesus (1828), the swoon theory states that Jesus was not actually dead when He was removed from the Cross. Instead, He had fallen into a coma-like state (a swoon) on the Cross and was then buried in a tomb in that condition. He later revived, rolled away the tomb’s stone from the inside, evaded the Roman guards, and escaped. He then appeared to His disciples proclaiming He had conquered death. But rather than making a full recovery, Jesus died soon thereafter due to His numerous injuries. In his popular book, The Passover Plot (1969), radical New Testament scholar Hugh J. Schonfield attempted to resurrect the swoon theory with some modifications.1 He proposed that Jesus set out to fulfill the Old Testament’s messianic prophecies. According to Schonfield’s version of the swoon theory, Jesus enlisted the aid of men like Joseph of Arimathea and Lazarus of Bethany to help Him accomplish an elaborate hoax. Joseph arranged for an unidentified person to give Jesus a drink on the Cross that would cause Him to lose consciousness and appear to be dead. However, no one involved in the scheme anticipated the spear wound, which gravely injured Jesus. He was removed from the tomb the next day, briefly regaining The swoon hypothesis is any of a number of ideas that aim to explain the resurrection of Jesus, proposing that Jesus did not die on the cross, but merely fell unconscious ("swooned"), and was later revived in the tomb in the same mortal body. Did Jesus Fake His Death? Neither the swoon theory nor its stepchild, the Passover plot, can account for the evidence, although these views cleverly attempt to bypass Christ’s death by crucifixion, claiming that He merely deceived others into thinking He had died. So these views rely upon Jesus being a very clever deceiver and a fraud. This is certainly a different view of Jesus than most scholars hold—even many ardent skeptics admit that Jesus was highly moral. Roman Soldiers and Death
A major problem with the swoon theory is that it
implies that Roman soldiers were too incompetent to determine whether or not Jesus was actually dead. However, the soldiers at the Cross would readily recognize the signs of death. After all, that was their job, they performed numerous crucifixions (which is not just any commonplace form of execution), and the Romans were lethally efficient. Brutality of Crucifixion The Lord’s suffering began with an intense “agony” while He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. His sweat fell “like great drops of blood” (Luke 22:44). This rare condition is known as hematidrosis or hematohidrosis and is caused by the rupture of tiny capillaries that feed the sweat glands, and is brought on by conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress.3 Crown of thorns A crown of thorns was placed on the head of Jesus (Matt. 27:29). There are different thorn bushes growing in the region with thorns being very short to quite long. Even short thorns can tear the scalp. The crown was woven and then pressed down around the head ripping the skin. Bleeding would then occur. Crucifixion The arms are pulled apart and nails driven through the wrist into a cross beam which is raised in place. This dislocates the hand and nail on crossshoulders. The nails in the wrists sever the median nerve resulting in a burning pain as well as paralysis in the hand. To breathe Jesus had to press up on the nails in His feet, scraping His raw back on the wood. The body gradually drains of blood causing the heart to beat faster and faster. Dehydration is occurring. The breathing becomes more labored and intense as well as frequent, adding to the agony. The blood loss results in extreme thirst as the body craves water to restore the lost blood. Jesus said, "I thirst" (John 19:28). The heart beats so hard trying to compensate for the loss of oxygen (due to the lack of blood) in the body, that it eventually ruptures. At this point, the chest cavity fills with fluid. The soldier pierced Jesus' side and out came blood and water, Nine pieces of evidence refute the swoon theory: Nine pieces of evidence refute the swoon theory:
(1) Jesus could not have survived
crucifixion. Roman procedures were very careful to eliminate that possibility. Roman law even laid the death penalty on any soldier who let a capital prisoner escape in any way, including bungling a crucifixion. It was never done. (2) The fact that the Roman soldier did not break Jesus' legs, as he did to the other two crucified criminals (Jn 19:31-33), means that the soldier was sure Jesus was dead. Breaking the legs hastened the death so that the corpse could be taken down before the sabbath (v. 31). (3) John, an eyewitness, certified that he saw blood and water come from Jesus' pierced heart (Jn 19:34-35). This shows that Jesus' lungs had collapsed and he had died of asphyxiation. Any medical expert can vouch for this (4) The body was totally encased in winding sheets and entombed (Jn 19:38-42). (5) The post-resurrection appearances convinced the disciples, even "doubting Thomas," that Jesus was gloriously alive (Jn 20:19-29). It is psychologically impossible for the disciples to have been so transformed and confident if Jesus had merely struggled out of a swoon, badly in need of a doctor. A half-dead, staggering sick man who has just had a narrow escape is not worshiped fearlessly as divine lord and conquerer (6) How were the Roman guards at the tomb overpowered by a swooning corpse? Or by unarmed disciples? And if the disciples did it, they knowingly lied when they wrote the Gospels, and we are into the conspiracy theory, which we will refute shortly. (7) How could a swooning half-dead man have moved the great stone at the door of the tomb? Who moved the stone if not an angel? No one has ever answered that question. Neither the Jews nor the Romans would move it, for it was in both their interests to keep the tomb sealed: the Jews had the stone put there in the first place, and the Roman guards would be killed if they let the body "escape." (8) If Jesus awoke from a swoon, where did he go? Think this through: you have a living body to deal with now, not a dead one. Why did it disappear? There is absolutely no data, not even any false, fantastic, imagined data, about Jesus' life after his crucifixion, in any sources, friend or foe, at any time, early or late. A man like that, with a past like that, would (9) Most simply, the swoon theory necessarily turns into the conspiracy theory or the hallucination theory, for the disciples testified that Jesus did not swoon but really died and really rose. It may seem that these nine arguments have violated our initial principle about not presupposing the truth of the Gospel texts, since we have argued from data in the texts. But the swoon theory does not challenge the truths in the texts which we refer to as data; it uses them and explains them (by swoon rather than resurrection). Thank you and God bless everyone