This chapter opens with an anecdote about how a coroner can learn things from someone who is dead. The tie in by Strobel ignores the fact that a coroner requires a dead body to learn what has happened, and there’s no body for him to examine.
Strobel interviews Dr. Alexander Metherell M.D. in this chapter.
The Torture Before the Cross
This section requires the obligatory point out that the gospels are unreliable. Read my problems with chapter 2 and 3 to see why. Throughout this entire chapter, Dr. Metherell relies heavily on the gospels as evidence for his claims.
Strobel questions Dr. Metherell, saying “[Strobel:] The gospels tell us he began to sweat blood at this point. …isn’t that just a product of some overactive imaginations?” (Strobel, CFC, P. 211). While Dr. Metherell correctly points out that hematidrosis, or sweating blood, is a well known medical phenomenon, he does not mention that the gospels they are basing this on contains an interpolation. Jesus sweating blood is an interpolation that is not included in the earliest manuscripts[1]. Taking the gospels as reliable and making any guesses (educated or otherwise) is not going to provide a reliable answer.
Dr. Metherell also provides a very graphic description of what a Roman beating would have been like and points to the gospels as evidence of Jesus having low blood pressure after the beating. While the description does match somewhat, the fact that the evidence being used comes from the bible with no additional corroborating evidence makes this suspect. The gospels are not reliable historical documents, and as such, they require additional material to back up their claims.
The Agony of the Cross
Strobel states his confidence in Jesus, saying “[Strobel:] That’s because historians are unanimous that Jesus survived the beating that day…” (Strobel, CFC, P. 213). Rather than a unanimous agreement the Strobel attempts to portray here, historians are in quite a bit of disagreement about whether Jesus even existed at all. The only way you can make the claim that Jesus survived the beating and get a unanimous agreement is if you take the gospels as fact. As I’ve said before, the gospels are not to be trusted.
Dr. Metherell makes the claim that Jesus was crucified to “[Dr. Metherell:] …[fulfill] the Old Testament prophecy in Psalm 22, which foretold the Crucifixion hundreds of years before it took place” (Strobel, CFC, P. 214). As with Isaiah, a reading of the passages surrounding Psalm 22:14 shows a different story. It appears to be the wailing of someone who is going through a rough time. There is no mention that this was intended to be a prophecy, no mention that this was referring to anyone besides the author, and no mention of Jesus at all. Psalm 22 contains no prophecies.
The Cause of Death
The fact that, after all of this, Dr. Metherell thinks “[Dr. Metherell:] with his heart beating erratically, Jesus would have known that he was at the moment of death, which is when he was able to say, ‘Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ ” (Strobel, CFC, P. 215) is a bit absurd.
First off, Jesus would have needed the knowledge of how this would be affecting him ahead of time to know this would happen, which would require some medical knowledge not available at the time. Second, by Dr. Metherell’s own admission, “[Dr. Metherell:] crucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 215). How Jesus could have been able to get enough air into his lungs to cry out anything, much less converse with the thieves that are there, is a conundrum. Far more likely, the accounts of the gospels are fabricated.
Answering the Skeptics
Dr. Metherell makes the unreasonable claim that Roman Soldiers “[Dr. Metherell:] …were experts in killing people-that was their job, and they did it very well. They knew without a doubt when a person was dead, and really it’s not so terribly difficult to figure out.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 218). Being a trained soldier does not make one an expert on whether or not someone is dead. Mispronouncing someone as dead is a problem that still happens today even with significant advances in medical knowledge. Saying that a soldier from the first century knows enough to make a pronouncement that doctors today can still get wrong is ludicrous.
Dr. Metherell also claims that Jesus’s legs weren’t broken due to “[Dr. Metherell:] …another Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah, which is that his bones would remain unbroken.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 217). Unfortunately for Dr. Metherell, there is no such prophecy in the bible, nor does Dr. Metherell point to any verses that he believes would back this claim up. Rather than there being a prophecy, John 19:36 is simply making up nonsense in order to lend credence to it’s claim… just like any good propaganda book would do.
The Final Argument
Strobel opens with this section with a dubious statement: “[Strobel:] Appealing to history and medicine, to archaeology and even Roman military rules, Metherell had closed every loophole” (Strobel, CFC, P. 218). To this I say: No. This tells us that a doctor pronounced someone dead based on a textual analysis of the gospels, which are themselves highly suspect.
Dr. Metherell also dismisses the claims that Jesus perhaps just fainted on the cross and woke up in the tomb without any appeal to logic. He instead appeals to reasons that require supernatural intervention to be true, such as Jesus’s appearances to people shortly after being buried. Rather than reading the narrative in the gospel and dismissing the fanciful claims as having no evidence for them, Dr. Metherell uses the fanciful claims as an excuse to justify other fanciful claims that he finds in them.
I should point out that I have no issue with Dr. Metherell himself, but his methodology. Dr. Metherell’s assessment of what might have happened is reasonable, but drawing any conclusions based off the gospel texts is unreasonable. We have no records to corroborate what happened, and without additional mentions from other scholars at the time, it seems unlikely that this ever happened.
A Question for the Heart
Strobel closes this story with a talk to Dr. Metherell and finishes off tying everything up into a nice little package for the aspiring Christian, saying “[Strobel:] Those who seek to explain away the resurrection of Jesus by claiming that he somehow escaped the clutches of death at Galgotha need to offer a more plausible theory that fits the facts.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 220-221).
If that’s not a challenge, I don’t know what is. I’ve got a more convincing theory for you. One that doesn’t rely on supernatural, incredible, and unsubstantiated claims.
Jesus didn’t go to the cross or do any of the things the gospels tell us he did. If he existed, he was just a guy who might have said some revolutionary things at the time. The gospels sprung up around his teachings many years later and were written with the intent to convince others to believe in them, the gospel of John even admits this. The character of Jesus was mythologized with a narrative to give early Christians a sense of purpose, an a clear progression of this can be seen when read in the order of Mark, Matthew/Luke, John. All together, even if someone named Jesus did exist, it is highly unlikely that the gospels would give us a good sense of who that person was and what happened to him.