Did Jesus really die on a cross?

[YosefYosep]

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I known there is a belief that he died on a t-shaped cross, an x-shaped cross, or even a small stake at eye level. Some people believe that he wasn’t nailed but just tied. What do you think is the most reasonable and realistic way he was executed?

 

[Basilios]

Like this, as the Church teaches through scripture and tradition:

http://spirituality.ucanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MAR-26.jpg

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Well, it’s certain that he was nailed as that is explicitly described in the Bible. In English the word “cross” certainly implies that there was one beam that crossed another, though I don’t know if it’s clear in the Greek.

I had never heard the claim of an X-shaped cross for Christ, though according to small-t tradition St. Andrew was crucified on one (hence the shape of the cross on the Scottish flag, the Confederate flag, the Florida state flag, etc.).

 

[JerryZ]

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I known there is a belief that he died on a t-shaped cross, an x-shaped cross, or even a small stake at eye level. Some people believe that he wasn’t nailed but just tied. What do you think is the most reasonable and realistic way he was executed?

The Roman crucifiction is a fairly well documented method for killing people.
It was painfull in the sense that it was protracted, the victim dies from asphixia from lung failure.
The way to stay alive is to prop oneself up with your feet to be able to breed.
Once you no longer have the strenght to push yourself up you die.
That is why the centurion broke the legs of the 2 thieves that were crucified with Jesus, when the earth started shaking and the sun was obscured to end their lives quickly.
Also the spear was trusted into Jesus’s side all the way to the heart to make sure He was not faking it.
So the Romans would crucify people even onto trees but the place called Golgota or Calvary was apparently a known and well used execution place, they would have the holes for the poles and the prisoners would carry the cross member, the piece to which their wrists would be nailed to. They also would tie the arms to this wood so that the prisoner did not have a chance of prolonging the spectacle too much.
Soo yeah Jesus died on a cross shaped instrument of death, though probably the horizontal member was not integral to the vertical one.
The T shaped is less credible since the Romans would lift the victim attached to the horizontal member with ropes and fix it so the feet were in contact with the nailer, this way a vertical post can accomodate any height. Simply by adjusting the horizontal member position relative to the vertical.
Mechanically is a much easier contraption to have some pole stiking above location where you fix the horizontal (with ropes)

X shaped cross although I have seen some depiction of American natives usage is not conducive to the Roman crucifiction.
They did use other methods for killing people though.
Hope this helps

 

[mexolic]

A modern day Doubting Thomas? Jesus showed the marks to Thomas. They weren’t self-inflicted wounds. There was no trickery involved. Jesus is God. He would not deceive us.

 

[YosefYosep]

A modern day Doubting Thomas? Jesus showed the marks to Thomas. They weren’t self-inflicted wounds. There was no trickery involved. Jesus is God. He would not deceive us.

I’m not doubting. I know he shed his blood for us and that’s all that really matters, but I was just curious to HOW he was was exactly executed, as I’ve heard many other theories which include stakes, poles etc.

 

[R_C]

I’m not doubting. I know he shed his blood for us and that’s all that really matters, but I was just curious to HOW he was was exactly executed, as I’ve heard many other theories which include stakes, poles etc.

I suggest reading the word by Dr. Zugibe: “The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry”.

The only possible controversy - if we could call it such - would be between the* crux commissa* (“tau cross”) and the crux immissa (“latin cross”). Some argue that the presence of the titulus crucis implies the usage of the “crux immissa”. Dr. Zugibe states that nevertheless the “tau cross” still has enough space to include the titulus (he includes a figure to show how this is possible).

Some suggest that perhaps He transported only the horizontal beam of the cross (the “patibulum”) which is then lifted and inserted on the vertical beam. This however is just speculation, for both Scripture and private revelations seem to agree with the fact that the Lord did carry the whole cross, not just a part.

As for the tying: the only time I have heard that mentioned seriously was in a dialogue between Padre Pio and one of his spiritual daughters. She mentioned something about the pressure of three hours hurting his hands exceedingly, and he replied that besides being nailed to the cross, He had ropes tied under His armpits. But there can be no doubt whatsoever about the reality of the being nailed to a cross - it is scriptural and historical, and confirmed by both Christian and non-Christian events.

As Dr. Zugibe’s 40-year-long investigation shows without possibility of doubt, the nails went through the hands, and the hands can sustain the weight of a full body, contrary to the previous popular belief that they would be unable to sustain the weight. The exit of the nail on the back of the hand according to his research matches perfectly the exit point of the Holy Shroud of Turin as well.