The Swoon Theory – Resurrection Theories Debunked (Part 2)

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In the last video, I mentioned that there are basically four different theories that try to explain away the bodily resurrection of Christ. And so we’re going to look at one of those right now, namely the swoon theory. It’s a very interesting theory. And it used to be more popular, but it’s not nearly as popular today. And the swoon theory basically says that Jesus never really died on the cross. Rather, he swooned or went into a coma and they took his body down thinking he was dead, but he was still alive. And they put him in the tomb. And then somehow he revived and came out of the tomb and presented himself as the risen and glorious Messiah and Savior.

So is this a legitimate, reasonable theory? Well, let me point out, first of all, that there is no historical evidence for this swoon theory, but here are some other things to consider about this theory. First of all, if he’s taken down from the cross alive in a coma and then put in the tomb and he then he revives somehow. Well, first of all, he has to take off of himself all these strips of burial linen that have been put around his body, plus a shroud. Now, you may think, well, that’s not so difficult, is it? Well, it is because of this one extra reason. And the church Father Chrysostom tells us this. He says the myrrh that was combined with the strips of linen. And there’s a 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes connected with the strips of linen that were placed on him. That myrrh acts like a glue.

So it had been very, very difficult for a man, especially a man who had just been crucified and was in a coma next to impossible for him to remove these strips of linen by himself. But let’s suppose he does that. Okay, so he removes the strips of linen. And then what? Well, he has to get up and move the stone. Okay, well, how big is that stone? Well, at a minimum, it’s 440 pounds, but more likely it’s a ton or even two tons. Some people even say maybe it was three tons. So imagine a man who had just been in a coma had just been crucified, moving this stone and trying to do so from inside the tomb, where he doesn’t have the leverage that he could have from the outside.

But let’s suppose he does it. So he takes off the the burial strips of linen, he moves the stone, and then he comes out of the tomb. And then what does he have to do? We probably have to scare away the Roman soldiers that are guarding the tomb. Okay. Well, let’s suppose he does that too. Well, then, what happens next? Well, then we read that, you know, keep in mind that he had been crucified with the nails through his wrist, the nails through his feet. He appears several miles away on a road walking on this road. He shouldn’t be able to walk at this point because the nail through his feet. But he’s walking along this road with these two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He’s walking for several miles, and they don’t figure out there’s something terribly wrong with this man? I mean, he shouldn’t even be able to walk in those conditions, but even if he was able to walk, obviously he would appear very, very distraught and injured. And he should not be recognized as the Messiah.

But then 2 or 3 hours later, what happens? He appears to all of his disciples, minus Thomas. And again, keep in mind he had just been in a coma. He had been crucified. He had the nails through his hands and his feet. His side was pierced. He’s going to try to convince them that he is the glorified and crucified Savior and Messiah. I don’t think so.

Let me mention several other things about the crucifixion that are important to keep in mind here too. In many cases, as in the case of Jesus, the crucified victim was first of all whipped or flogged, and the flogging was very painful, but it also resulted in a great loss of blood. You know, the Jews were limited to 40 lashes, not the Romans. And this was a Roman flogging. So it was probably, well, more than 40 lashes. And so there was a great loss of blood. In all likelihood, he was state of a critical state at this point. But then there’s the crucifixion itself. And those medical authorities who have studied the crucifixion, realize this is not only extremely painful, but it always results in death, always results in death. The Romans perfected crucifixion. It was practiced by other cultures in the area too, before this time. But the Romans perfected the crucifixion. They knew how to kill somebody by crucifixion.

Plus, we know that when it was reported to Pilate that he was dead, he was a little concerned. This was awfully quick, he thought. But it was confirmed by the centurion. Yep, yep. He was dead. The centurion wouldn’t have told Pilate he was dead unless he knew he was dead for sure. Otherwise, the centurion would have been taking a big risk, risking his own life for not being accurate in what he reported. We also have one of the soldiers piercing Jesus side. It wasn’t just a random pierce, but it was probably very, probably very strategic. He knew exactly where he was piercing Jesus. And out comes what? A flood of blood and water. What does that indicate? Well, again, the medical authorities who have research said this indicates heart failure. The man is dead.

So crucifixion results in death. There is one exception to that. Josephus reports that there were three men who were crucified. But Josephus knew these three men. And so he asked the Caesar at that time, who was Titus, to have them taken down, because they were apparently his friends. So these three men who were crucified are taken down, two of the three still die. And the third one, he lives. But he lives not because the crucifixion was fulfilled, but because it was stopped. So everything else we know about crucifixion, it always leads to death.

Well, one more thing to mention here that’s very important when it comes to a crucifixion and this swoon theory. We not only have the testimony of the gospels that said he was dead by crucifixion, we also have non-Christian historians. Both Josephus and Tacitus say that he died by crucifixion. So there’s ample proof. Even from non-Christian sources, that he was dead by crucifixion.

So that’s an understanding of the swoon theory. But of course, Christians say the swoon theory is not true. It’s not correct. It can’t be correct. It’s just too crazy to believe in. Christians say the scriptures which were written, especially the Gospels of John and Matthew, were written by eyewitnesses. Mark and Luke were written by those who had contact with the eyewitnesses. They all clearly say that Jesus really rose from the dead. And if that’s the case, then we have one who truly is the Son of God and one who, prior to his resurrection, died. Why? For the forgiveness of our sins.

In the coming video, we’re going to look at another theory to see how that holds up. Again, my name is David Thompson. I’m the director for The Center for Apologetics Worldviews. See you next time.