The Crucifixion of Jesus, Completely Revised and Expanded: A Forensic Inquiry [Hardcover]

Frederick T. Zugibe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

In a language that is both precise and easy to understand, Dr. Zugibe presents his discoveries culled from years of exhaustive research. Documented with 95 illustrations that explore the impact of crucifixion on the body, he demonstrates the realities behind the crucifixion on the body, providing a virtual autopsy on Christ from across the centuries.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frederick T Zugibe

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: M. Evans & Company; 2nd Edition edition (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590770706
• ISBN-13: 978-1590770702
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterwork, August 22, 2005

By 

Kimberley Wilson (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Crucifixion of Jesus, Completely Revised and Expanded: A Forensic Inquiry (Hardcover)

If you read and were deeply moved by Dr. Pierre Barbet's book on the crucifixion you absoulutley will want to read Dr. Zugibe's masterful work. He very gently but firmly shows some of the mistakes Barbet made but doesn't hesitate to give him credit for the things he was right about.

Zugibe is a curious man and he investigated and discects every possible theory about Christ's death on the cross. The book is not for the faint of heart, as the earlier reivewer notes but it is an amazing scientific and yet mystical look into the horrifying suffering that a crucified man would have suffered. The chapters on the scourging and the crowing with thorns are particularly moving. I actually cried and there were times when I had to put the book down becuase it is incredibly touching. I expected the book to be cold and dry but Zugibe is a pretty good writer. He's produced a masterwork. There is not a finer book on the physical aspects of the crucifixion in print.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, passionate but (bloody) disorganized, May 9, 2006

By 

Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Crucifixion of Jesus, Completely Revised and Expanded: A Forensic Inquiry (Hardcover)

First the bad news: Frederick Zugibe's book on the crucifixion of Christ is much like the Shroud of Turin. It is a chaotic jumble of stains, burns and patches. And from the point of view of organization, it is a bloody mess. The book meanders, argues in circles, mixes brilliant insight with wacky speculation and repeats itself to an embarrassing degree.

But the good news is that, like the Shroud, viewed from the proper distance, it is a clear lens into an often murky and confused topic.

The product of over 5 decades of thought and work about the forensics of crucifixion, "The Crucifixion of Jesus" clarifies the often muddy thinking of previous Shroud authors. Zugibe -- Chief Medical Examiner of Rockland, New York for over 30 years -- outdoes many previous authors by performing experiments to test various theories of how Jesus died. He pretty much scotches the asphyxiation theories -- by which the crucified had to lift himself up to breathe. By suspending volunteers from crosses, he determined that a person crucified in the standard way (with arms nailed out to the sides) would have little trouble breathing. Zugibe also demolishes the "nailed through the wrists" hypothesis that has been accepted as gospel truth, Based on a single experiment by Dr. Pierre Barbet using an amputated (and possibly gangrenous) forearm, this hypothesis has been repeated so often that it is hardly even questioned anymore.

Zugibe applies devastating logic to address other crucifixion mysteries, such as the "broken heart" hypothesis and the swoon theories. His analysis of theories surrounding the Shroud of Turin is also pretty impressive. It's hard to walk away from the book without being more convinced than ever of the Shroud's authenticity. Zugibe also uses this expanded edition to take a few swipes at Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" for its glaring historical inaccuracies, mostly for the brutal scourging that would have killed Jesus at the pillar.

As mentioned earlier, the book suffers from horrific organization. Before even introducing the reader to the Shroud, Zugibe uses it to "prove" facts about 1st century Roman crucifixion methods. Before discussing the Shroud, it would have been better to build up a case for what we know about crucifixion from accepted historical, archeological, artistic and/or experimental evidence. This would allow history to authenticate the Shroud rather than the other way around. Finally, though Zugibe excoriates writers who write outside their field of expertise, he often does just that. Early on, for instance, he places the writing Luke's gospel to 61 CE - twenty-four years earlier than the scholarly estimate of 85 CE. And he is selective about his use of the New Testament, cherry-picking Luke (in which Christ sweats blood) and John (the flow of blood and water from Christ's pierced side) to piece together a composite passion narrative.

Zugibe also lets his speculation run rampant. He proposes that after nailing Jesus's hands, his Roman executioners walked him backward up a set of steps in order to get the crosspiece onto the upright. While this is an interesting hypothesis, and fits in with ancient descriptions of crucifixion as "ascending the cross," the stairway is utterly without historical attestation. Also, his reconstruction of the way the Romans immobilized Jesus for crucifixion (by lying atop him as his hands were being nailed) is not impossible, but is Zugibe's own invention.

Zugibe also falls prey to the "Mel Gibson" syndrome -- the impulse to portray Christ's passion as the most horrible death experienced by a human being. From the bloody trauma of the Agony to the beating at the home of the high priest, to the scourging, nailing and crowning with thorns, Christ's passion is milked for every insult to every nerve-ending in the human body.

For all its faults and excesses, there is no other book that brings together so much information about the history of crucifixion, on its likely effects on the human body, and on how the Shroud of Turin reflects those facts. As a "newcomer" to the subject (I have been reading and thinking about crucifixion and the Shroud for only 40 years!) I found "The Crucifixion of Jesus" to be an impressive and persuasive achievement.

22 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Graphic View of Jesus Last Hours!, August 2, 2005

By 

Petey Wheat (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Crucifixion of Jesus, Completely Revised and Expanded: A Forensic Inquiry (Hardcover)

This Is not a book for the faint at heart.That Is not to say that It Is not good, because It Is.It describes what crucifixon was all about(what the victims went thourgh) and why It was done.There were many things about the suffering jesus Indured that I did not know and this book opened my eyes much more than the recent(unrealistic) movie.There Is also a Interesting section on the recent carbon datings of the shroud which makes this very good reading.Overall, this Is a book that should not be missed.