A Doctor at Calvary: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ As Described by a Surgeon [Hardcover]

M.D. Pierre Barbet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

What the Gospels don't reveal about Christ's suffering, science does. The Gospels reveal only the barest essentials about the physical sufferings of Our Lord. But in this mind-opening book, Dr. Pierre Barbet relies heavily on his close analysis of the Holy Shroud of Turin to recreate every stage of the Passion with heart-rending precision and detail. The result: a minor classic of spirituality by a modern layman. For Lenten meditation, this volume is unsurpassed. Dr. Barbet was a devout Catholic who knew the spiritual value of his findings - and he encouraged priests to use them in homilies: "It is largely with a view to these clerics that I have wished to divulge my ideas, so that they may nourish their devotion to Jesus crucified and may bring it out in their preaching."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 178 pages
• Publisher: Roman Catholic Books (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0912141042
• ISBN-13: 978-0912141046
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The passion and beauty of God's love, March 20, 2001

By 

John K. Stenard (St. Petersburg, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Doctor at Calvary: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ As Described by a Surgeon (Hardcover)

Incredibly inspirational, this book examines, from a modern medical standpoint, the tortures that Our Lord Jesus Christ willingly endured at the time of his death by crucifixion. It helped me understand the incredible, passionate love that God has for each of us.

I had long grasped, in an abstract intellectual way, that being crucified would not be pleasant. However, I had never realized the intense agony that this form of execution represented. The book describes it all, from the agony in the garden where Jesus sweat blood, through the scourging, the crowning with thorns and mocking by the soldiers, the carrying of the cross, and finally, the crucifixion.

Reading the book was a deeply moving spiritual experience, but its not for everyone. It graphically describes Jesus' wounds, the probable ways in which they were inflicted, and their physiological effects. For some younger readers this may be too much, and just as bad, for others it may just seem like dramatized gore. Consequently, the readers who will benefit most from this book will be those who have experienced enough pain or serious injury to be able to grasp the grueling sufferings of the crucifixion, and who are open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

This book describes the nature and purpose of crucifixion, which was to slowly wring the life out of a person while inflicting maximal, steadily increasing pain. The feeling of helplessness and inevitability of doom are significant psychological factors that Satan would certainly have used to try to tempt Jesus. I cannot imagine anyone, without the grace of God, being able to withstand such treatment without utterly hating the ones who inflicted it. Yet even at the moment of His death, Jesus was resolved to submit to the will of the Father, and was totally forgiving of our sins.

If there had been only one of us who needed to be saved, Jesus would still have come to save him. It has made me never want to sin again.

This book is especially good reading for Lent.

Peace be with you.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A thorough, yet painful reminder of Christ's death..., December 15, 2001

By 

NYJ (Atlantic Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Doctor at Calvary: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ As Described by a Surgeon (Hardcover)

"I should no more expect anatomical precision from a theologian or a paleographer than I should ask a doctor for a dogmatic definition or for an explanation of some exegetical or historical point. To speak the truth, it seems to me essential that we should collaborate, and that each one should tell what he knows." (pg. 150).

Dr. Barbet gives us a heart-rending account of the pain and suffering that Christ undertook on our behalf. In the book, Dr. Barbet begins with the Shroud (Chapter 1), speaks on crucifixion and what was know about this practice (Chapter 2 and 3) and ten launches into the sufferings of Christ based on what history tells us about the practice of crucifixion (Chapters 4 through 7). He then explains what archaeology and the Gospels tells us about the removal from the cross and the burial (Chapters 8 and 9). The last couple of chapters ten touch on a scientifically accurate crucifix (Chapter 10) and Dr. Barbets final thoughts (Chapter 11) followed by a meditation on the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ (Chapter 12).

Though the book was written in the 1940's, the science is good and widely accepted. Dr. Barbet does a good job of putting things in a layman's context so everyone (not just those with an understanding of human anatomy/physiology) can understand what had taken place. The book s written very formally, but that is really a product of the time and does not detract from the message this book conveys.

After reading this book, I have come to a deeper appreciation of the sufferings of Christ, and I imagine that most people who do read this book will come to a similar conclusion. For anyone wanting to come to a deeper appreciation of the Passion, I would highly recommend this book, and it would handsomely complement any Bible study of the Passion narratives, especially during the Lenten season.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An analytical postmortem on the Shroud of Turin, January 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Doctor at Calvary: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ As Described by a Surgeon (Hardcover)

Dr. Barbet examines the shroud of Turin through the eyes of a forensic pathologist. In this excellent book he details every trauma evident on the shroud, explains the probable means by which the trauma was inflicted, and corellates his findings with historical knowlege. At the end of this painstaking examination, he vividly recalls the passion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that you will feel every lash at the scourging, the wicked shock of the cap of thorns as it's driven forcefully over the head, and the prolonged, gasping death by asphyxiation on the cross. This work is not intended to inspire or convert the reader, but it will provide a vivid appreciation of the macabre practice of crucifixion. Written originally in 1936, this work does not address many of the criticisms leveled at the authenticity of the shroud in recent years; yet after reading this, you will be less inclined to accept the naysayers cries of fraud.