Truth About The Crucifixion — Page 68
I AM taking part in this congress in an attempt to provide proofs -which in any case are already known-for the hypothesis that. Jesus did not die as a result of the injuries he received during his crucifixion. This circumstance has still to be demonstrated in order to lend initial credence to the hypothesis which points to the life and natural death of Jesus in Kashmir. . In the first place, we have to consider the fact that Jesus did not remain crucified for many hours. He was taken down from the cross on the evening of the same day on which the sentence was pronounced and carried out. . Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Saturday is the Jewish sabbath. This circumstance made it necessary to bring down the body of Jesus before nightfall, because the Jewish day began at nightfall and the week began from Friday night onwards. According to Jewish law, it was forbidden to leave a condemned man on the cross during the sacred day of the Sabbath. . I emphasize the fact that Jesus only remained on the cross for a few hours because it was possible to live for several days in this horrible condition. The true purpose of crucifixion was not to cause immediate death, on the contrary it was a torture which continued for three or four days. Death only occurred from hunger and thirst, inclement weather (cold and heat) or from attack by birds of prey or other beasts. Sometimes death was accelerated by breaking the legs of criminals. It could also happen that after a few hours, or on the day after the crucifixion, it was considered that the criminal had suffered sufficient punishment by being lifted on the cross, in which case he was taken down from it and allowed to continue living. With regard to this, it should be noted that if a crucified man was taken down from the cross in time and given careful treatment, he generally recovered and survived. . Now consider the fact that Jesus was crucified with two malefactors. All three were therefore suffering the same punishment. . But it happened that at the time when they were brought 70