Jesus Died on a Tree Trunk?

[tinrobot]

The crucifixion is apparently under review. In his doctoral thesis, newly graduated Swedish theologian Gunnar Samuelsson argues that the cross Jesus supposedly died on may not actually have been a cross. He explains in an interview with DRadio Wissen, a German station: "the New Testament said that Jesus died some way on something called a staurus ... that's a Greek name for a cross or a pole or something ... I call it an execution device only to be from the common notion that it must be a cross, because it mustn't be a cross--it could be a pole, for instance, or a tree trunk, or something else."

Samuelsson did some serious research before advancing this provocative argument: "I spent almost three years," he says, "reading all the ancient texts I could find ... from about Homer until the first century of the Common Era." He says "some kind of suspension of a living or a dead person or a part of a person" was indeed common at the time, but crucifixion is not mentioned. In the Bible itself, all it says is that Jesus carried and then was executed on a staurus--"there is no other description beyond that."

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Jesus-Died-on-a-Tree-Trunk-1495/

For some reason, I find this hilarious...

[Enrique]

1. does this mean we should act any different?

:shrug:

[tekisui]

2. A lot of people are going to have to change their jewlery.

And churches their decorations.

[TheDebbieDee]

10. Good one!

[smoogatz]

3. Gives the words "tree-hugger" a whole new meaning.

So what, now Catholic schoolgirls are going to have to wear little tree necklaces?

[elocs]

4. There is absolutely nothing new about the notion that Jesus may have been crucified on a tree.

Theologically speaking, it is not where he was crucified, but that he was.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. This post is making me cross.... this book will make others

cross... and so it goes.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FAWn0oocL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Explosive-Ancient-Mystery-Religions/dp/1571746072/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277670283&sr=8-2


This review is from: Jesus: The Explosive Story of the 30 Lost Years and the Ancient Mystery Religions (Paperback)
I could not put the book down. Ms McCannon writes clearly and keeps you interested. I particularly liked the heavy footnoting which made the book more meaningful. If you are interested in seeing Jesus as the man he was and why he was so learned in the ancient mystery religions, this is the book. If you become hooked with the topic there are many citations to keep you searching. Everywhere I look now I see the symbolism which is the foundation for much of Christianity today, including the "beehive" hat the Pope wears to the "fish" symbol that appears so ubiquitously on the back of automobiles and the origin of the "cross", which was already an important ancient religious symbol before Christ.

Rather than travel to the Holy Land, I suggest go to the Isle of Avalon in Gastonbury England where Jesus lived and his followers, lead by Joseph of Aramethia, went to start the first Christian church. You will find out that Jesus also traveled extensively in India and was well grounded in the ancient teachings of the Egyptians, from which he may have learned about resurrection. The raising of the Eucharist during the Catholic mass is a symbol for the Sun, based on the Egyptian god of the Sun, Ra, whose "eye" is the derivation of the "fish" symbol. All this and more is explored by this wonderful book that places our current Western religious practice and the life of Jesus in in a modern perspective.


This review is from: Jesus: The Explosive Story of the 30 Lost Years and the Ancient Mystery Religions (Paperback)
Tricia McCannon not only writes a scholarly book of the birth, life and death of Jesus, she writes in a clear and easy to understand way that make this book as suspenseful as any work of fiction. She brings Jesus the man to life. She shows that Jesus was human, that he worked at his knowledge visiting Egypt, England, India and Tibet, learning from the greatest minds of his time. That he didn't just come into this world knowing all things, though he was one of the four great Kumaras, the solar lords, the eternally young sons of God who 'realized the truth of self', he did his homework.

McCannon's view of Jesus, heavily researched, is a thousand times more interesting than the whitewashed version of Jesus that portrays him as the son of God who was born of a virgin, knew everything, could do no wrong, and was killed for our sins. Instead we see a human being who studied and earned his powers showing us the way to the promised land.

Filled with illustrations, footnotes from works found in the Vatican that not many people get to see, oral traditions, and so many other books that I don't see how it was humanly possible to read, McCannon not only offers us an incredible look at Jesus, she backs it up. Simply an amazing work.

[Vampire Knight]

6. Che's dead. L-O-frickin'-L.

What does this really say? That there's a minute possibility that the one citation could possibly have other uses in contexts totally removed from the one we're actually talking about? This is a matter of linguistics, not history or theology. We have pretty ample information for the Romans using crosses...not that it matters overmuch. It's like arresting someone for threatening bodily harm to the President just because you say you want to see him thrown out of office. Sure: theoretically the phrase can be used to signify picking someone up and flinging them...but we all know in this case that it doesn't.

What this reads as to me is some theological wannabe playing amateur linguist to try and sensationalize his translation work by attaching a Biblical significance to it. *yawn*

[Angry Dragon]

7. I can see you did not bother to read the article

[ejpoeta]

8. they did a thing about jesus on the history channel and said he probably

would have had his hands tied to a pole and had to carry that to where they would have had poles in the ground. then they would most likely have lifted the pole he was tied to onto the one sticking out of the ground. that would be more economical because the vertical pole could stay there all the time and they could just attach the horizontal piece. they also said he would have most likely been tortured before being attached to that pole. from the show i was watching, it seemed this was how they did it in rome back then. but nothing looks better than a man carrying a cross.

[Schema Thing]

9. Since this is a rehash of what Jehovah's Witnesses believe, and ...

...having been one, and knowing how fast and loose they play with "research", I'd look VERY closely at this guys argument before giving it any credence.

I looked at the arguments pro and con pretty hard when I got out of the religion, and found their argumentation to be rather sketchy and one sided.

[TheDebbieDee]

11. I do know that in that region, at that time, wood was a scarce

resource. And I can see the argument that the powers that be would have preferred to use one piece of lumber to kill a person rather than two pieces of lumber.

But when it comes to singling out Jehovah's Witnesses for religious silliness and nit-picking, I think people are all wet. There's plenty of silliness to be found in ANY of the religions.

[Schema Thing]

12. silliness is fine

...so long as it isn't silliness enforced with the threat of losing everything and everyone a person knows and loves including, in the case of silliness about blood transfusions, ones' life.



On second thought, silliness isn't fine; but you're right, it is universal in religion. That doesn't change the fact that some religions are MUCH more harmful than others.

[TheDebbieDee]

13. "some religions are MUCH more harmful than others."

On that we can agree..........

[laconicsax]

14. Could someone maybe prove that Jesus was a real historical figure?

Oh wait, that's too mundane a task for theologians to undertake.

[humblebum]

16. Can someone prove there was a Socrates? nt

[laconicsax]

17. There isn't a Socratic religion with over 2 billion adherents.

Plus, it doesn't really matter whether Socrates was real, or just an allegorical invention if Plato's making. Much of Christianity relies on Jesus actually having existed.

Nice try though.

[humblebum]

18. How is your answer germane to the question? I did not ask if Socrates

had a religious following.

[laconicsax]

19. The same way your question was germane to my comment. n/t

[humblebum]

15. Acts 5:30

"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree."

[tinrobot]

20. So the KKK got him?

[struggle4progress]

21. pretty much: a homeless guy lynched by the establishment

[golddigger]

22. Got wood? Jesus replied: yep!