The Crucifixtion Through the Eyes of a Physician and the Role of Science and Faith

I’ve just finished the final chapters of John’s Gospel in my personal study. As I read the account of Christ’s scourging and crucifixion, I try to imagine the horrifying pain He felt and how He willingly submitted to it all. Crucifixion was supposedly the most degrading and agonizing form of execution the Romans had to offer–a death they reserved for the most hardened criminals and political foes.

I also can’t help but wonder how He died. Early in John, we read that the Father has “given the Son to have life in himself”. And later in Chapter 10, verses 17 and 18:

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

The Savior decided when and where He died. He also dictated how He died. But most importantly, He “broke the bands of death” and rose again. These are the only facts that matter.

I’ve wondered, however, what significance some of the details surrounding His death really have. For example, when soldiers pierced His side and “forthwith came there out blood and water”. What physiologic process would account for this? I stumbled across a 1997 paper by endocrinologist W. Reid Litchfield.

In his paper, The Search for the Physical Cause of Jesus Christ’s Death, Dr. Litchfield reviewed several theories that have been put forward over the years and then offered his own ideas. Some of the historical theories include:

• the ruptured heart theory
• the asphyxia theory
• the cardiovascular collapse theory
• the aspiration theory
• the fatal syncope theory

He discusses the resuscitation theory, which suggests the Lord’s crucifixion was not fatal and that He “recovered spontaneously in Joseph’s tomb or was revived
and spirited away by his followers.”

The theory suggests that “profound shock resulted in unconsciousness on the cross and led to a premature entombment then in the cool and secrecy of the tomb Jesus recovered or was revived by his followers and then disappeared from the area.”

This theory struggles to explain certain details of Jesus’s death and resurrection. It ultimately relies on claims of mass hysteria to account for the hundreds of witnesses who saw the risen Lord on multiple occasions.

The resuscitation theory is an example of scientism or the belief that anything and everything can be evaluated through the lens of the scientific method (Question, Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Data Analysis, Conclusion, and Communication). Anything unable to submit to such scrutiny is either irrelevant, bogus, or both.

Science as a Religion

Scientism is intellectually untenable. Many things cannot be examined or observed and are therefore outside of the reach of the scientific method. For example:

• Historical truth 
• Moral judgements 
• Aesthetic judgements
• Any “why” question
• Existential truth
• Logical truth

Philosopher Alvin Plantiga said scientism “is like the drunk who insisted on looking for his lost car keys only under the streetlight on the grounds that the light was better there… It would be to insist that because the keys would be hard to find in the dark, they must be under the light.”

The truth about our physical world that science has revealed seems to be covered in the fingerprints of the Divine. Many scientific facts point to an all-power Creator. The Big Bang would be one. Everyone agrees that the universe had a beginning with oddly specific requirements for the propagation of life. But the explanation of how or why this happened is best answered by a Creator who is outside of time and space.

The only other theory is that of the multiverse, which is itself a supernatural belief that cannot be validated by the scientific method. It is just as metaphysical and religious as belief in a Creator. Except only one of those theories provides us an ultimate starting point–if there are a multitude of possible universes, where did they all come from?

Famed physicist Werner Heisenberg understood that science and belief in God are not incompatible: “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”

If we take the belief in science as the only path to truth a step further, we see that scientism, also referred to as naturalism, has a built-in defeater. If the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of man are no more than random, predetermined chemical reactions, it renders all allusions of thought and logic as meaningless. There would be no basis for trusting your thoughts. You would be nothing more than a moist robot.

Latter-day Saints and Science

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in science. Though many members likely misunderstand the relationship between the two, Church leaders have taught that science and religion aren’t just compatible, they’re two sides of the same coin of truth.

Russell M. Nelson, the current prophet, and former cardiothoracic surgeon, once told the following to an audience at Brigham Young University. “

“All truth is part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether truth comes from a scientific laboratory or by revelation from the Lord, it is compatible. All truth is part of the everlasting gospel. … There is no conflict between science and religion. Conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion—or both.”

And this isn’t a new teaching. Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 to 1877, believed the same: “If you can find a truth in heaven, earth or hell, it belongs to our doctrine. We believe it; it is ours; we claim it.”

The Cardiac Arrhythmia Theory

Returning to the Savior’s resurrection and Dr. Litchfield’s paper, we come next to his cardiac arrhythmia theory.

Dr. Litchfield argues that 3 specific details of Christ’s crucifixion are enough to suggest cardiac arrhythmia as the most likely cause of natural death (keeping in mind, again, that the Savior was in complete control of His departure from His mortality:

• His death was premature compared to the usual crucifixion pattern
• He had sufficient strength to lift his body and speak out loudly immediately prior to his death
• His death was sudden and unexpected

Essentially, a cardiac arrhythmia is a rapid and/or chaotic heart beat that prevents the heart from pumping effectively. It quickly leads to unconsciousness, pulselessness, and death.

Potassium and acids would have built up in the blood from dehydration, physical trauma, and shock. Summing up his argument, Dr. Litchfield states:

“Cardiac arrhythmia is compelling as a potential cause of the Lord’s death because its onset is often sudden and unpredictable. It may also occur in the absence of any underlying heart disease. Of interest is the fact that many patients who experience malignant arrhythmias have a foreboding that something is wrong before they collapse. This may relate to the patients feeling palpitations, being aware of a rapid heartbeat, or having a premonition of an impending loss of consciousness with the onset of this type of arrhythmia it is not uncommon for patients to cry out or frantically search for help seconds prior to their collapse and death. Finally when these malignant arrhythmias occur they are rapidly fatal.”

The Lamb of God

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus is the Divine Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. He was the great and last sacrifice, paying the price for all of our imperfections and misdeeds. In return, we believe He asks us for our hearts, manifested by repentance and obedience to His commandments.

Jacob, the brother of Nephi, was one the first Book of Mormon prophets. He taught this principle in 2 Nephi 2:7 by saying:

Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

The Lord Himself proclaimed the same message to the ancient inhabitants of the Americas before He shows Himself to them:

Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.

Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved. 3 Nephi 9:21-22

Studying this particular topic has helped to make the Savior more real for me. It’s given me an additional measure of love and appreciation for His atoning sacrifice.

Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psalm 69:20-21