George Carlin - Richard Dawkins - Christopher Hitchens - Mankind: The Story of All of Us TV - Ancient Discoveries TV - James Fox TV - Shimon Gibson - Ancient X Files TV - Jerome Murphy O’Connor - Jesus Was a Buddhist Monk TV - The Real Jesus? TV - Ian Wilson TV - Father Ted TV - A Clockwork Orange 1971 - Simon Sebag Montefiore TV - Monty Python’s Life of Brian 1979 - Dr Gunther von Hagens: Crucifixion TV - Sydney Carter - Byron R McCane - Israel Hershkovitz - Jean Cocteau - Decoding the Past TV - Rab C Nesbitt TV - Turin Shroud: The New Evidence TV - Gospel of Peter 1-6 - Matthew 27:1&2&11&12&17&22-25&28-31&35-37&45&46&50-53&58-60 - Mark15:1&2&12-19&22-24&33&34&37&38 - Luke 23:33-38&43-46 - John 19:17-19 - Hebrews 6:4-6 - Testament of Solomon 65 - William Golding - Samuel Butler - Biblical Conspiracies TV - Michael Scott TV - Jesus Code TV - Secret History TV - Holy Marvels with Dennis Quaid TV -
The bankers who launder the drug money … You want to slow down that drug traffic, you got to start to execute a few of these fucking bankers … Let’s bring back crucifixion … Naked upside-down crucifixions on TV once a week at the half-time football game. George Carlin, New York July 1997
New Testament theology adds a new injustice, topped off by a new sadomasochism whose viciousness even the Old Testament barely exceeds. It is, when you think about it, remarkable that a religion should adopt an instrument of torture and execution as its sacred symbol, often worn around the neck. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion p251
I have to accept that I am responsible for the flogging and mocking and crucifixion, in which I had no say and no part, and agree that every time I decline this responsibility, or that I sin in word or deed, I am intensifying the agony of it. Furthermore, I am required to believe that the agony was necessary in order to compensate for an earlier crime in which I also had no part, the sin of Adam. Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great p209
It can take three days to die on a cross: blood-loss, shock, dehydration, suffocation. Mankind: The Story of All of Us III, History 2012
The main purpose of crucifixion might not have been to simply execute but to keep the victim alive in agony for as long as possible. But crucifixion is a lot older than the Old Testament. Ancient Discoveries: Rituals of Death, History 2011
Crucifixion: It was discovered in Persia by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. and he brought it back to Europe. Crucifixion became widespread throughout the Roman world. It was an instrument of social control. ibid.
Bacon’s Crucifixion is not about Jesus; it is about us: Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. Dr James Fox, British Masters III: A New Jerusalem, BBC 2011
If the person has been nailed to their cross-beam without the use of ropes the body would fall forwards, and the person would have asphyxiated on the spot. Professor Shimon Gibson
[Shimon] Gibson believes his archaeological research confirms that not just the crucifixion but other key events in the story of Christ’s passion could not have happened where Christian tradition dictates. Ancient X Files: Crucifixion Decoded & Bosnian Pyramids, National Geographic 2012
The implication is that Christ presents a threat to the Roman empire. And that is the reason why he is crucified. ibid.
Nails were used in the act of crucifixion ... The long nail that was used to pin the victim’s feet to the cross went in from the side through the heel-bone and not from the front. And the smaller nails that pierced the hands were hammered in through the backs of the hands not through the palms as everyone has previously supposed. ibid.
Gibson believes it actually happened in the west of the city near the Jaffa gate. ibid.
The actual place Christ was crucified has been lost and buried somewhere beneath the floor of this church. ibid.
Crucifixion was the most cruel and atrocious punishment that the Romans could inflict. And it was inflicted only for treason and only on slaves. If you were a noble or a traitor usually you were strangled. Professor Jerome Murphy O’Connor
The cross-beam was strapped to the shoulders of the criminal, and he paraded through the streets with his arms stretched out. At the place of execution then nails were hammered into the hands and feet. Professor Jerome Murphy O’Connor
Did Jesus really die on the cross? Jesus Was a Buddhist Monk, BBC 2014
Also the most famous event in history: the Crucifixion. ibid.
Would a man die after only six hours on the Cross? ibid.
Christians in the Philippines re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus. They actually volunteer to be crucified ... they do use real nails. ibid.
He dies surprisingly by suffocation. ibid.
Death from crucifixion takes much longer. Often several days. ibid.
The Gospels all agree that Jesus died after only three to six hours. ibid.
Was the story really new? Now a tablet called the Jeselsohn Stone, named after antiquities collector David Jeselsohn, has recently surfaced. The Jeselsohn Stone threatens to destroy the claim that Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection were unique. The Real Jesus? History 2017
This heel-bone is the only physical evidence of crucifixion. It was found in a burial cave not far from where Jesus is believed to have been crucified. Its victim died just twenty years or so before Christ. So the method of this victim’s crucifixion is likely to have been similar to what Jesus experienced. Many depictions of the crucifixion portray Christ’s feet as crossed with a single nail penetrating both feet. Hershkovitz’ artefact suggests the Biblical art is wrong: that each heel must have been nailed separately and from the side. ibid.
Why was Jesus crucified? There’s no clear answer. Ian Wilson, Jesus: The Evidence II, Channel 4 1984
Didn’t our Lord himself on the cross pause for a nice cup of tea before giving himself up for the world? Father Ted s2e7: Hell, Mrs Doyle, Channel 4 1996
I read all about the scourging and the crowning with thorns, and I could vide myself helping in and even taking charge of the tolchocking and the nailing in, being dressed in the height of Roman fashion. I didn’t so much like the latter part of the Book, which is more like all preachy-talking than fighting and the old in-old. I liked the parts where these old yahoodies tolchock each other and then drink their Hebrew vino, and getting onto the bed with their wives’ handmaidens. That kept me going. A Clockwork Orange 1971 starring Malcolm McDowell & Patrick Magee & Michael Bates & Warren Clarke & John Clive & Adrienne Corri & Carl Duering & Paul Farrell & Clive Francis & Michael Gover et al, director Stanley Kubrick, Alex’s prison vision of Bible
At its height five hundred Jews were being crucified a day. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City 1/3: Wellspring of Holiness, BBC 2011
Man on wall to Brian: You lucky bastard. You lucky lucky bastard. Proper little jailor’s pet aren’t we. We must have slipped him a few shekels, eh? Oh what wouldn’t I give to be spat at in the face? ... Manacles? My idea of heaven is to be allowed to be put in manacles just for a few hours ... They must think the sun shines out of your arse, son ... You’ll probably get away with crucifixion. Yeah, first offence. Best thing Romans ever done for us ... Nail ’em up, I say. Monty Python’s Life of Brian 1979 ***** starring Graham Chapman & John Cleese & Terry Gilliam & Eric Idle & Terry Jones & Michael Palin & Kenneth Colley & Neil Innes & Gwen Taylor & Terence barler & Carol Cleveland & Spike Milligan et al, director Terry Jones
Centurion: Crucifixion. Nasty, eh?
Old man: Could be worse.
Centurion: What do you mean could be worse?
Old man: Well could be stabbed.
Centurion: Stabbed takes a second. Crucifixion last hours. It’s a slow horrible death.
Old Man: We at least it gets you out in the open air.
Centurion: You’re weird. ibid.
Centurion: Next. Crucifixion? Good. Out of the door, line on the left. One cross each. Next. Crucifixion, yes? Good. Out of the door, line on the left. One cross each. Next. Crucifixion? [No, freedom] What? Oh, Well that’s jolly good well off you go then. ibid.
Centurion to Crucifixees: Crucifixion party. Good morning. Now, we will be on show as we go through the town so don’t let the side down. Keep in a good straight line. ibid.
See not so bad once you’re up. You being rescued then are ya? Ooo naah naah we got a couple of days up here. Plenty of time. Lots of people get rescued. Oh yeah my brother usually rescues me. ibid. neighbour on cross
Two thousand years ago a man was nailed to a cross in a brutal form of public execution ... His [Gunther von Hagens] interpretation of the crucified Christ will test his creative technique to the limit. Dr Gunther von Hagens: Crucifixion, Channel 4 2012
He has taken his process of plastination to an industrial scale. ibid.
In 2006 Madonna took her Confessions Tour to the Pope’s doorstep in Rome. ibid.