Did Christ die on a cross or a stake?
The most famous person crucified was Jesus Christ. For approximately two thousand years a cross – with or without a body on it – has been the main symbol of Christians of all denominations and in all countries.
It was also a symbol used by the 'Bible Students', an organisation founded by Charles T. Russell in Pennsylvania in 1879. In 1931 this organisation adopted the title 'Jehovah's Witnesses'.
Jesus on the Cross from The Harp of God book
In 1921 they published the book The Harp of God, which has the subtitle 'Proof Conclusive that Millions now Living will Never Die'. By the time of the 1925 edition they had printed more than two million copies (precisely 2,327,000, according to the first page). On page 114 of this book there is a picture (see right), which occupies the whole page, of Christ being crucified on a cross, with the sign written by Pontius Pilate nailed above his head.
But in a change of doctrine, the Jehovah's Witnesses now say that Christ was not crucified; they say that he died on a pole or a stake. It goes without saying that this will astound not only millions of Christians around the world, but also historians. There have been and there still are those who reject the idea of the resurrection of Christ, but up until now practically no-one had doubted His death, nor the means of his execution.
Crucifixion consisted of forming a cross with two wooden beams, one vertical and the other horizontal. The person condemned to death was nailed to the cross, with nails through his hands or wrists and through his feet. The cross was placed in a hole in the ground, with the condemned person hanging by his hands. This usually caused death by asphyxiation, although sometimes people being crucified took days to die. The only respite, to help himself to breathe, was that the condemned person could (as long as he had strength!) push with his feet in order to raise the body a little and thus reduce the force with which the extended arms were pulling, constricting the chest, and in this way it was possible to take a further breath. Sometimes, when a person who was being crucified was taking a long time to die, the Romans broke his legs, and thus he was no longer able to raise his body and so died sooner from asphyxiation – although in many cases the trauma that was caused to the whole body by crucifixion would bring about death before the legs were broken or asphyxiation caused death.
However, the Jehovah's Witnesses now claim that this is not how Christ died. In this article we will look at the evidence that they allege supports this claim and other relevant evidence.