Popular Beliefs About Jesus’s Death That Aren’t Actually In The Bible

The cross, the central symbol of Christianity, may not actually be the most appropriate symbol for the passing of Jesus.

When Jesus received his capital sentence, he was affixed to an object which, in Greek, was referred to as stauros. However, stauros does not mean "cross" in the sense that we understand it. Rather, it can refer to a simple pole or tree trunk to which a captive might be nailed. Nowhere in the New Testament is any reference made to a T-shaped object, and nowhere in literature from the period is it indicated that the event took place on a cross.

Accounts of Jesus's physical suffering have grown more and more involved over the centuries. The early gospel writers seemingly weren't too interested in these details, but modern Christian artists have vividly fleshed out the punishments and have gone beyond the Bible's text in doing so.

The most obvious case of this is Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which many critics lambasted for its extreme aggression. Artistically, that may or may not be justified, but it has relatively little basis in scripture. True, Jesus was flogged according to the gospels, but there is no evidence to indicate he was extensively harmed.

Common wisdom holds that Jesus was around 33 years old at the time of his passing and resurrection. According to Numbers 4:3, "from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting." This means that in order to be consecrated (which Jesus was), he would have needed to be at least 30 years old.

Scholars estimate that his ministry would have taken around three-and-a-half years, meaning he would have been 33 at the time of his passing. It's solid logic, but nowhere is it confirmed in the text.

In all the gospels, there is only one piece of evidence that indicates the use of nails during Jesus's time on the cross. It's in the Gospel of John, when Jesus shows the marks on his hands to Thomas. From this one moment springs the entire conception of Jesus's hands and feet being nailed to the cross. Ultimately, however, there is little evidence that Jesus's hands were nailed, and no evidence at all that his feet were.

Furthermore, it would have been unusual for the Romans to nail someone to a cross. While there are a few contemporary accounts of nails being used in crucifixions, the only actual evidence is the pierced ankle bone of a victim from the 1st century AD. If the practice were more prevalent, we might expect to see more archeological evidence.