The Crucifixion of Jesus, Completely Revised and Expanded: A Forensic Inquiry

I'll try to be brief. This is surely the most balanced point-and-counterpoint book to date, about forensic archaeology and the Shroud of Turin. Scientifically, nothing else I have seen comes close.

Dr. Zugibe has done a spectacular job of research over the years. Although this book is difficult to read (emotionally), it is one that should be read. I always knew that Christ suffered greatly, but never to the extent that He really did. This account has opened my eyes and has changed my life. Since I read his book, I have not been able to think of anything except what love Jesus has for us all. Everyone should know what He truly endured for each one of us. The book is life changing.

I agree with the other reviewer here that the book is rather disorganized, but its one unimpeachable value is the author's brief explanation at the beginning about his attempt to help Mel Gibson get it right, and his logical and commonsense dismissal of the outrageous and exaggerated unrealism of the Gibson portrayal. Too bad Gibson didn't listen. Interestingly, Pierre Barbet makes an observation in his book on the medical aspects of the Passion that would have also served to rein in Gibson's blood lust and helped him, perhaps, produce a film far truer and more powerful than what has been claimed for it: Speaking of visual art of the Passion, Barbet writes: "Actually, those pictures which are meant to be the most realistic are the ones which contain the most blatant physiological errors...When a crucifix is designed to stir our emotions by displaying to us the atrocious nature of the torment, so much the further is it from the truth. I know I shall be attacked for this, but still, it has to be said; if from the artistic standpoint I am able to appreciate the pictorial values of a Grunewald [he is here referring, I surmise, to the Isenheim altarpiece, one of the most gruesome potraits of the Crucifixion ever produced], the contorted way in which he paints the Crucified seems to me to be purely grotesque. I can assure you that the Passion was both more simple and infinitely more tragic than that," (page 28, 1963 Image paperback edition of "A Doctor at Calvary"). For all their disagreement with each other, we can assume that Zugibe and Barbet would be completely one in critcizing Mel Gibson's allegedly "most realistic" presentation of the Passion as grotesque nonsense, and I'm glad Zugibe could go on the record as a medical expert and say so.

If you read and were deeply moved by Dr. Pierre Barbet's book on the crucifixion you absoulutley will want to read Dr. Zugibe's masterful work. He very gently but firmly shows some of the mistakes Barbet made but doesn't hesitate to give him credit for the things he was right about. Zugibe is a curious man and he investigated and discects every possible theory about Christ's death on the cross. The book is not for the faint of heart, as the earlier reivewer notes but it is an amazing scientific and yet mystical look into the horrifying suffering that a crucified man would have suffered. The chapters on the scourging and the crowing with thorns are particularly moving. I actually cried and there were times when I had to put the book down becuase it is incredibly touching. I expected the book to be cold and dry but Zugibe is a pretty good writer. He's produced a masterwork. There is not a finer book on the physical aspects of the crucifixion in print.

This Is not a book for the faint at heart.That Is not to say that It Is not good, because It Is.It describes what crucifixon was all about(what the victims went thourgh) and why It was done.There were many things about the suffering jesus Indured that I did not know and this book opened my eyes much more than the recent(unrealistic) movie.There Is also a Interesting section on the recent carbon datings of the shroud which makes this very good reading.Overall, this Is a book that should not be missed.