Islam - Part 6: Fact - Yeshua Died by Crucifixion

Crucifixion was a common form of execution employed by the Romans to punish members of the lower class, slaves, soldiers, the violently rebellious, and those accused of treason.

First century Jewish historian Josephus reported that during the fall of Jerusalem (70AD) Roman soldiers felt such hatred toward the Jews that they crucified multitudes of Jews in various positions.  So much so, that they had a tough time finding room for crosses to crucify any more.

Cicero, in the first century B.C. called it "the most cruel and disgusting penalty.".

Tacitus, in the second century, referred to crucifixion as "the extreme penalty".

We know that all four gospel accounts refer to the crucifixion of Yeshua however we also have several extra-Biblical accounts recorded as well.

Josephus writes, "When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified. . . ." 

Tacitus reports, "Nero fastened the guilt [of the burning of Rome] and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus [Yeshua], from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus."

Lucian of Samosata, the Greek satirist, writes, "The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day—the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account."

Mara Bar-Serapion, writing to his son from prison comments, "Or [what advantage came to] the Jews by the murder of their Wise King, seeing that from that very time their kingdom was driven away from them?"   Although Mara does not mention crucifixion as the mode of Jesus' execution, he does say that he was killed.

The Talmud reports that "on the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged."

Clearly, Jesus' death by crucifixion is a historical fact supported by considerable evidence. The highly critical scholar of the Jesus Seminar, John Dominic Crossan, writes, "That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be."

Not only do we have these exrtra-Biblical accounts but we also have the eye-witness accounts.  Again, without arguing the inspiration, or reliability of the Bible, we will soon see that we are able to take into account the testimony of the writers when looking at their writings through the lens of historical content. 

By the time we're done, any reasonable person seeking the Truth will have a very difficult time in arguing this without tarnishing their reputation as a reasonable person.