Jesus’ death is recorded by multiple sources in the Bible. 

• Jesus’ death is recorded in all 4 Gospels as well as Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:3), which is considered part of an early creed dated within 2-8 years of the crucifixion.1 (page 17).  Below is Paul's letter:

  • For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3 CSB emphasis added)

Jesus’ death is recorded in early Christian sources (not Biblical).

• Gary Habermas notes three early Christian sources who referenced Jesus’ death (dated between late 1st century to mid-2nd century): Clement of Rome (Corinthians 7, 12, 21, 49), Ignatius (Trallians 9; Smyrneans 1; Barnabas 5), and Justin Martyr (First Apology 32, 35, 50; Dialogue with Trypho 47, 108). 1 (p.39, note 68 for p.16)

Jesus’ death is reported in at least 10 non-Christian sources.1 (page 16)

• Below are three examples:

• Tacitus (Annals 15:44), considered to be the greatest Roman historian.1 (page 45)

  • "Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, 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 Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.”2 (page 188 emphasis added)

• The Jewish Talmud (Sanhedrin 43a), which was a document developed between 70-200 AD. Yeshua was Jesus.

  • “On the eve of the Passover Yeshua was hanged…”2 (page 203 emphasis added)

• Lucian of Samosata was a second century Greek satirist (The Death of Peregrine, 11-13).

  • “The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day – the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account…”2 (page 206 emphasis added)

Based on modern medicine, we understand that crucified victims generally died by asphyxiation, which would be impossible to fake.3

• The Journal of American Medicine published an article in 1986 that described Jesus’ suffering and death by crucifixion. It explained that hanging on the cross made breathing difficult and required the victim to push up to allow exhaling. Eventually, the victim would tire and die by asphyxiation.

  • “Adequate exhalation required lifting the body by pushing up on the feet and by flexing the elbows and adducting the shoulders…As a result, each respiratory effort would become agonizing and tiring and lead eventually to asphyxia.” 3 (page 1461 emphasis added)

  • “Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death…Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge.” 3 (page 1463 emphasis added)

It is not reasonable to believe that if Jesus did not die on the cross, but later appeared to His disciples in His badly injured state, that He would have been able to convince them of His resurrection.

• According to Dr. Habermas, “If Jesus had escaped death on the cross, he could not have accounted for the disciples’ belief that he had been raised, a heavily evidenced belief that is acknowledged by virtually all scholars…”1 (page 16)