Geisler’s Historical Claims supporting the Death of Jesus on the Cross

Bradley Bowen | July 16, 2025

WHERE WE ARE

According to the Christian apologists Norman Geisler and Ronald Brooks, in their book When Skeptics Ask (hereafter: WSA), in order to prove that God raised Jesus from the dead, they must first prove that Jesus died on the cross:

JESUS ACTUALLY DIED ON THE CROSS

Before we can show that Jesus rose from the dead, we need to show that He really did die. The Koran claims that Jesus only pretended to be dead (Surah IV:157), and many skeptics have said that He appeared to be dead, possibly being drugged, but revived while in the tomb. It is no miracle for a live man to walk out of a tomb. For the Resurrection to have any significance, Jesus had to be dead first. (WSA, p.120)

THEIR CASE FOR THE DEATH OF JESUS ON THE CROSS

Geisler and Brooks write about two pages of reasons and arguments in support of the claim that Jesus died on the cross. This part of their case occupies parts of four pages (WSA, pages 120-123), but there is only about half of a page of this material on page 120 (because it starts halfway down the page), only about half of a page of material on page 121 (because of a large illustration on that page), only about half of a page of material on page 122 (because of another large illustration), and less than half of a page of this material on page 123 (because it ends less than halfway down that page).

Yet in about two pages of material, they manage to assert more than four dozen historical claims. They organize their reasons into eight points. In the first seven points, they assert more than 50 historical claims as support for the conclusion that Jesus died on the cross.

LIST OF 51 HISTORICAL CLAIMS FROM WHEN SKEPTICS ASK

Page 120:

There is no evidence to suggest that Jesus was drugged.
He [Jesus] turned down the common painkiller that was usually given to crucifixion victims (Mark 15:23).
Just before death, … [Jesus had a] parched throat.
Just before death, He [Jesus] was given a sip of sour wine…
Just before death, He [Jesus] was given a sip of sour wine…
to relieve His [Jesus’] parched throat…
…but [Jesus was] not [given] enough [sour wine] to intoxicate (v. 36).
The obvious agony [of Jesus]…[does] not fit the picture of a man who is about to pass out in a drug-induced state.
…His [Jesus’] death cry…[does] not fit the picture of a man who is about to pass out in a drug-induced state.
The heavy loss of blood makes [Jesus’] death highly probable.
While praying in the Garden,… [Jesus experienced an] extreme emotional state…
While praying in the Garden,…[Jesus]”sweat, as it were, great drops of blood” (Luke 22:44).
…His [Jesus’] extreme emotional state caused Him [Jesus] to “sweat, as it were, great drops of blood” (Luke 22:44).
He [Jesus] had been beaten…the night before His [Jesus’] crucifixion.
He [Jesus] had been…whipped repeatedly the night before His [Jesus’] crucifixion with a Roman scourge.
…a Roman scourge… [consists of] a three-lash whip with pieces of bone or metal on the ends…
[The whipping of Jesus]…tore the flesh of the skeletal muscles…
[The whipping of Jesus]…set the stage for circulatory shock.
A crown of thorns had been pushed onto his [Jesus’] skull.
He [Jesus] was probably in serious to critical condition before they crucified Him [Jesus].
Then He [Jesus] suffered five major wounds between nine in the morning and just before sunset (cf. vv. 25, 33).
Four of these [major wounds] were caused by nails used to fix Him [Jesus] to the cross.
Jesus’ right hand was nailed to the cross.
Jesus’ left hand was nailed to the cross.
Jesus’ right foot/ankle was nailed to the cross.
Jesus’ left foot/ankle was nailed to the cross.

Page 121:

The nails used to attach some other Palestinian crucifixion victims [whose remains have been discovered] were five to seven inches long.
…these nails [used to attach Jesus to the cross] were five to seven inches long.
…His [Jesus’] side was pierced with a spear…
When His [Jesus’] side was pierced with a spear, water and blood flowed out.
The best evidence suggests that this [piercing of Jesus’ side with a spear] was a thrust given by a Roman soldier to insure death.
The spear entered through the rib cage [of Jesus]…
The spear…pierced His [Jesus’] right lung…
The spear..pierced…the sack around the heart [of Jesus]…
The spear…pierced…the heart [of Jesus]…
The spear… [piercing these organs caused the release of] both blood and pleural fluids [from the wound in Jesus’ side].
Jesus was unquestionably dead before they removed Him [Jesus] from the cross.
Jesus was probably dead before this wound [the spear wound to Jesus’ side] was inflicted.
The final wound to His [Jesus’] side would have been fatal in itself (v. 34) [John 19:34].

Page 122:

The standard procedure for crucifixion was to break the victim’s legs.
The victim’s legs were broken so that he could not lift himself to exhale.
[If a crucified person could not lift himself to exhale], the victim would then be asphyxiated as his lungs filled with carbon dioxide.
…they [Roman soldiers] broke everyone’s legs [who were crucified].
[The Roman soldiers] declared Christ dead without breaking his legs (v.33) [John 19:33].
There was no doubt in their [the Roman soldiers’] minds [that Jesus was dead].
Jesus was embalmed in about 75-100 pounds of spices and bandages.
Jesus was laid in a guarded tomb (vv. 39-40) [John 19:39-40].
Even if He [Jesus] had woken up in the tomb, He [Jesus] could not have unwrapped Himself, rolled the stone back up the side of its carved-out track, overcome the guards, and escaped unnoticed (Matt. 27:60).
Pilate asked for assurance that Jesus was really dead…
Pilate released the body [of Jesus] for burial [after receiving] assurance that Jesus was really dead…

Page 123:

If Jesus had managed all this [surviving crucifixion and burial], His [Jesus’] appearance would have been more like a resuscitated wretch than a resurrected Saviour.
It is not likely that it [Jesus looking like a resuscitated wretch when he met up with some of his disciples] would have turned the world upside down [i.e., inspired confident belief in his disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead].

TWO MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THESE HISTORICAL CLAIMS

There are at least two major problems with these historical claims. First, Geisler and Brooks provide virtually no historical evidence in support of these claims.* They simply assert them. This is childish and absurd. The fact that Geisler and Brooks believe the above 51 historical claims is no reason for anyone else to believe those claims. Thus, on one of the key issues concerning the alleged resurrection of Jesus, they don’t give us historical evidence, but instead give us only historical claims.

The second major problem with these historical claims is that most of them are DUBIOUS. There is not a single claim about an alleged wound or injury of Jesus that is a historical fact. The primary sources of information about these historical claims are the Passion Narratives of the four Gospels. But the Passion Narratives of the Gospels are historically unreliable accounts of the alleged arrest, trials, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus.*

Thus, although Geisler and Brooks need to use over four dozen specific historical claims in order to show that Jesus died as a result of crucifixion, almost all of those historical claims are based on historically unreliable accounts, and thus almost all of those historical claims are DUBIOUS.

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*Geisler and Brooks sometimes point to a Gospel passage in support of a particular historical claim. However, this is NOT sufficient evidence to establish any historical claim about Jesus or his arrest, trials, crucifixion, and burial. These claims are based on passages from the Passion Narratives of the Gospels, but the Passion Narratives are historically unreliable accounts of the alleged arrest, trials, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus. Thus, historical claims about Jesus and his disciples that are based on the Passion Narratives are usually DUBIOUS claims: