Jesus' Fetal Position in BBC-Produced Passion Causes Controversy

Currently, the BBC is facing controversy over their portrayal of Jesus' crucifixion. The British corporation is accused of misleading the public by ignoring the traditional image of Jesus with his arms outstretched, his legs straight, and his hands nailed to the cross.

The makers of the new controversial drama The Passion are challenging this traditional image, as logically Jesus did not die in this typically depicted manner. More recent historical evidence reports that Jesus was much more likely hung in the fashion depicted in the series with Jesus in the fetal position.

Ultimately, the controversy represents the classic battle between church and science. Science proves one thing when religion wants you to believe another.

Logically, I have to side with the BBC. Logically and scientifically, an individual would very rarely be hung in the manner that people assume Jesus was hung. An individual nailed to the cross in the manner the church depicts would result in a relatively quick death compared to a more effective method that the BBC projects.

An individual's body would be unable to support itself nailed to a cross for a very long time if nailed out prone on a cross, as the weight distribution on the nails would cause the individual to quickly suffocate. Nailing Jesus to the cross as depicted by The Passion would likely be a significantly more painful and enduring punishment.

Considering the Romans significant understandings of torture and punishment, it must be assumed that they would punish Jesus in the most turbulent and traumatizing way possible. Therefore, the standard church depiction of Jesus on the cross is more than likely inaccurate, whereas the depiction of Jesus in the BBC production The Passion depicts a more accurate representation of his punishment.

In the end, even as a Christian, the matter really is irrelevant. So far as I am concerned the method in which Jesus dies is irrelevant. Jesus is important because of why he died and his resurrection, not the shape he took upon his death.