Jesus’ cause of death has been revealed as a doctor-turned-priest claims to have solved the mystery in newly published research.
Retired neurologist Rev. Professor Patrick Pullicino concluded he died from fatal bleeding after dislocating his shoulder caused by carrying the cross to his own crucifixion.
Despite the Bible detailing how Jesus was later pierced in the side by Roman soldiers, prompting blood and water to spurt out, Prof Pullicino believes the shoulder injury was what ultimately killed him.
The former consultant at East Kent Universities Hospitals NHS Trust analysed previous research by forensic and medical experts on the Shroud of Turin also known as the Holy Shroud, within which Jesus is said to have been wrapped after the crucifixion.
An actor playing Jesus Christ carries a Cross in a procession of the "Way of the Cross" on Good Friday
ALEKSANDRA SZMIGIEL
The Shroud has been preserved in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy, since 1578.
Full length negatives of the shroud of Turin
WikiCommons
Its authenticity is matter of widespread controversy.
In the 1980s, fibres of the shroud were submitted for radiocarbon testing which concluded it was most likely a medieval relic.
Prof Pullicino said an image on the shroud depicts a man with a dislocated shoulder and that it looks to be pulled so far out of its socket that the right hand stretches 10cm lower than the left.
He goes on to claim this would cause the subclavian artery (a pair of large arteries in the thorax that supply blood to the thorax itself, head, neck, shoulder and arms) to rupture causing massive internal bleeding, the collapse of the circulatory system and, eventually, death.
A man portraying Jesus Christ carries a cross while performing a re-enactment during a Good Friday procession in Mumbai, India
NIHARIKA KULKARNI
He told the Telegraph: “Because of this right arm stretching, the right subclavian/axillary artery was also subjected to stretch, as it was one of the only remaining intact structures connecting the body and the right arm.
“Transferring of body weight to the arms in inspiration is likely to have caused further stretching of the right subclavian artery. Transferring weight to the legs in exhalation would reverse this stretch.
“This would cause the stretched subclavian artery to move across the rib surface with each breath and its underside would be subject to friction.
“This paper postulates that over the course of three hours, the subclavian artery became abraded, injured and its wall attenuated until finally the artery ruptured and profuse bleeding ensued.”
So when Jesus was pierced by a soldier, Prof Pullicino argued that the spear tip must have released the build-up of pressure caused by the blood.