The Case for Christ Page #9

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- Can you?

I am. I'm trying. I'm tr...

Behind closed doors

every day, hoping

- and praying that you can...

- Yeah.

Fix me up so I'm good enough

for the Almighty.

- Is that what you want?

- You need to leave.

- I'm not gonna go.

- You need to sleep it off.

- I'm not gonna leave my own house.

- Sleep it off.

- Sleep it off.

- No. This is my house!

- I'm not gonna leave!

- Lee, get out!

- It's my house! It's my family!

- Get out!

Daddy, stop being mean to Mommy.

- Alison, what are you doing?

Get upstairs now! -LESLIE: Hey.

- Keep your voice down!

- Go!

- (baby crying) -You just go

to California. Just go.

You and only you, hon, right?!

You and only you.

Until something better

comes along.

[]

LEE:

Hi.

Daddy's sorry.

Daddy's sorry.

He didn't mean to scare you.

Hi.

[]

(door creaks)

(tires screech)

[]

LESLIE:

Father...

give Lee a new heart.

Put a new spirit in him.

Remove from him

his heart of stone

and give him a heart of flesh.

METHERELL:

So, forgive me for making you

travel all the way

out here, but...

when someone rings me up

and says he wants to dispute

the most significant event

in human history,

I feel it's important

that we do it face-to-face.

- Don't you?

- Yeah, that's fine.

I, uh...

l- | appreciate your time.

(clears throat)

So, my line of attack is this:

The reason the eyewitnesses

were able to see Jesus

after Golgotha

is because he never died

on the cross.

Because, if he doesn't die,

there's no resurrection.

- Yes?

- That's right.

So... so, whether or not

Jesus himself or, uh...

or someone else took him off

of the cross early

or if he fakes his

own death, it doesn't matter.

It completely discounts every

aspect of the Resurrection.

Right. The swoon theory.

Yeah, well, he passed out.

He didn't die.

I'm afraid there's a long line

of skeptics in front of you

with that hypothesis.

Including only a billion

Muslims the world over

who also don't believe

that Jesus died on the cross

because the Koran says so.

With all due respect to Islam,

the Koran was written

six centuries after Christ.

I prefer my historical sources

- a bit closer to actual events, yeah?

- I understand.

But-but you concede

that it's possible.

(Metherell chuckles)

Mr. Strobel, I am a medical

doctor and a scientist.

I have seen a great many

strange phenomenon

- in my lifetime.

- Mm-hmm.

But the swoon theory is rubbish.

(chuckles) "Rubbish."

That's a... is that a...

a medical opinion?

(chuckles)

Yeah. It is, actually.

Um...

swoon theorists tend to skim

over the fact

that Jesus was flogged

prior to his crucifixion.

Do you know what happens

in a Roman flogging?

Um, yeah, the person

is lashed with a whip.

No, not lashed.

Scourged and pummeled savagely.

You see, the...

the cowhide whip

is braided with metal balls

and bone fragments.

The flesh on Jesus' back

would've been shredded.

The very muscles

and sinews themselves

laid open to exposure.

The flogging itself

would have left Jesus

in critical condition

from massive blood loss.

Which is why he collapsed

under the weight of the cross

that the Romans

made him carry through town.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, so is it possible

that Jesus survives

being spiked to the cross?

Well, yes, you could survive it,

but it's child's play

compared to what comes next

in a crucifixion.

Slow, agonizing death

by asphyxiation.

Come with me.

The stress

on Jesus' chest muscles

would have locked his lungs

into the inhale position.

Right, so in order

to let the breath out,

he would have had

to shove himself up

using his spiked wrists

and feet,

scraping his shredded back

against the wood of the cross.

And then sagged back down again

in order to draw

his next breath,

which he would have had

to have done

over and over and over again

until utter exhaustion

just made it impossible.

And then, inevitably...

He dies.

Uh, in... in theory.

But let's-let's remember,

these soldiers,

they're not doctors, okay?

So maybe, uh...

maybe they took him

off the cross and they...

they thought he was dead

but, in fact, he wasn't.

No, of course they weren't

medical doctors.

They were professional killers.

Right, and they were quite good

at their jobs.

They had to be.

If a prisoner escaped alive,

they themselves

would be executed.

(sighs) Mr. Strobel,

the crucifixion of Jesus

is one of the best-attested

events in the ancient world.

And, if you will,

the final nail in the coffin

in the swoon theory is this:

When the soldiers

thrust their spear

between Jesus' ribs,

do you know what came out?

Blood and water.

Which we now know

is a description

of pericardial effusion

as a result of death

by asphyxiation.

This is not a condition

anyone could fake.

And so, to answer your question,

yes, it is my medical opinion

that Jesus Christ died

on that cross.

WOMAN:

Excuse me, Doctor?

- I just need your signature.

- One moment.

Yeah, but-but-but...

I got a...

I-I have a real problem

with most of the experts

that I've talked to here.

- Which is?

- (sighs)

Which is that most of them

are not impartial.

And if I'm gonna take a guess,

I would say

that you are not, either.

And you would be correct, sir.

Though I have learned

that most impartial travelers

who undertake this journey

rarely remain so.

However, I can refer you

to one of the most impartial

sources that I know.

Would you trust

the Journal of the American

Medical Association?

(chuckles)

Of course.

It is a stellar

scientific journal.

Even I will admit that.

- "On the Physical Death

of Jesus." -Mm-hmm.

"Clearly, the weight of the

medical and historical evidence

"indicates that Jesus

was dead before the wound

"to his side was inflicted.

"Accordingly, interpretations

based on the assumption

"that Jesus did not die

on the cross

"appear to be at odds

with modern medical knowledge."

Doc, I gotta tell you,

you're, uh...

you're not telling me

what I hoped to hear today.

(pager beeping)

(phone ringing)

Lee?

Hey, it's me.

Everything all right?

Kids okay?

LESLIE:

Sweetheart...

it's your father.

MINISTER:

"My help comes from the Lord,

"the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

"He will not let your foot slip.

"He who watches over you

will not slumber.

"Indeed, He who watches

over Israel

"will neither slumber nor sleep.

"The Lord watches over you.

"The Lord is your shade

at your right hand.

"The sun will not harm you

by day, nor the moon by night.

"The Lord will keep you

from all harm.

"He will watch over your life.

"The Lord will watch

over your coming and going

both now and forevermore."

In the name of the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit.

(quiet chatter)

[]

(sniffles quietly)

(footsteps approaching)

You Okay?

Did you know he had this

in his wallet?

Yes.

(sniffling)

You know, your father,

he was proud of everything

you ever accomplished.

Look, he didn't know

how to say it very well,

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