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It was once fashionable to suggest that crucifixion wasn't a standard method of execution in first-century Palestine, which would mean the Gospels were mistaken. However, these doubts have been put to rest by the discovery of the body of a crucified man which has been dated to the time of Christ. The body reveals much about how Jesus' crucifixion was probably carried out. (A related video account of Jesus' last days, How Jesus Died: The Final 18 Hours, is available from Vision Video.)There have also been those who claimed that Jesus didn't die on the cross, but merely swooned. The so-called swoon theory, however, has been refuted by medical evidence. For a detailed discussion of the evidence that Jesus truly died on the cross, see " On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ," a report that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Associationin 1986. According to the authors, "Modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence indicate that Jesus was dead when taken down from the cross."The wonder of the Easter season is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Apologist William Lane Craigoffers a compelling defense of Jesus' bodily resurrection on his home page. A page at ChristianAnswers.netcomplements Craig's site by providing answers to a number of the common questions surrounding the resurrection of Christ; it ably handles the objections of skeptics.For a defense of the reliability of the accounts of Jesus' resurrection, see A Harmony of the Resurrection Accounts. And his isn't the only resurrection making the news lately. A recent storyfrom Charisma News Service tells of a Buddhist monk who was converted to Christianity and raised from the dead, in the process leading many in Myanmar (Burma) to faith in Christ.

Easter is a time to celebrate, and the Web, once again, can help. Like great art, great music can capture undiscovered aspects of the Easter season.For a nice collection of Easter music and hymns, see The Easter Page, where there is also a link to Preaching Easter Hymns. In fact, Handel's Messiah, which is normally associated with Christmas, actually has two of its three parts dedicated to Christ's death and resurrection and was originally intended as a Lenten piece.Matt Donnelly (mdonnelly@truthmail.com) is the assistant editor of Christianity Online magazine.

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April (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44