When Christ was crucified, there were 2 others done in as well. From what I remember they were thieves, but one asked to be hanged upside-down, as he didn’t deem himself worthy of being killed in the same manner as Christ. So 2 questions.
I want to say it was Peter, but just can’t remember.
Is it accepted that one of the 3 was upside down? I touch on the Bible from time to time, but wouldn’t discard a lifeline on Millionaire if asked. I simply don’t know what the Bible says of this.
You’re getting two stories confused. According to tradition (it’s not Biblical) Peter did ask to be crucified upside down when they did him, but that wasn’t until years after Jesus. The two thieves with Jesus were crucified right side up. However, Luke records that when one of the two thieves sneeringly ordered the Messiah to save himself and get them down while he was at it, the other one told him off, since they two were getting what they deserved but the Christ had done nothing wrong.
He then begged Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom, and Jesus promised him that the two of them would be in Paradise that day. IIRC this man is known as St Somebody-or-other in the RC Church because of his repentance and confession of faith, but IANAC.
You are getting your stories mixed up - there were indeed two men crucified alongside Jesus, and they are variously referred to as thieves, robbers or criminals depending on the translation.
It was Peter who, according to legend was crucified with his head downward, feeling unworthy to die in the same way that Christ had. This site says that the legend is recorded in Acts of Peter just one of many Early Christian writings that failed to make it into the Canon of the New Testament.
Thank you all. I knew the story was true, but apparently I wasn’t paying attention when St Peter was mentioned. Though now that I think of it, it explains why he has the keys.
Thanks again for the correction.
Off to Church to repent
I just thought of something though, when I get to the Gates, is St Peter gonna go postal on me for not remembering him?
shudder
Stand far from me. You may not agree with my politics, but lightning bolts are truly multiculteral. They strile all.
Peter was certainly not crucified with Christ. Peter went on to do many things chronicled in the New Testament after Christ’s death. Peter’s death is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but it is generally held that Peter was martyred in Rome after establishing the Church there.
Each of the four gospels mention that Christ was crucified with two others, but do not mention them by name. Luke says the most about the two. Here are quotes, taken from the New International Version.
Ah. Apparently Jesus forgave him for being a bit sour, as poor Gestas had just been nailed to a wooden board and was in the process of a painful, painful death. I can understnd that.
So, I guess, when the Rapture happens, we unrepetant folks will need to do some serious Jackass stunts on ourselves in order to get called up, all the while yelling “Remember Gestas!!”
Works for me.
Bring it on!
(Hey, how about a Rosencrantz and Gildenstern type movie about the two thieves? Farrelly brothers, get to work on that!)
From a purely “classical studies” point of view, I don’t believe that the Romans would have taken any directions about how to crucify someone they deemed a criminal - let alone from the perp himself. From what I can work out it was a kinda “Stand Up, Shut Up, get Nailed Up & Die” situation.
Asking to be crucified one way or the other would more than likely have just caused them to beat the shit out of you before they nailed you up whatever way they wanted anyway.
Well, possibly. But I don’t think you can just make that assumption automatically. I’m sure no-one’s going to do Peter a favour, but assuming it’s being done by a few soldiers who are bored and don’t give a crap I can easily see them saying “Why not? It’ll probably hurt more.” half the time…
I wonder how the mechanics of crucifying someone upside down would work.
I believe the only part that the victim carried was the crossbeam, and that the upright was permanently affixed to the ground.
[Extremely distasteful part] Then the victim was nailed to the crossbeam, lifted into place so that the crossbeam and upright fitted together, then the feet were nailed into place. [/extremely distasteful part]
I imagine crucifying someone upside down would entail a whole new arrangement, where the cross was put together, and then the victim nailed in place, and finally the cross was placed upright but head down. I can’t imagine soldiers going to all that trouble just on the victim’s request.
Although I would certainly request that if it were allowed. Head down would mean that I would die quicker, since I couldn’t push down so as to be able to breathe, as during a regular crucifixion. So I would suffocate faster.
:shudders: This is why I don’t think I will be able to stand seeing The Passion of the Christ. Just thinking about crucifixion gives me the horrors.
Crucifixion was not always carried out on the “†” shaped cross. There were as many variations as the sadistic minds of the executioners could come up with. Peter’s cross might very well have been “x” shaped, which means that it wouldn’t matter which direction his head was facing – at least as far as the executioners were concerned.
Another point is that most victims were tied rather than nailed to their crosses. Rope is a lot cheaper than iron nails, and it’s a lot easier to cut the victim down after their death by hacking through a rope than removing nails or dismembering the body. According to scholars, Jesus probably carried the crossbar only instead of the entire cross. His arms were tied to it as he walked, which would have made the traditional three falls much worse because he could not have used his hands to keep himself from falling squarely on his face. It is a logical assumption (though not set in stone) that nails were used in his case because he was no longer tied to the crossbeam when he arrived at Golgotha, where the vertical beams were permanently mounted. Remember that after the third fall, Simon the Cyrean (sp?) carried the beam the rest of the way.
Ordinary crucifiction: You secure the convict to the crossbeam, tie a rope to the crossbeam, and hoist the crossbeam up the upright using the rope. Convict hangs down off of crossbeam.
Inverted crucifiction: You secure the convict to the crossbeam, tie a rope to the convict’s ankles, and hoist the convict up the upright using the rope. Crossbeam hangs off of convict.
I fail to see how the equipment would need to be any different in either case.
