"Eyewitness to Crucifixion" (Stephen M. Miller)

TITLE: Eyewitness to Crucifixion: The Romans, the Cross, and the Sacrifice of Jesus
AUTHOR: Stephen M. Miller
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: ODB Publishing, 2020, (208 pages).

Christians all over the world regularly proclaim the great reality of the faith: "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again." Author Stephen Miller focuses on three angles of the crucifixion: 1) What the Romans say about crucifixion; 2) What they say about Jesus' crucifixion; and 3) what the Bible says about Jesus' death on the cross. The Bible does not say a lot about the nature and the exacting details of the crucifixion. Thus, the author goes back to several Roman characters to give us an eyewitness account of the terrible nature of the crucifixion. Seneca the Younger calls it the "worst torture of all." Cicero says that crucifixion is almost like killing one's father or brother. Horace lists some of the frivolous reasons used to send people to be crucified. Plutarch talks about criminals being asked to carry the cross enroute to their own execution. There was even a case 250 years before Christ was born where Hannibal the commanding officer of the ship was crucified by his own sailors after leading them to another defeat. Lactantius, advisor to Emperor Constantine teaches Christians not to resist death, even if it means the threat of crucifixion. With a large segment of the book devoted to the description of what crucifixion means to the Roman world, Miller aims to show us the cruelty, the humiliation, the senselessness, and inhumane nature of the execution.


Part Two of the book describes the different eyewitness accounts of Jesus' death on the cross. There is Josephus, the Jewish historian who testified of Jesus in an ancient account outside of the Bible. Tacitus the Roman senator confirms that Jesus died on the cross.  Marcus Minucius Felix defends Christianity by questioning the legitimacy of other Roman gods. Finally, in Part Three, Miller brings us through the familiar biblical accounts of Jesus' crucifixion. Focusing on the four gospel narratives, he summarizes the account by placing the observations one after the other that reads like a chronological flow of the crucifixion process. This indeed is the highlight of the whole book altogether.

My Thoughts
This book was originally pitched to publishers but was not accepted. Eventually, the author created a homemade video of the book entitled: "What the Romans Said about Crucifixion" and posted it on YouTube. This gave the author another opportunity to present his book for publishing. In his words, "YouTube raised this book from the dead." As I read the various accounts of crucifixion and Jesus' crucifixion, I notice that compared to the biblical accounts, they are not as comprehensive. They show us the dark side of such an execution process. Miller supplements each account with pictures and snippets of literature written. I am impressed at the amount of research done by Miller to give us a broad spectrum of Roman eyewitnesses. Toward the end of the book, Miller gives us an exchange he had with a skeptic. That is worth a read and shows us the depth of scepticism about Christ dying on the cross. Interested readers might want to read more of the many different exchanges to get a better idea of the challenges of even talking about the crucifixion of Jesus. Miller tries to present the evidence as is, citing the sources, and to offer a view on the crucifixion. In spite of that, there will be resistance and dismissal of these evidence. What I appreciate most is the listing of sources, both primary and secondary, the illustrations, and the large repertoire of Roman witnesses in writing. On this note, this book can be used like a primer for further research.

The way to read this book is to watch the video first as a quick introduction. Following that, read this book and ponder over the evidence Miller has uncovered in his research. True to his reputation, Miller writes this book in an easy to read manner. Readers will not get stuck on academic or linguistic details as the book is written in a direct journalistic manner. Coupled with many photos, pictures, and colourful illustrations, we get a closer look at the ancient perspectives and horror of the crucifixion process. Perhaps, for open-minded unbelievers, this book would be another piece of evidence to consider. For believers, it would be another opportunity to see the horrors of the crucifixion. It is not just the reality of Jesus' death but the way that he had to die on the cross that should lead us to a deeper devotion of love for his great sacrifice.

Stephen M. Miller is an award-winning, bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity. His books have sold over two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible. He launched his full-time freelance writing career in 1994, after working as a news reporter and later as an editor of Christian books, magazines, and Bible curriculum for a group of Christian denominations in the Wesleyan theological tradition.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Our Daily Bread Publishing and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.