Christians rely on the claim that Jesus resurrected from death as convincing evidence for the truthfulness of Christianity. Skeptics however have tried to find alternative explanations to the resurrection in ways that rely on naturalistic factors to avoid any miraculous explanations and discredit the Christian claims. One of those alternative explanations is called The Swoon Theory.

What is the Swoon Theory exactly?

The swoon theory claims that Jesus didn’t really die; he just fainted from exhaustion and loss of blood. Everyone mistakenly thought that he was dead, but he wasn’t. After He resuscitated, the disciples thought that He was miraculously resurrected from death.

Now that’s an interesting theory… but it fails to explain many events documented in the New Testament about the story of the resurrection.

What are the problems with this theory?

Firstly:

There was a Roman soldier who had to ensure that Jesus was dead before He took him down from the cross. In Roman law, a soldier would be punished by execution if he let a criminal escape. Therefore, the soldier pierced the side of Jesus with a spear in order to remove any doubt that Jesus was dead.

Secondly:

The swoon theory also fails to explain how Jesus rolled the stone to get out of the tomb if he had just revived from a swoon.

Lastly:

It is highly improbable that a being who had got half-dead out of the sepulchre, who crept about weak and ill, wanting medical treatment, who required bandaging, strengthening and indulgence, and who still, at last, yielded to his sufferings, could have given to the disciples the impression that he was a conqueror over death and the grave. Such a resuscitation could only have weakened the impression that Jesus had made upon His disciples in life and in death, and could by no possibility have changed their sorrow into enthusiasm or elevated their reverence into worship.

In summary:

The alternative theory about the resurrection called The Swoon Theory isn’t supported by evidence or logical reasoning – refuted.

Here are links to the other articles in this series:

• Alternative theories about the Resurrection [1/5]– The Wrong ‎Tomb Theory
• Alternative theories about the Resurrection [2/5]–The Relocated Body Theory
• Alternative theories about the Resurrection [4/5]– The Stolen ‎Body Theory
• Alternative theories about the Resurrection [5/5]– The ‎Hallucination Theory

Here is a link to the YouTube playlist covering all the alternative theories for the Resurrection: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAEp2qMB5dZIzERDWu6OSti9r9O2T1myp