Station #11 Stigmata, science & Scripture

One afternoon while I was sitting in the church, the parish school children came in to learn to pray the Stations of the Cross. It was very heartening to observe the class as the lay teacher went around the church and described the 14 Stations of the Cross.

             Everything went well but all comfort was lost when the class reached Station 11; Jesus is nailed to the Cross. For whatever reason, the teacher decided to instruct the children that: “Of course it is incorrect to say that Jesus’ hands were nailed to the Cross as this is not medically possible. It was His wrists that were nailed to the cross”.

Hearing this was very disconcerting and I felt that this unnecessary and questionable statement would be a source of confusion to the children as it contradicted Scripture. I went to the parish priest and made the matter known and he was somewhat less than concerned about the situation. He seemed to feel that it made little difference and in fact felt that many depictions of the Crucifixion showed the nails in Christ’s wrists. Since stigmata are a dramatic, tangible attestation of Faith, I was surprised at the pastor’s observation or lack of it. I mentioned that in photos of St. Padre Pio his stigmata are in the hands. Eventually I brought this matter to the attention of the Cardinal and there may have been some sort of redress.

            My intention in this matter was to ensure that Scripture was not disregarded because it was not consistent with ‘science’. It seemed that if you told the children that one passage of the Bible was incorrect, then you could lend suspicion to all the other passages. Also, in that regard the biggest inconsistency in the Bible would also need to be addressed since Science will tell you that a Man cannot rise from the Dead.

            Some may argue that it is not correct to take everything in Scripture literally. That there are various dialects and translations and that some leeway must be given. However if you do not take Scripture literally there is no foundation for faith. Catholics are now living in a time when the tenets of the Faith are being challenged. Societal pressures are being mounted to have Christians abandon core beliefs in the sake of expedience and social acceptability. However, maintaining that something is all right or permissible in society does not change anything; if something is a sin, it is a sin no matter what you call it. You cannot be permissive in the face of wrong. The Lord is forgiving – He is not permissive. Whether it is chastised or tolerated, a sin is a sin.

            Again in Scripture we have Jesus saying .. to Thomas: ‘Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.’ [John 20:27]. This is not commentary by the apostles or background for the scriptural dialogue; this is the Word of the Lord, not to be discounted. Similarly we cannot discount other directives in the Bible as they are not recommendations but are Rules. You can be open minded to opinion and considerate of other views but Scripture is determinant as to what is Right.

Vindication for my concern and position came in an unusual form. The movie, Son of God, portrays the Crucifixion. Jesus’ hands are nailed to the Cross. His arm / wrists are secured by ropes. Apparently the Romans agreed that one’s hands would be too weak to hold a body on a cross. The nails in the Lord’s hands appeared to be an additional form of pain that they accorded Our Lord.

So the scientific approach of the lay teacher was wrong as was her failure to determine if her conjecture could have a flaw. Before you say that something is lost, you need to look everywhere it might be. So despite ‘science’ it can be seen that Our Lord’s hands were pierced by nails and there can be no denying this. This teaches us to trust first in Scripture above all else.

                                            Photos from Son of God movie