Crucifixion of Jesus

==Denial==

===Docetism===
In Christianity, [[docetism]] is the doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, and above all the human form of Jesus, was mere semblance without any true reality.<ref>{{harvnb|Brox|1984|p=306}}.</ref> Docetists denied that Jesus could have truly suffered and died, as his physical body was illusory, and instead saw the crucifixion as something that only appeared to happen.<ref>{{harvnb|Schneemelcher|Maurer|1994|p=220}}.</ref>

===Nag Hammadi manuscripts===
According to the [[First Apocalypse of James|First Revelation of James]] in the [[Nag Hammadi library]], Jesus appeared to James after apparently being crucified and stated that another person had been inflicted in his place:
{{Blockquote|"The master appeared to him. He stopped praying, embraced him, and kissed him, saying, “Rabbi, I’ve found you. I heard of the sufferings you endured, and I was greatly troubled. You know my compassion. Because of this I wished, as I reflected upon it, that I would never see these people again. They must be judged for what they have done, for what they have done is not right.”
The master said, “James, do not be concerned for me or these people. I am the one who was within me. Never did I suffer at all, and I was not distressed. These people did not harm me. Rather, all this was inflicted upon a figure of the rulers, and it was fitting that this figure should be [destroyed] by them."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=Marvin |last2=Robinson |first2=James |title=The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts Complete in One Volume |date=2009 |publisher=HarperOne |isbn=978-0061626005 |edition=2009 |chapter=The First revelation of James}}</ref>}}

===Islam===
{{Main|Islamic views on Jesus' death}}
{{See also|Jesus in Islam}}
Most Islamic traditions categorically deny that Jesus physically died, either on a cross or another manner. This denial is asserted in the Quran, which states:

{{Blockquote|And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but rather, it was made to appear to them so. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. (157) Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise. (158)|[[Quran 4:157–158]]<ref name="Cite quran|4|157|e=158|s=ns">{{Cite quran|4|157|e=158|s=ns}}</ref>}}

Islamic traditions teach that Jesus [[entering heaven alive|ascended to Heaven]] without being put on the cross, but that God transformed another person to appear exactly like him and to be then crucified instead of him. This view is attested in an account by [[Irenaeus]] of the doctrine of the 2nd-century [[Alexandria]]n [[Gnostic]] [[Basilides]] in which Irenaeus refutes what he believes to be a heresy denying the death.<ref>"Wherefore he did not himself suffer death, but Simon, a certain man of Cyrene, being compelled, bore the cross in his stead; so that this latter being transfigured by him, that he might be thought to be Jesus, was crucified, through ignorance and error, while Jesus himself received the form of Simon, and, standing by, laughed at them. For since he was an incorporeal power, and the Nous (mind) of the unborn father, he transfigured himself as he pleased, and thus ascended to him who had sent him, deriding them, inasmuch as he could not be laid hold of, and was invisible to all" ([http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103124.htm Irenaeus, ''Against Heresies'', book I, ch. 24, 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419061155/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103124.htm |date=April 19, 2021 }}).</ref>

=== Gnosticism ===
Some scriptures identified as Gnostic reject the atonement of  Jesus's death by distinguishing the earthly body of Jesus and his divine and immaterial essence. According to the [[Second Treatise of the Great Seth]], [[Yaldabaoth]] (the Creator of the material universe) and his [[Archon (Gnosticism)|Archons]] tried to kill Jesus by crucifixion, but only killed ''their own man'' (that is the body). While Jesus ascended from his body, Yaldabaoth and his followers thought Jesus to be dead.<ref>John Douglas Turner, Anne Marie McGuire ''The Nag Hammadi Library After Fifty Years: Proceedings of the 1995 Society of Biblical Literature Commemoration [in Philadelphia]'' Brill 1997 {{ISBN|978-9004108240}} p. 54</ref><ref>Tuomas Rasimus''Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking: Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence'' Brill, 2009 {{ISBN|978-9047426707}} p. 13</ref> In [[Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter|Apocalypse of Peter]], Peter talks with the savior whom the "priests and people" believed to have killed.<ref>John Douglas Turner, Anne Marie McGuire ''The Nag Hammadi Library After Fifty Years: Proceedings of the 1995 Society of Biblical Literature Commemoration [in Philadelphia]'' Brill 1997 {{ISBN|978-9004108240}} p. 55</ref>

[[Manichaeism]], which was influenced by Gnostic ideas, adhered to the idea that not Jesus, but somebody else was crucified instead.<ref name="gil1992">{{Cite book| volume = 12| pages = 9–58|editor= Joel L. Kraemer | last = Gil| first = Moshe| title = Israel Oriental Studies| chapter = The Creed of Abū ‘Āmir| date = 1992}}</ref>{{rp|41}} Jesus suffering on the cross is depicted as the state of ''light particles'' (spirit) within matter instead.<ref>Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer ''The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition'' Shambhala Publications 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-834-82414-0}} p. 596</ref>

According to [[Bogomilism]], the crucifixion was an attempt by [[Lucifer]] to destroy Jesus, while the earthly Jesus was regarded as a prophet, Jesus himself was an immaterial being that can not be killed. Accordingly, Lucifer failed and  Jesus's sufferings on the cross were only an illusion.<ref>Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer ''The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition'' Shambhala Publications 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-834-82414-0}} p. 751</ref>

=== Others ===
According to some [[Christianity in Japan|Christian sects in Japan]], Jesus Christ did not die on the cross at Golgotha. Instead his younger brother, Isukiri,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyotravel/tokyojapantravel/3523/tokyojapantravelinc.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060825022848/http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyotravel/tokyojapantravel/3523/tokyojapantravelinc.htm |archive-date=August 25, 2006 |title=Metropolis – Japan Travel: Jesus in Japan |access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref> took his place on the cross, while Jesus fled across Siberia to Mutsu Province, in northern Japan. Once in Japan, he became a rice farmer, married, and raised a family with three daughters near what is now [[Shingō, Aomori#Local attractions|Shingō]]. While in Japan, it is asserted that he traveled, learned, and eventually died at the age of 106. His body was exposed on a hilltop for four years. According to the customs of the time,  Jesus's bones were collected, bundled, and buried in a mound.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bartlett |first=Duncan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/5326614.stm |title=Programmes &#124; From Our Own Correspondent &#124; The Japanese Jesus trail |work=BBC News |date=September 9, 2006 |access-date=January 15, 2019 |archive-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105031730/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/5326614.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/110_japson.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310200846/http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/110_japson.shtml |archive-date=March 10, 2007 |title=Jesus In Japan – FT110 |access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref> There is also a museum in Japan which claims to have evidence of these claims.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-little-known-legend-of-jesus-in-japan-165354242/ |title=The Little-Known Legend of Jesus in Japan &#124; History &#124; Smithsonian |publisher=Smithsonianmag.com |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=January 15, 2019 |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229010937/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-little-known-legend-of-jesus-in-japan-165354242/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[Yazidism]], Jesus is thought of as a "figure of light" who could not be crucified. This interpretation could be taken from the [[Quran]] or [[Gnostics]].<ref>''Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft''. Jahrgang 1997 diagonal-Verlag Ursula Spuler-Stegemann Der Engel Pfau zum Selbstvertändnis der Yezidi p. 14 (German)</ref>