RETRACTED: The apparent resurrection of Jesus is verisimilar

Some people have survived being underwater, without breathing, for tens of minutes. We draw an analogy between such near-drowning and crucifixion: because modern medical studies of crucifixion have generally concluded that the main cause of death was asphyxiation (induced by the position of the victim on the cross). The physiological mechanisms that enable some people to survive without breathing for tens of minutes are known from prior studies. We demonstrate that some of those mechanisms could also enable a person to survive crucifixion-induced asphyxiation for tens of minutes. The mechanisms are activated by certain conditions—and those conditions are described in the biblical story of the apparent resurrection of Jesus. Witnesses at the time of Jesus could reasonably have believed that Jesus had died; ergo, when Jesus was later found to be alive, they concluded that Jesus had been miraculously resurrected. The apparent resurrection of Jesus, though, has a naturalistic explanation.