According to the best medical and scientific estimates, how much blood
and how much water came from the side of Jesus when His side was
pierced by the lance?  If reputable experts differ, please give the
range of values.  Please cite your sources.  Thank you.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 09 May 2004 16:40 PDT

I am not certain exactly what you're looking for here. Does this
provide an answer to your question?

Dr. William Stroud, an eminent physician of England and Scotland,
gathered much evidence along this line and included it in his book
entitled ?The Physical Cause of the Death of Christ... He quotes a Dr.
C. D. Ludwig, who describes a case of rupture of the right auricle of
the heart: ?The pericardium was so distended by a large quantity of
transparent serum and coagulated blood, as to push the lungs upward.
The yellowish serum contained in its cavity exceeded half a pound. The
heart was encompassed by much clotted blood, which adhered to it on
all sides, and was perceived to have escaped slowly through a fissure
detected in the margin of the right auricle.? Dr. Stroud states that
?from the researches of Landisi, Ramazzini, Morgagni, and other
anatomists, it appears that a quart of blood, and sometimes much more,
might thus be collected in the pericardium, where it would speedily
separate into its solid and liquid constituents, technically called
crassamentum and serum, but in ordinary language,??blood and
water.???Pages 127, 143.

http://gospel-herald.com/t_bunch/behold/btm24_broken.htm

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Clarification of Question by rialp-ga on 11 May 2004 08:14 PDT

Pink, you have answered my question.  Thanks -- what do I do next?  :)
 I have searched the Google Question site and don't see how to close
this off and pay you.

Thanks, Rialp

I'm glad the the material that I posted was useful! I've reposted the
link below, with some additional links that I think you'll find
interesting.

"Dr. William Stroud, an eminent physician of England and Scotland,
gathered much evidence along this line and included it in his book
entitled 'The Physical Cause of the Death of Christ,'... He quotes a
Dr. C. D. Ludwig, who describes a case of rupture of the right auricle
of the heart: 'The pericardium was so distended by a large quantity of
transparent serum and coagulated blood, as to push the lungs upward.
The yellowish serum contained in its cavity exceeded half a pound. The
heart was encompassed by much clotted blood, which adhered to it on
all sides, and was perceived to have escaped slowly through a fissure
detected in the margin of the right auricle.' Dr. Stroud states that
'from the researches of Landisi, Ramazzini, Morgagni, and other
anatomists, it appears that a quart of blood, and sometimes much more,
might thus be collected in the pericardium, where it would speedily
separate into its solid and liquid constituents, technically called
crassamentum and serum, but in ordinary language,-?blood and water.?
-Pages 127, 143."

The Gospel Herald: Died of a Broken Heart
http://gospel-herald.com/t_bunch/behold/btm24_broken.htm

"Apparently, to make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his
lance between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the
heart. John 19:34 states, 'And immediately there came out blood and
water.' Thus there was an escape of watery fluid from the sac
surrounding the heart and the blood of the interior of the heart. This
is rather conclusive post-mortem evidence that Jesus died, not the
usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to
shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium."

A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion
http://www.frugalsites.net/jesus/physician.html

"To confirm that a victim was dead, the Romans inflicted a spear wound
through the right side of the heart. When pierced, a sudden flow of
blood and water came Jesus' body . The medical significance of the
blood and water has been a matter of debate. One theory states that
Jesus died of a massive myocardial infarction, in which the heart
ruptured (Bergsma) which may have resulted from His falling while
carrying the cross. (Ball) Another theory states that Jesus' heart was
surrounded by fluid in the pericardium, which constricted the heart
and caused death.(Davis) The physical stresses of crucifixion may have
produced a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. (Johnson)

The stated order of "blood and water" may not necessarily indicate the
order of appearance, but rather the relative prominence of each fluid.
In this case, a spear through the right side of the heart would allow
the pleural fluid (fluid built up in the lungs) to escape first,
followed by a flow of blood from the wall of the right
ventricle.(Edwards)"

Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
http://www.frugalsites.net/jesus/medical.html

"Two aspects of Jesus' death have been the source of great
controversy, namely, the nature of the wound in his side and the cause
of his death after only several hours on the cross. The gospel of John
describes the piercing of Jesus' side and emphasizes the sudden flow
of blood and water. Some authors have interpreted the flow of water to
be ascites or urine, from an abdominal midline perforation of the
bladder. However, the Greek word plvra, or pleura) used by John
clearly denoted laterality and often implied the ribs. Therefore, it
seems probable that the wound was in the thorax and well away from the
abdominal midline.

 Although the side of the wound was not designated by John, it
traditionally has been depicted on the right side. Supporting this
tradition is the fact that a large flow of blood would be more likely
with a perforation of the distended and thin-walled right atrium or
ventricle than the thick-walled and contracted left ventricle.
Although the side of the wound may never be established with
certainty, the right seems more probable than the left.

 Some of the skepticism in accepting John's description has arisen
from the difficulty in explaining, with medical accuracy, the flow of
both blood and water. Part of this difficulty has been based on the
assumption that the blood appeared first, then the water. However, in
the ancient Greek, the order of words generally denoted prominence and
not necessarily a time sequence. Therefore, it seems likely that John
was emphasizing the prominence of blood rather than its appearance
preceding the water.

 Therefore, the water probably represented serous pleural and
pericardial fluid, and would have preceded the flow of blood and been
smaller in volume than the blood. Perhaps in the setting of
hypovolemia and impending acute heart failure, pleural and pericardial
effusions may have developed and would have added to the volume of
apparent water. The blood, in contrast, may have originated from the
right atrium or the right ventricle... or perhaps from a
hemopericardium."

The Physical Death of Jesus Christ
http://www.frugalsites.net/jesus/death.htm

"James Thompson believed that Jesus did not die from exhaustion, the
beatings or the 3 hours of crucifixion, but that he died from agony of
mind producing rupture of the heart. His evidence comes from what
happened when the Roman soldier pierced Christ's left side. The spear
released a sudden flow of blood and water (John 19:34). Not only does
this prove that Jesus was already dead when pierced, but Thompson
believes it is also evidence of cardiac rupture. Respected
physiologist Samuel Houghton believed that only the combination of
crucifixion and rupture of the heart could produce this result."

Christian Answers: How did Jesus Christ die?
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/jesusdeath.html

Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "death of christ" + "physical cause"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22death+of+christ%22+%22physical+cause

Google Web Search: "jesus christ" + "side" + "blood" + "water" + "medical"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22jesus+christ%22+side+blood+water+medical

Thank you for asking a fascinating question. If anything above is
unclear or incomplete, please request clarification; I'll gladly offer
further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

Outstanding!  Fast turnaround, comprehensive answer, links to many
resources, search strategies included.  Tip well deserved!  Thanks!

Idle curiosity: Was the blood and water (or blood and wine) the
fulfillment of any Old Testament prophecy? There's some connection to
ichor here; check Dionysus; check Ganesha. Your not going to find a
cannonized answer, but no doubt, some fool/theologian has said
something like, "One Imperial Quart, no more, no less!"

The scripture relating when Jesus was pierced through with a spear is
found at Matthew 27;49. Immediately following this, Jesus died. And
then the curtain of the Sanctuary was split. An act of God, through
grief at the loss of His ONLY son. The prophecy of this act is at
Zechariah 12;10..."And I will pour out upon the house of David and
upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of favour and entreaties.
And they will certainly look to the One whom they pierced through and
they will certainly wail over Him as in the wailing over an ONLY son;
and there will be bitter lamentation over Him as when there is bitter
lamentation over the FIRSTBORN son". Although the roman soldiers
carried out the execution of Jesus, they were only following orders.
Those responsible for it were the Jewish religious leaders of the day
who thought their powerbase was being threatened. Even Pontius Pilate,
the roman governor, was reluctant to pass judgement and put the
punishment decision to the crowd ]Matthew 27; 15-26] The amount of
blood/water spilled is not the important thing here, but the reason
for Jesus` execution, is.

Hi rialp~

Just leave the question as is, and Pink will soon post her information
as a formal answer :)

Kriswrite

Many thanks for the kind words, the five stars, and the very generous tip!

~Pink

My pleasure, Pink -- the question has a personal significance to me,
but I especially appreciated your posting your search strategies and
the study by the Mayo Clinic links to so many medical references. 
You've opened many doors for me.  Like many people, I know the answers
are out there somewhere, but don't always have the time to do the
research myself.  Great service -- Rialp