Academic Review: Rucker, Robert A. (2024). “What Happened to Jesus’ Body in His Resurrection?” Date: August 31, 2024. Self-published research paper. Introduction Robert A. Rucker, a nuclear engineer with a master’s degree in nuclear engineering and nearly four decades of experience in the nuclear industry, presents in this article a multidisciplinary attempt to explain the resurrection of Jesus Christ through both scriptural exegesis and applied nuclear physics. The paper seeks to answer a singular but profound question: What happened to Jesus’ body in His resurrection? To approach this, Rucker integrates three principal sources of data: (1) the Gospel narratives of the resurrection, (2) biblical theology regarding the nature of the resurrected body, and (3) the physical evidence presented by the Shroud of Turin. The paper represents an ambitious attempt to reconcile Christian theology with modern physics—specifically, nuclear phenomena and multi-dimensional theoretical physics. Its most distinctive feature is Rucker’s proposal that Jesus’ resurrection involved an intense, brief burst of radiation, including neutrons and protons, resulting in the Shroud’s unique image and its anomalous carbon-14 dating results. Theological and Scriptural Framework Rucker begins by situating his analysis within the canonical Gospels, focusing particularly on John 20:3–9, wherein the apostle John observes the empty tomb and “believes.” Rucker follows a line of traditional commentary—from Edwin A. Blum, John Phillips, and William Barclay—to argue that John’s belief was triggered by the observation that the burial wrappings were collapsed in place, implying that Jesus’ body had not been removed but had dematerialized or passed through the cloth. This interpretation is not new; however, Rucker’s contribution lies in attempting to describe the mechanism by which this disappearance occurred. He then extends the theological discussion through Pauline resurrection theology (1 Corinthians 15:35–54), emphasizing the distinction between the “natural” and “spiritual” body. According to Rucker, the resurrected body is “consistent with the operation of the heavenly,” suggesting that it functions according to different physical laws—what he calls “the laws of the spiritual dimension.” This aligns with long-standing theological views (e.g., Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, Part III, Q.54), yet Rucker translates this metaphysical distinction into the language of physics. Theoretical Physics and Alternate Dimensionality The article’s second major framework proposes that Jesus’ body “transitioned into an alternate dimensionality,” which Rucker equates with the biblical concept of heaven. Drawing from string theory and higher-dimensional physics, Rucker posits that our reality consists of only four observable dimensions (three spatial and one temporal), while additional unseen dimensions—possibly ten or more—exist beyond human perception. Thus, Christ’s body could have exited the observable universe via a dimensional transition, leaving the burial shroud collapsed in place. While this is a metaphoric extension of physical theory rather than a derivation from it, the hypothesis is notable for how it employs contemporary physics language to model a traditionally theological claim. The concept parallels earlier efforts by Frank Tipler (The Physics of Immortality, 1994) and John Polkinghorne’s theological physics, although Rucker’s emphasis on nuclear oscillation as a mechanism for the resurrection is unique and far more technical. The Shroud of Turin and Nuclear Hypothesis The core of Rucker’s paper lies in his scientific interpretation of the Shroud of Turin—the linen cloth bearing the image of a crucified man, widely associated with Jesus. Rucker revisits the 1988 radiocarbon dating that yielded a medieval age (1260–1390 AD), arguing that this result was not indicative of forgery but rather of neutron absorption that increased the C-14 content in the cloth, thereby artificially aging it forward. He supports this with calculations using MCNP nuclear analysis software, proposing that approximately 2 × 10¹⁸ neutrons were emitted from the body within the Shroud—equivalent to one neutron for every ten billion atomic nuclei in the body. Rucker further hypothesizes that the image itself was formed by charged particle emission (protons) producing corona discharges that lightly scorched the linen fibers. This explanation is intended to satisfy 27 observed image properties, including its superficiality, three-dimensional information content, and lack of pigment. In effect, Rucker suggests that Jesus’ resurrection involved a brief nuclear-level event in which both neutron flux (altering carbon ratios) and proton radiation (forming the image) were produced during the transition of his body from the natural to the spiritual dimension. Evaluation of Methodology and Claims From a scientific standpoint, Rucker’s argument is highly speculative, as it presupposes an unprecedented physical process for which no empirical precedent exists. The proposed mechanism—“a very high-frequency vertical oscillation of the nuclei in Jesus’ body”—has no basis in known nuclear physics, nor is any theoretical model provided that could generate such oscillations without immense energy release (which would have incinerated the Shroud). Moreover, the suggestion that neutron flux sufficient to alter measurable C-14 content occurred without affecting other isotopes (e.g., nitrogen or oxygen ratios) is scientifically questionable. However, from an interdisciplinary perspective, Rucker’s work functions as a model of scientific apologetics, attempting to use technical reasoning to validate theological claims. His research on isotopic gradients, historical chain-of-custody of the Shroud, and computational modeling demonstrates considerable technical diligence, even if the interpretive leap from data to divine causation is non-falsifiable. Theologically, the concept of a dimensional transition resonates with metaphysical frameworks describing heaven as an alternate mode of existence rather than a spatial location. Yet the attempt to describe this transition in nuclear terms risks conflating symbolic theology with empirical science. The proposal that Jesus’ resurrection involved “nuclear-level oscillation of deuterium nuclei” is best understood as a metaphorical synthesis rather than a literal model. Relation to Previous Shroud Research Rucker’s paper continues a long line of attempts to explain the Shroud’s anomalies. Previous hypotheses have included: Vaporographic (chemical) image formation (Rogers, 2005) Thermal scorch from a hot bas-relief (Nickell, 1983) Photochemical radiation burst (Fanti & Di Lazzaro, 2010) Rucker’s neutron-radiation theory shares some similarities with the Jackson–Rogers “radiation image” model proposed by the 1978 STURP team but extends it to include the nuclear explanation for carbon-14 discrepancies. This makes his approach distinctive in combining nuclear physics, dimensional theory, and biblical theology into a unified resurrection model. Conclusion and Scholarly Assessment Rucker’s “What Happened to Jesus’ Body in His Resurrection?” is a bold and unconventional contribution to the dialogue between science and religion. It represents not an empirical proof but an interpretive synthesis—an attempt to articulate how divine action might manifest within the physical order without violating the integrity of scripture. Its strengths lie in: the coherence between the three data sources (Scripture, theology, Shroud); the originality of applying nuclear physics to biblical events; and the detailed, testable structure of the neutron–proton hypothesis. Its weaknesses include: speculative physics unsupported by empirical data; conflation of metaphysical and physical categories; reliance on unverified assumptions regarding the Shroud’s authenticity and isotopic behavior. Nevertheless, the paper invites serious interdisciplinary discussion. Whether or not one accepts its conclusions, Rucker’s work illustrates a rare effort to bridge faith and physics, calling for a renewed dialogue between theology, material science, and metaphysics regarding the central claim of Christianity: that the resurrection of Jesus was a real event with measurable implications in both the physical and spiritual realms. Bibliographic Note: Rucker, R. A. (2024). What Happened to Jesus’ Body in His Resurrection? Unpublished manuscript, August 31, 2024. Supplementary references cited within include works by Blum, Phillips, Barclay, and prior publications by Rucker (2013–2023) on neutron a