What did Jesus look like'

[Somerville]

When you pray to Him, what image of the being is in your mind?

Is it this?



This is a painting by Warner Sallman (1940) and is seen by many as the best portrait of Jesus. Millions of copies have been distributed around the world since the end of WWII.

Do you think He really looked like this?

 

[Daisy]

No...

 

[Individual]

A Romanesque Jew, probably some features inherited from his Father and some from his Mother, though I have never seen any point or reason to pray to him or any other dead person.
Reasoned and rational self initiated action/reaction has always made more sense, as well as much more beneficially productive, to me than speaking to an invisible non-existent entity or an existing government representative, for that matter.

 

[WIGDViking]

Well considering where he lived he sure as shit (if he even truly existed) wasn’t white…

 

[Somerville]

A little more on the painting

How an iconic painting of Jesus as a white man was distributed around the world​

The “Head of Christ” has been called the “best-known American artwork of the 20th century.” The New York Times once labeled Sallman the “best-known artist” of the 20th century, although that few recognized his name.

“Sallman, who died in 1968, was a religious painter and illustrator whose most popular picture, ‘Head of Christ,’ achieved a mass popularity that makes Warhol’s soup can seem positively obscure,” William Grimes of the Times wrote in 1994.

The famed image began as a charcoal sketch for the first issue of the Covenant Companion, a youth magazine for a denomination known as the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant.
Sallman, who grew up in the denomination, which is now known as the Evangelical Covenant Church, was a Chicago-based commercial artist.

 

[Bear5131]

I used to watch the television show good times all the time my favorite episode

 

[Loulit01]

Jesus wasn't white. Jesus wasn't Black. Jesus was a Jew from what is now Israel, then the Roman province of Judea. Black hair, brown eyes, about 5'5", beard, and the Jewish haircut with hair on the sides of his face untrimmed.

You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.” Even today, Orthodox Jewish men grow long hair on the sides of their heads.

Shorter hair was considered the norm for Jewish men and for Romans. Paul explains to early Christians in Corinth, “Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering” (1 Corinthians 11:14-15).

If he existed at all which has never been proven.

 

[Somerville]

I used to watch the television show good times all the time my favorite episode

A painting in the Coptic Museum, Cairo, shows Thomas putting his hand into the wound Jesus received on the cross.

 

[Schism]

The things people wonder about....

 

[phoenix2020]

The things people wonder about....

I agree, people wonder about some strange yet fascinating things. To wit,

"I wonder how much the illegal immigrants are paying for the baby formula being handed to them?"
- something @Schism wonders

"I wonder if the study measured the baby's brainwaves after handing the mother a bowl of warm pudding?"
- something @Schism wonders

"I wonder how mankind survived for the 10,000 years predating modern medicine?"
- something @Schism wonders

You wonder about some really cool things!

 

[EdwinWillers]

When you pray to Him, what image of the being is in your mind?

Is it this?

View attachment 67391614

This is a painting by Warner Sallman (1940) and is seen by many as the best portrait of Jesus. Millions of copies have been distributed around the world since the end of WWII.

Do you think He really looked like this?

Good heavens, no.

First, Jesus was a Jew - certainly not a Caucasian.

Isaiah says of Him:

He has no stately form or majesty​

That we should look upon Him,​

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. (Isa 53:2)​

Very likely He was of average stature, somewhat dark of skin (as were most Jews of the period).

Also very likely He didn't have long hair: "Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him" (I Cor 11:14)

Other than that... dunno - nor do I honestly think it matters to Him that we do know - and it's probably even better that we don't - lest we be tempted to idolize him, like the painting has for many.

 

[EdwinWillers]

I agree, people wonder about some strange yet fascinating things. To wit,

"I wonder how much the illegal immigrants are paying for the baby formula being handed to them?"
- something @Schism wonders

"I wonder if the study measured the baby's brainwaves after handing the mother a bowl of warm pudding?"
- something @Schism wonders

"I wonder how mankind survived for the 10,000 years predating modern medicine?"
- something @Schism wonders

You wonder about some really cool things!

What, pray tell, does that have to do with this thread?

 

[EdwinWillers]

If he existed at all which has never been proven.

Um, there's more actual proof of His existence than there is of most people of antiquity.

 

[phoenix2020]

What, pray tell, does that have to do with this thread?

I was just backing up my buddy @Schism - I didn't want someone to challenge his incredulity at the things people wonder about, without him having some collateral at the ready to respond with. Now, if you'd like to challenge him, by all means...

 

[EdwinWillers]

I was just backing up my buddy @Schism - I didn't want someone to challenge his incredulity at the things people wonder about, without him having some collateral at the ready to respond with. Now, if you'd like to challenge him, by all means...

I like @Schism . We generally agree on most things.

...I still don't see what any of your post, "backing him up" or not, has to do with this thread. But I'm not going to argue about it; just sayin (or questioning).

 

[Schism]

I agree, people wonder about some strange yet fascinating things. To wit,

"I wonder how much the illegal immigrants are paying for the baby formula being handed to them?"
- something @Schism wonders

"I wonder if the study measured the baby's brainwaves after handing the mother a bowl of warm pudding?"
- something @Schism wonders

"I wonder how mankind survived for the 10,000 years predating modern medicine?"
- something @Schism wonders

You wonder about some really cool things!

Salient points are often barbed; as is sarcasm.

Sometimes the humor in political discourse is the point; at other times, it punctuates it.

 

[phoenix2020]

I like @Schism . We generally agree on most things.

...I still don't see what any of your post, "backing him up" or not, has to do with this thread. But I'm not going to argue about it; just sayin (or questioning).

Ah, I understand what you're asking. Well, my post had the same thing to do with this thread that his post had to do with this thread. Since you didn't question his post, I trust that you understand exactly what his post had to do with this thread, and now therefore understand what mine did as well since it's the same thing. Glad we could resolve the confusion!

 

[EdwinWillers]

Ah, I understand what you're asking. Well, my post had the same thing to do with this thread that his post had to do with this thread. Since you didn't question his post, I trust that you understand exactly what his post had to do with this thread, and now therefore understand what mine did as well since it's the same thing. Glad we could resolve the confusion!

Uh... ok.

 

[phoenix2020]

Uh... ok.

Is that animated image your depiction of what Jesus actually looked like? Personally it seems a bit dismissive to me; I’d like to believe that if he existed, he was far better coordinated as a child, but I definitely appreciate your perspective!

 

[Schism]

Ah, I understand what you're asking. Well, my post had the same thing to do with this thread that his post had to do with this thread. Since you didn't question his post, I trust that you understand exactly what his post had to do with this thread, and now therefore understand what mine did as well since it's the same thing. Glad we could resolve the confusion!

My post was an intentionally ham-fisted way of saying that it doesn't matter what Jesus looked like.

What really matters is who he is and what he did, which is another discussion altogether.

 

[Schism]

Uh... ok.

 

[EdwinWillers]

You get it.

 

[VanceMack]

He was the offspring of a Jewish mother and God.

Anyone that is overly concerned about the color of Christs skin should do a better job of knowing Christ. People create a version of Christ they can most readily identify with...but its conceptual and has literally nothing to do with who Christ is and what his earthly mission was.

 

[Somerville]

Let us not wonder off into politics in this thread - PLEASE.

Here are a couple more images of Jesus. The first one may be the oldest image known as it is dated to the late 2nd, early 3rd centuries. It was found a 'few' years ago in the Catacombs of Domitilla


The second guy on the left looks African but it could just be a change in the paint over the centuries. There is academic discussion about the situation illustrated: is it the Last Supper or just a time when Jesus was talking to his disciples?

Then we have a more modern image. This one was created by an English forensic anthropologist who worked with several ancient skulls excavated in modern Israel

 

[HK.227]

Do you think He really looked like this?

Apparently he didn't look unusual enough for it to warrant any mention.
Neither handsome- or hideousness, skin- or hair color, height, or the physcial build seem to have been worthy of being pointed out.
But he did have a penchant for getting people to listen, so he probably had charisma.