1. Jesus had God as his father, and the fairest virgin, like, ever
as his mother. Therefore, he was a hottie – Drop dead gorgeous.
2. Isaiah (53:2) said, about Jesus, that “he hath no form nor
comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we
should desire him.” This indicates, not that he was ugly, but that he
was likely unremarkable looking – A very plain looking individual.
I personally could care less, but since I’ve seen this issue inspire
passion, I figured I’d see what the collective wisdom of the
Bloggernacle had to say.
All I can say is … what … the …
This becomes a serious argument? By the way, I am in the plain looking
camp. Jesus might have had G-d as his father, but Mary wasn’t the
“fairest” virgin. She was a very righteous woman. That is the
descriptions. Secondly, I don’t think G-d gets his looks from His
physical appearance. He gets it from His Glory. I think Isaiah trumps
what I consider misunderstandings about other Scriptures.
Thereis a terrific roundtable on images of Christ and various ideas of what he looked like) at BYU Studies 39/3 (2000):
(While you’re there, I happen to have an article in that same issue if
you want to check it out.)
distinctly European. Virtually every artist in Western civilization has
portrayed him as such!
(Hint for the Impaired: Yes, that was sarcasm.)
*** Mormon Urban Legend Alert ***
In the LA Temple baptristy there is a painting of John the Baptist
baptizing Jesus. The depiction of Jesus in that painting is not a very
handsome one. According to a sealer who talking to us one time during a
sealing session, Pres. McKay upon seeing the painting remarked it was
the most accurate depiction of the Savior he had seen. —–
I’ve wondered the same thing.
What would our response be to a painting hanging in the lobby of a
chapel depicting a person who looks like Danny DeVito being laid in the
Garden Tomb?
Or a distinctly Neanderthal sort hanging on a cross?
Or Paul Prudhomme teaching the Sermon on the Mount?
Those kinds of ideas help me remember how much of my internal thought
processes are hidden manifestations of the culture that I live in.
I don’t think a post title has every had me click on my RSS reader
faster than this one.
Would he be handsome according to current views? I doubt it. Maybe now
that he’s perfect he looks pretty great, but imagine being alive
without dentists, sunscreen, conditioner for your hair, fingernail
clippers, etc. He may have been an ok looking guy, but I doubt he ended
up that way after those years preaching in the sun.
Though judging by every. single. picture in my ward library, he had
plenty of conditioner and probably a hair stylist. And Mary was a
redhead from Provo.
Those pictures drive me nuts
discussion in Sunday School, though I can see how this could become a
topic for debate.
I agree with what Jettboy said in #1. In fact, when Alma writes about
receiving the image of Christ in our countenance, it doesn’t mean we
will get better looking. 🙂
Well, I think that guy they’ve got playing Jesus in the most recent LDS
propaganda films is kinda silly looking…
The beard and hair make him look like one of those guys from the “so-easy-even-a-caveman-could-do-it” ad campaign.
Just sayin’…
he had plenty of conditioner and probably a hair stylist. And Mary was a redhead from Provo.
I’ve seen plenty of pictures of Jesus where he was African, Asian,
Polynesian, etc. Every culture seems to paint/draw him in their own
image. I don’t see anything inherently wrong with it as long as we
realize none of them likely look exactly like Jesus. —–
the issue (sort of like deciding who bats last by tossing the bat,
catching it, gripping it hand over hand and the top hand wins):
From the hymn, O God the Eternal Father:
“With no apparent beauty
That man should him desire”
Isaiah and the hymnal win!
This seems to be a funny subject but I have also witnessed passionate debates on the issue!
I think Jesus was an attractive man. Physically strong and good looking
in every sense of the word (women seemed to follow him a lot too).
Isaiah is an extremely symbolic writing… I mean, good luck trying to
interpret Isaiah’s writings in a literal sense. I have heard many
interpretations of that Isaiah scripture. Here are three of the most
common (from the stand point of the Jesus is hot advocates):
He was not a “desirable man” when he came to the world because the
Jewish people were hoping for a financially and militarily powerful
Messiah that would save them by helping them “crush” their enemies so
to speak. When they found that the “son of the town carpenter” was
claiming to be this Messiah, it came as a disappointment to them.
That his doctrines were going to be so twisted and corrupted by the
falling away of the Church, that the gospel became something
undesirable (the fallen medieval state of Christianity) and a
restoration was needed in order to bring back the good news He brought
to human kind.
That for wicked and lazy people, keeping the commandments is difficult
and therefore not a “desirable” path to follow; therefore, Jesus and
His teachings appear unattractive.
Lots of beautiful women have ugly kids. I like to think of Jesus as ugly so that he understood what it was like.
Umm… what did AD 1 Jews consider “attractive?”
In ancient Japan, for instance, it was considered attractive for a
woman to black out all her front teeth. Who knows what ancient Judea
got off on.
hot” tag on the “recent comments” roll to the left.
looking, charismatic charmer. Although I suppose the point is it
doesn’t matter. I said this when teaching RS last week, and there was
palpable consternation. I clarified it was just what I imagined.
man, it mattered not and matters not. I think it’s natural, from a
sociological perspective, that we as admirers of Christ would want to
depict him as aesthetically appealing to add to our overall adoration
of the Savior, but whether or not it is accurate to do so is something
we’ve all yet to personally find out. 🙂
Jesus probely looked like Jim Caviezel on the passion of the christ so if he did he was hot.