Who knew that Jesus was a Northern European and an ancestor of the Brothers Gibb...

[madinmaryland]

[olddots]

1. Today's religious art

whew .

[treestar]

2. The auburn hair

that was much prized in the middle ages in Europe.

Jesus would have had darker hair.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

12. Like this:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/forensics/1282186

The Real Face Of Jesus

Christian children settle into Sunday school classrooms, an image of Jesus Christ is etched into their minds. In North America he is most often depicted as being taller than his disciples, lean, with long, flowing, light brown hair, fair skin and light-colored eyes. Familiar though this image may be, it is inherently flawed. A person with these features and physical bearing would have looked very different from everyone else in the region where Jesus lived and ministered. Surely the authors of the Bible would have mentioned so stark a contrast. On the contrary, according to the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane before the Crucifixion, Judas Iscariot had to indicate to the soldiers whom Jesus was because they could not tell him apart from his disciples. Further clouding the question of what Jesus looked like is the simple fact that nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus described, nor have any drawings of him ever been uncovered. There is the additional problem of having neither a skeleton nor other bodily remains to probe for DNA. In the absence of evidence, our images of Jesus have been left to the imagination of artists. The influences of the artists' cultures and traditions can be profound, observes Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi, associate professor of world Christianity at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta. "While Western imagery is dominant, in other parts of the world he is often shown as black, Arab or Hispanic." And so the fundamental question remains: What did Jesus look like?

An answer has emerged from an exciting new field of science: forensic anthropology. Using methods similar to those police have developed to solve crimes, British scientists, assisted by Israeli archeologists, have re-created what they believe is the most accurate image of the most famous face in human history.

[jberryhill]

14. Heh...

"There is the additional problem of having neither a skeleton nor other bodily remains"

Well that sort of the point, no?

[UnrepentantLiberal]

15. Yeah, dude ain't here no more.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

17. "British scientists, assisted by Israeli archeologists, have re-created ..." Is this from the Onion?

[treestar]

18. That ^^^^^

Is a person that looks like they were born in Palestine/Israel.

I hope there is a heaven just for the fundies to see this guy when they go through the Pearly Gates.

[scarletwoman]

3. Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive...

[Curmudgeoness]

4. Oh, that is so bad that it's good.

Love it.

[madinmaryland]

7. BWAHAHA!! If I am ever in church, I am going to get that earworm during the sermon...

stayin' alive, stayin' alive...

[Whisp]

10. o jesus.

[Journeyman]

5. Why wouldn't Jesus, "the most powerful being in the Universe," be able to assume whatever form. . .

Why wouldn't Jesus, "the most powerful being in the Universe," be able to assume whatever form he chose?

If Shakespeare could imagine that "the Devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape," why can't the uncredited artist you highlight attribute the same power to his imagined being?

[greenman3610]

6. everyone knows that Jesus was a fair skinned northern european

and the devil is a swarthy skinned african
""

[ButterflyBlood]

8. My pastor buddy posted that on his blog once with this caption:

"No I wasn't referring to Twitter, I meant I REALLY want you to follow me."

[Bok_Tukalo]

9. He favored His father

BAM!

[madinmaryland]

11. But his mother...

Dammit, how did that pic get in here?? I think it was the "V" in Vigoda and Virgin Mary

[Daninmo]

13. funny

I understand that angels were not depicted in paintings to have wings until several centuries later. Also, I thought when God made the devil, Lucifer, or whatever name people use, I thought he was supposed to the the most beautiful angel, but he is almost always betrayed as an ugly looking creature.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

16. Hideous even.

[freshwest]

19. Yeah, I've wondered about that, too. Inner self showing through? Reptilian theme? IDK.

Guess to be 'tempting,' one would have to look good. Can't see what's attractive about a dude with tail, hooves and horns. Nope. Probably some symbolism lost to us over the centuries.

[siligut]

21. I always figured the hooves and horns guy was a take-off on Pan

In Athens I saw an ancient sculpture of Pan. He looked like the animalistic depictions of Satan. Don't quite know where Pan originally came from, but suspect he was probably an indulgent royal with shortened Achilles tendons.

[freshwest]

22. Gosh, I've literally forgotten the Greek and Roman gods. I think Pan was the result of some

a human looking god mating with a goat or something. Great imaginations they had back then. Pan was supposed to be lecherous, maybe about sexual imagery.

The little red dude is not in the Bible, as far as I know, but medieval literature and architecture is full of dragons, gargoyles, half human and animal forms.

Paul Ryan reminds me of Little Dedo a gargoyle carved in secret by a nun on the top of Notre Dame.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Dedo

[NoGOPZone]

20. With longer hair, he'd look like Phil Hartman's depiction of Jesus on SNL

RIP Phil

[musette_sf]

23. Jeebus rockin' a permed mullet??

[Bucky]

24. I think it's wonderful of that hippie to talk to that nice werewolf boy from Twilight.

But Jesus, dude, get a fuckin haircut.

Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him?

--1st Corinthians 11:14