Hyper-Male and Hyper-Feminine Portraits of Jesus

 

God is spoken of in the Bible in mostly masculine terms but there are several feminine references as well. God encompasses male, female, and more. He is other, but has given us the Bible and Jesus to show us what he is like.

We do not know what Jesus looked like but he certainly was not a fair-skinned, blond or light brown-haired, blue-eyed European and he did not look like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_Christ

            Some people believe that he is depicted on the controversial Shroud of Turin but the dating of the cloth is highly, even sometimes hotly, disputed.

            Various Christian artists have rendered Jesus in paintings and drawings. Some have emphasized his masculinity, sometimes to absurd levels, and others have stressed his tenderness by depicting him in ways which many would consider to be effeminate.

Google AI says: “The term "effeminate" reflects modern sensibilities; historically, it was about portraying divine perfection and spiritual grace, not necessarily gender ambiguity in a modern sense, though it challenged traditional notions of masculine strength.”

A few examples:

Stephen S. Sawyer’s Undefeated

https://www.art4god.com/store/undefeated

A display of a series of portraits collected by an objectivist (look up objectivist)

https://oneobjectivistsartobjectoftheday.blogspot.com/2011/03/unusual-depictions-of-jesus-week.html

A controversial portrayal of Jesus as a black woman

https://janetmckenzie.com/joppage1.html

The Christ child as a little girl

https://smarthistory.org/ayala-obidos-child-salvator-mundi/

Book Comment: Star Trek FAQ

            Those who love science fiction television and movies are usually enthusiasts of either the Star Trek or Star Wars franchises, but often not of both. I admit to being a Trekkie.

FAQ, for those who do not know, is frequently asked questions. Clark’s book discusses every question you might ask and then a few more. Subjects include the developmental starts and stops of the television shows and movies including planned but never-released projects, the historical and literary background leading up to the first appearance of TOS (The Original Series), as the original Star Trek is often known, corporate backroom deals, the animated series, actor feuds, clashes with producers, gadgets and props, costumes, special effects, and the pre-Trek careers of the directors, producers, network executives, and the actors, including even the “redshirts” and other minor recurring character actors. Clark pulls no punches about some of the abrasive personalities and faults of the people he discusses.

For the hardcore Trek enthusiast, these things alone make this a good read.

Now, as to why this book is being mentioned on this blog: When they actually look at it in depth and with critical thinking, some are surprised that there are religious undertones in much of science fiction, and even in many horror films. The undertones can show an orthodox Christian slant but often they do not. Even those which are actively atheist can touch on religious themes and atheism can be viewed as a religion or, at the very least, a philosophical stance on the subject of religion.

The creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991), was raised in Texas (USA) as a Southern Baptist. As an adult, he rejected organized religion and was often spoken of as an atheist but could more properly be described as a pantheistic agnostic. He thought that in the future mankind would reject religions and become more religiously numinous in an unfocused way with a sort of progressive humanist and secularist religiosity or spirituality. Mankind would not be actively anti-religion but would mostly just ignore it.  Along with this, Roddenberry also exhibited a belief in the ultimate perfectibility of man.

Roddenberry rejected a suggestion from National Broadcasting Company executives to include a chaplain in the Enterprises’ crew. In TOS episodes religious leaders are most commonly troublesome people even when they are genuinely well-meaning. Many are depicted as repressive of original thought.

When seemingly divine almost omnipotent beings occur in the series, they are eventually exposed as being computers developed by long-extinct species or as mortal beings possessing highly advanced technologies.

It was not until the third series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, that a religion was presented as a possibly positive force. The Bajoran people worshipped the prophets, whom other species referred to as the wormhole aliens, not actually divine but highly advanced in their technology.

Some Trekkers (who view Trekkie as a perjorative) will argue for hours about minutiae of Star Trek information, especially about what is canon and what is not. In 1994, Michael Jendra, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, published “Star Trek Fandom as a Religious Phenomenon” in the academic journal, Sociology of Religion. Film director Nicholas Meyer has described Star Trek as a “religion without theology.”

Gene Roddenberry is quoted about this: “I’m not a guru. … I certainly didn’t write Scripture and my feeling is that those who did weren’t treated very well in the end.”

Live Long and Prosper!

Clark, Mark, Star Trek FAQ. Everything Left to Know About the First Voyages of the Starship Enterprise (Milwaukee, WI: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2012)

Science in Antiquity: Part 8

 Many modern people have a very limited view of history. They can only see or think about five or ten years into the past. They see history as boring and they think of the ancients as ignorant and backward. This was actually not true. What the ancients lacked was the modern accumulation of facts. An ancient Israelite would have been very puzzled and culture-shocked to have been dumped into the modern world, but he or she could have eventually learned to drive a car or to cook on a stove or to use a cellphone.

The ancients were just as intelligent as we are but the accumulation of scientific facts had not yet reached a critical point. Human knowledge took centuries to double, fact by fact. As knowledge accumulated, the rate of accumulation began to speed up. Every answer exposes a new question. Buckminster Fuller spoke of the Knowledge Doubling Curve which was relatively flat for centuries, then began a slow climb, and then went into an explosive upward thrust.

By the end of the 19^th Century, knowledge was doubling once per century. By about 1945, the rate of doubling was about every 25 years. By 1982, the rate was about every 12-13 months. By 2020, the doubling was occurring about every 12 hours. With at least 50,000,000,000 devices now operating and with the rise of artificial intelligence, the rate may now be in minutes.

 

fl 450-370 BC/BCE: The Greek philosopher Leucippus teaches that all matter is composed of identical eternally existing, constantly moving particles surrounded by nothingness between the particles.  His student, Democritus, further developed the atomic theory.  Democritus taught that everything is material and is created by combinations of eternally existing atoms.

Ca 475 BC/BCE: Death of Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher whose ideas correctly predict one of the main concepts of the modern understanding of the nature of matter. He teaches that solid matter is really made of fire (read this in the modern way as subatomic particles) which is in constant motion.

Ca 490-ca 420 BC/BCE: The Greek philosopher, Protagoras, declares that there is no objective truth and that we all have our own reality.

Ca 500 BC: 1. Cataract surgery is performed in India by Susrata, a surgeon. The use of anesthesia is not mentioned until the 1^st Century AD/CE.

              2. Iron tools appear in China.

              3. Chinese weapon makers invent the crossbow.

               4. In Babylon, mathematical calculations are used to predict the movements and positions of astral bodies.

              5. A Greek physician, Alcmaeon, discovers the Eustachian tubes.

16 July 523 BC/BCE: Ptolemy correctly predicts a lunar eclipse.

The Israel/United States War With Iran

        Recently, during the current Middle East conflict of the United States and Israel (and now, a growing list of other countries) against the Islamic Revolutionary State of Iran, I have seen numerous people online who believe that this is the beginning of World War Three and that the End Times have begun. One commenter flatly stated that the Rapture would occur in the next few days.

        Christians!!!! Listen to the Bible! Base what you believe on what the Bible says. Read Matthew 24:1-36, Mark 13:33-37, and Acts 1:7. The Rapture may occur in the next few days and it may not. We should not worry and fret about it. What we should do is always be ready, not just during worrisome times.

        There are numerous Christian eschatological (End Times) positions ranging from preterism, amillenialism, premillenialism, to postmillenialism, with all sorts of gradations and combinations of the different interpretations. These various interpretations exist because the Bible does not explicitly spell out what will happen during the End Times.

        Questions for which we will have to wait for answers: When will the rapture occur? Will Jesus return during our lifetimes? Who is the Antichrist? Are any modern countries are mentioned in the Bible? Is the Antichrist already alive and active? Which of the Christian eschatological interpretations is correct? Are any of them correct?

        If events do not play out as you have believed that they will, do not reject the faith. Perhaps you, perhaps I, perhaps all the scholars and theologians, have misunderstood what the Bible has said about the End Times. We all start with our own underlying worldviews and, inevitably, our understandings are colored and influenced by those worldviews. Justin Martyr (2nd century) expressed premillenial views but also said "...many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and who are true Christians, think otherwise."

         We really do not know when the End Times will play out, but we do know that to attempt to establish elaborate and highly specific future timelines is forbidden. Jesus told us that.

Epharta

The title of this post is not an error. That will become evident in the following discussion.

Ephratah (or Ephrath) is an ancient name for Bethlehem (בֵּית לֶחֶם Hebrew = house of bread), the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah (Micah 5:2), There were other places also known as Bethlehem so this town was called Bethlehem Ephrathah. This is the place where Jacob buried Rachel.

The Hebrew word אֶפְרָתָה (Ephrathah) comes from the root פרה (parah), meaning to be fruitful, or to increase. Strong’s 672. Genesis 35:16-19, 48:7; Micah 5:2

There are several communities named Ephratah: Efrah, Israel; Ephrata, Pennsylvania, Ephratah, New York; and Ephrata, Washington, with the town in Pennsylvania (USA), being in the national news in 2013.

Ephrata, Pennsylvania, which is of historical importance in its own right, became the focus of a national news story for what basically amounts to sloppiness and failure to attend to details. The problem was a highway sign reading 322 Epharta EXIT 2 Miles, which was noticed in 2013. Highway 322 is a United States Highway which is maintained by the Pennsylvania State Highway system.

Ephrata is pronounced as ef-rah-tah but the town name on the sign would be read as Ee-fart-uh. For readers unfamiliar with idiomatic English, a fart is the expulsion of bowel gas, usually very audibly evident. This sign clearly was a problem.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/local/misspelled-road-sign-costs-penndot-12k/1962842/

https://lancasteronline.com/news/did-you-catch-that-embarrassing-typo-on-the-sign-along-route-222-near-ephrata/article_4d7d85e4-6694-5a90-841f-dedee1a3ac6a.html

The historical importance of this small Pennsylvania town (2024 population 13,719) comes from the fact that it is the site of the first communal religious society in the United States, the Mystic Order of the Solitary. The buildings are now a tourist and pilgrimage site.

            In 1732, Johann Conrad Beissel (1691-1768) founded the pietist, pacifist, celibate, and ascetic

 group which was known locally as the Ephrata Cloister. Their doctrines identified them as Seventh Day

 Dunkers. The modern survivors of the group are Seventh Day Baptists.

Hello, Palestine!

 Hello, Palestine! 22 February 2026.

 

Hello, Palestine! Welcome to the world-wide group of readers from many countries who also visit this blog.  I hope you find some of the posts useful or meaningful. Tell your friends about this blog. Everyone is welcome.

 

أهلًا فلسطين! مرحبًا بكم في مجتمع القراء العالمي من مختلف البلدان الذين يزورون هذه المدونة أيضًا. أتمنى أن تجدوا بعضًا من منشوراتها مفيدًا أو ذا مغزى. أخبروا أصدقاءكم عن هذه المدونة. الجميع مرحب بهم.

 

As of 22 February, there have been 916,164 page views of this blog. The current number of posts is 1835. These posts can be searched using the Search This Blog function. An alphabetical list of subjects discussed on this blog is at the extreme bottom of the blog page under Labels and indicates the number of posts about the subject in question. The Translate This Page tool can present the blog in numerous languages.

 

The Labels section at the bottom of the page is useful in searching for all Saints on the Loose blog posts which mention a particular subject. Numerous subjects are mentioned on this blog. All, in one way or another, are pertinent to the purposes of this blog. Search for any word of interest to you. There are hundreds of labels on various subjects including grace, sanctification, film commentary, food, horror, magic, archaeology, Star Trek, sanctification, blood, Pee-Wee Herman, Spain, blasphemy, Star of Bethlehem, doctrine, humor, distracted driving, ekklesia, and Arianism.

 

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Hello, Cape Verde!

 

Hello, Cape Verde! 21 February 2026.

        Hello, Cape Verde!  Welcome to the world-wide group of readers from many countries who also visit this blog.  I hope you find some of the posts useful or meaningful. Tell your friends about this blog. Everyone is welcome.

       Olá, Cabo Verde! Bem-vindos ao nosso blog, onde recebemos leitores do mundo todo, de diversos países. Espero que encontrem artigos úteis e relevantes. Compartilhem com seus amigos. Sejam todos bem-vindos!      

        As of 21 February, there have been 915,986 page views of this blog. The current number of posts is 1835. These posts can be searched using the Search This Blog function. An alphabetical list of subjects discussed on this blog is at the extreme bottom of the blog page under Labels and indicates the number of posts about the subject in question. The Translate This Page tool can present the blog in numerous languages.

         The Labels section at the bottom of the page is useful in searching for all Saints on the Loose blog posts which mention a particular subject. Numerous subjects are mentioned on this blog. All, in one way or another, are pertinent to the purposes of this blog. Search for any word of interest to you. There are hundreds of labels on various subjects including grace, sanctification, film commentary, food, horror, magic, archaeology, Star Trek, sanctification, blood, Pee-Wee Herman, Spain, blasphemy, Star of Bethlehem, doctrine, humor, distracted driving, ekklesia, and Arianism.

         This blog has been viewed from at least one hundred and fifty countries including Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia/Kampuchea, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo - Kinshasa), Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany,  Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast/Core d'Ivoire, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg,  Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of the Congo (Congo - Brazzaville), Reunion, Romania, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Togo, Tunisia, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam,  Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.