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/

There Can Be No Racism or Bigotry in the Church. We Must Live healthy Lives.

             The Holy Spirit, who is fully God, indwells every believer. It is the responsibility of every believer to carefully maintain their personal health to the best of their ability because their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The totality of all those led by the Holy Spirit constitute the Church, the Bride of Christ. The members of the Church come from all nations, races, genders, ethnicities, ages, and Christian religious denominations. Absolute agreement on all points of discussion among Christians is not required. There is a small remnant of true Christians in every group. The Lord knows those who are his. Racism and bigotry are absolutely incompatible with a declaration of faith in the risen lord, Jesus Christ.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, their religious beliefs, or their actions.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Robert Barker: (d. 1645, England) Printer to King James I of England.  In 1631, Barker and Martin Lucas released a reprint of the King James Version which was deemed to be of very poor quality and came to be known as The Wicked Bible because Exodus 20:14 said “Thou shalt commit adultery.”  Barker and Lucas were fined 300 Pounds Sterling and their printer’s licenses were revoked. Only eleven copies are known to survive.

William James O’Reilly: (b. 1949, New York, USA) Television host, author, columnist, political commentator.

Robert I Estienne: (b. 1503, France- d. 1559, aka: Robertus Stephanus) A printer and classical scholar, Estienne was a Catholic convert to Evangelical Protestantism.  He is the first person known to have printed the Bible with numbered verses.  He also published many of John Calvins’s writings.

Clay Morgan Shepherd (b. 1941, North Carolina, USA) NASCAR Sprint Cup race car driver, lay Christian minister.  

Caster Semenya: (b. 1991, South Africa) Female track and field athlete (800 meters) whose gender became a source of contention in 2009 after her dominant performance at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.  The International Association of Athletics Federation has cleared her to continue to compete as a female.  She and her family are members of the Zion Christian Church in South Africa.