This week's poll – Which picture of Jesus do you like the best?

There are a lot of images of Jesus.  In this week's poll, we've selected a few of them and ask which one you like the best.

Our poll will remain open until the morning of Sunday, August 23, 2012.  Although our polling software records IPs to void double voting, your vote is totally anonymous.  This is obviously not a scientific poll.

If you know who the artists are for these images, please let us know in the comments and we'll update the descriptions.

Sacred Heart Jesus

Image No. 1 – Sacred Heart Jesus

Image No. 1 – The Sacred Heart Jesus.  Today's Catholic News writes, "In Catholic churches and homes, one of the most popular images of Jesus is the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is the image of God’s love revealed in the pierced heart of His Son. It is the symbol of a love that conquers sin and transcends death, the symbol of the One who loved us to the end."

 

Jesus and the Crown of Thorns

Image No. 2 – Crown of Thorns Jesus

Image No. 2 – Jesus and The Crown of Thorns.  Another popular Catholic image is a suffering Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.  According to The Catholic Tradition, the thorns represent sin. "Jesus could assume and wear for our sake the infamous badge of sin. He could in mercy for us taste and drink the loathsome bitterness of the cup filled up to the brim with the gall and vinegar of God's malediction."

 

the Mormon Jesus

Image No. 3 – The Mormon Jesus

Image No. 3 – The Mormon Jesus.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does not use a lot of crucifixion and suffering symbolism like the Catholics.  This red-robed, healthy looking figure is a popular depiction of Jesus with the LDS Church.

 

Jesus of the Second Coming

Image No. 4 – The Second Coming Jesus

Image No. 4 – The Second Coming of Jesus.  This is also a Mormon depiction of Jesus, showing the savior emerging from the clouds as angels blow their trumpets.

 

 

Jesus presides over the Christian Nation

Image No. 5 – Jesus as writer of the U.S. Constitution

Image No. 5 – Jesus, as writer of the U.S. Constitution.  Christian nationalists loved Utah artist Jon McNaughton's "One Nation Under God" depiction of Jesus, showing the Messiah holding the U.S. Constitution and surrounded by the Founding Fathers, weeping court judges, soldiers and other Americans.  Naughton's studio website notes that this painting is his best seller.

 

Creationist Jesus

Image No. 6 – The Creationist Jesus

Image No. 6 – The Creationist Jesus.  "Newly Discovered Portrait of Jesus Bolsters Creationist Science" announced Nashville 24/7 TV in its odds and ends section, adding, "Those who believe in evolution theory say, 'It's just a guy who looks like Jesus.'" Biblical creationists think that humans and dinosaurs co-existed around 6,000 – 10,000 years ago.  This image is a parody of the Jesus holding a lamb image.

 

Jewish Jesus

Image No. 7 – The Jewish Jesus

Image No. 7 – The Jewish Jesus.  In 2004, the BBC created an image of what Jesus really would have looked like, based on his Jewish ancestry and the culture of the time. "It can almost certainly be said that Jesus would not have been white. His hair was also probably cut short," BBC writes when examining the arguments for and against a white, European style Jesus.

 

Ethiopian (black) Jesus

Image No. 8 – The Ethiopian (Black) Jesus

Image No. 8 – The Ethiopian (Black) Jesus.  This montage of images depicting the life of Jesus is quite popular on websites that argue that Jesus was definitely a black man.  Some of the comments left on Sodahead where this image appeared in the context of a debate on the subject of Jesus' skin color were nasty, at best.  In the catacombs of Rome, Jesus and the disciples were shown as black men having short hair.

 

Right Wing Jesus

Image No. 9 – American Right Wing Jesus

Image No. 9 – Right Wing Jesus.  A popular icon used to describe America's religious right portrays Jesus holding a rifle and sporting an anti-gay symbol.  He's wrapped in an American flag as he looks upon the Christian nation.

 

 

Shroud of Turin Jesus

Image No. 10 – Shroud of Turin Jesus

Image No. 10 – Shroud of Turin Jesus.  Using computer rendering and artistic enhancements, this is a digitally extracted image of the face in the Shroud of Turin which many believe was the shroud that covered Jesus' entombed body.

 

Of the Jesus images shown, which one do you like the best?

  • Image No. 7 - The Jewish Jesus (36%, 17 Votes)
  • Image No. 6 - The Creationist Jesus (17%, 8 Votes)
  • Image No. 10 - Shroud of Turin Jesus (13%, 6 Votes)
  • Image No. 1 - Sacred Heart Jesus (11%, 5 Votes)
  • Image No. 4 - The Second Coming Jesus (6%, 3 Votes)
  • Image No. 3 - The Mormon Jesus (6%, 3 Votes)
  • Image No. 8 - The Ethiopian (Black) Jesus (4%, 2 Votes)
  • Image No. 5 - Jesus as writer of the US Constitution (2%, 1 Votes)
  • Image No. 2 - Crown of Thorns Jesus (2%, 1 Votes)
  • Image No. 9 - (American) Right Wing Jesus (3%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 47

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  • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

    I use to like the Sacred Heart Jesus, but now I don't like any of them. However, if Jesus existed, he would probably looked like a Middle Eastern, but given that, I don't like the Jewish Jesus either, in part because that picture doesn't look like a Jew or Middle Eastern to me, but rather like a Neanderthal. That I don't think Jews all had short hair at the time, esp not Jesus, if he existed. He probably looked more like a hippie Jew, but most definitely did not look like a White man or a slave. Lastly, what I got when I read the Gospels is that was not militant, but rather a peace loving Socialistic man, who could have probably fit well with the Hippie Movement and that idea alone could be enough to divide families, pitting mother against daughter etc., and make him tell his groupies to put away their swords. It is also one of the reasons why I loved "Jesus Christ Superstar" and still do, but the man they got to play Judas or better yet, the dude who played Herod, would have been better for the part of JC then the guy they had play JC. The other reason I liked JC Superstar is because it wasn't violent and bloody like most, causing me to throw a fit and yes, even as a child I threw a fit about the horrible and inhumane Crucifixion and was chastized for it often and forced to shut up about it, esp when I said "If I had been there, I would have stopped it", as the adults told me it had to happen so we'd be saved. :rolling eyes:

  • Peter

    The Mormon Jesus looks like a white, blond,
    blue-eyed Nordic type. If so, that means his daddy, God, is also white. And,
    because the mythical Adam and Eve were made in God's image they too were white.
    Who knew? I agree with Mriana that none of them fit the bill and if Jesus ever
    existed we'll never know what he looked like. But most of those images shows a white
    which he certainly never was, much to the chagrin of the fundamentalists.

    • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

      Exactly, but even if his daddy was white and mother a Jew, he would not necessarily look all white, but maybe/possibly Middle Eastern or Egyptian (which is also Middle Eastern, but some look part white). Whatever the case, he should never look all white or all black, even if he is just a character in a book.

      • Peter

        If middle eastern perhaps he looks like Yasser Arafat.

  • Peter

    meant a white Jesus

  • Rob S

    I saw Him in a dream once a few years back. About 5'10-11", dark curly hair, somewhat stocky build, no beard. He was standing about 20 feet away from me. Couldn't tell eye color. He was ordinary-looking, no glow, no fancy poses. He asked me "Do you know who I am?" (as in do you recognize me) I said "Yes" (as I really had immediately recognized Him). It was not verbal, neither his question nor my answer. It was all mental and perfectly natural. No moral lessons were given. It was just factual stuff He showed me like quick shots in a movie. It was all about the details of His death. He told me that He actually died from the beatings, bleeding internally, and not from the crucifixion itself. That's what He said. He showed me that He carried the cross piece only, not the whole cross. He showed me that they had tied a rope around the center of the cross piece, pushed Him down backwards onto it, nailed His hands, and then the other end of the (long) rope was passed thru a hole at the top of the upright. Some of the soldiers then pulled on the rope and He was dragged across the ground and into an upright position on the vertical member. They tied the rope off. They then nailed His feet. and that was the end of the dream. It was all very unemotional and factual, but the next few days were not so unemotional for me. I've never had a dream of Jesus before or after that, I'm 72. The closest picture to what I saw is the Neanderthal looking one, only not disheveled, He had no beard, had curly hair, and was better looking. If you took image 3 (the Mormon one) and put in dark curly, short hair, no beard and not so distinguished looking then you'd be pretty close to what I saw, except a little further away.

    But it was just a dream, right?

    • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

      You know, if he could show up, nobody would recognize him, because nobody know what the actual man (which is not the one in the Bible, if he ever existed) looked like.

    • Deborah_B

      Back in my "born again" days before becoming a freethinker, I had a dream of Jesus, too. He was kind of geeky looking but had great hair that sort of glowed and golden eyes. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that had equations for software code on it. The scene was at a big banquet set in an elegant room where other geeky-dressed people like myself were hanging out and eating grapes and a bunch of exotic fruits and breads that were set out. We were also drinking wine. He said "Love is all there is and most religions have it wrong" to us and that was the end of the dream.

      I guess these types of experiences or impressions about Jesus are based on our own interpretation. Admittedly, I felt real "high" for a few weeks after that.

      • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

        When I was "losing faith in faith" so to speak, I did have a dream where I was thrown back in time, still dressed in my modern day clothes, and the disciples (dressed in clothing for the times) asked me "20 questions" and what caused me to wake up was of them quoting John 3:16. It was a bit disturbing, but I managed and got through it, obviously, but "Jesus" never visited me in a dream.

        • Deborah_B

          That's pretty interesting. Unlike Rob's dream, mine was just a 'knowingness' in the dream. It occurred when I was emerging from the dark tunnel of fundamentalism and looking at a number of religions. The born again experience was a whole other type of dream.

          • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

            Yes, I was actually starting to leave religion altogether and had long since left Fundamngelicalism. I left Fundamngelicalism and joined the Episcopal Church when I was 19, shortly after I left home. So this was a good 20-25 years later and I had I just realized that the Crucifixion (to my relief) never actually happened. It had seemed so real to me, as real as George Washington or Lincoln, up until around that time. Around that time, it was starting to become as real as The Wizard of Oz to me, which was not only a relief, but also scary, esp after all I was taught as a child. It was around this time I also had my "Julia Sweeney" moment too.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000405331584 Cheryl Campbell

    I like this one, because he has a twin in it. Some might say it's what the painter imagined, I like to think it's what he knew.http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/900-2140

  • Jack McDevitt

    I think we will recognize Jesus but not as someone’s image
    but by what we know about Him in our minds; that is by his philosophy and teachings… by what he did. I went to an old
    Episcopal church in VA when I was young.
    There were stained glass pics of Jesus all over the church (three
    by Tiffany) and Jesus looked diff in all of them, but even as I was just a child I
    knew the diff pics were Jesus because of what he was doing in the pics. I also had a dream about Jesus when I was ten
    years old. My father was drunk and had
    just railed me and then laughed at me and made fun of his queer son. I ran away from him into a meadow and fell
    into the ground crying…. I dreamed of Jesus but I did not see him… He was a
    voice… and he was a presence. The voice was strong and neither male nor
    female… but a loud voice like a river or rushing wind… he was warm and cozy and
    at the same time cool and refreshing…. He or she… (it was hard to tell, but I
    knew it was Jesus) told me he loved me and that he was my true father and was
    with me. All this he seemed to say all
    at once but it was more beautiful than I can explain here… it was like a mental
    message… perhaps Jung would call it a collection of residual images that
    represent the most ancient truths we knew before we knew language… I don’t
    know. Of what I actually saw in the
    dream was a yellow light that looked like sunshine. I Love Jesus just as I did 41 years ago, and
    believe he has called me to help people to know the real factual Jesus of
    history and not the grotesque creature fundamentalists make him out to be. I know many will not understand, but as
    Siddhartha said so long ago… “some will understand”. Peace.

  • jerryuuc

    i don't know if i'm allowed to do this. . but i'd like to add a couple my own from a video i put on youtube here.. .what do you think? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV77H52mr5Q&