Musaazi NAMITI | SUNDAY THOUGHT
Many of us, especially those living in countries where Christianity is the dominant religion, have seen a portrait or portraits of Jesus. We have also seen portraits of presidents and prime ministers.
The portraits of presidents and prime ministers are real. We know they are because they reflect the true likeness of the people we have seen either in person, on TV or in newspapers.
But what about the portrait of Jesus, Christianity’s most revered figure? There are many millions of Christians and non-Christians who will say they know Jesus by his portrait. But are they right? How do they know the portrait is real?
Israeli historian and author Yuval Noah Harari says the most common portrait, the most famous face, is Jesus.
Over the last 2,000 years, he says, people have made billions and billions of portraits of Jesus, and they are hung in countless churches, cathedrals, homes and other places.
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But he dropped a bombshell in a podcast interview. Not a single one of the portraits, he said, is an authentic depiction of Jesus.
“They are all, 100% of them, fictional depictions. Because we have no idea how Jesus looked like. There is not a single portrait made during his lifetime,” Mr Harari said.
“There is not a single sentence in the Bible that tells us whether he was fat or thin, tall or short, black hair, blonde hair, nothing. So all these images, they are fiction.”
The revelation raises pertinent questions about how much we really know about Jesus. If every portrait of Jesus we have seen is imagined/invented, what else about him is not imagined? Sceptical readers listening to Mr Harari’s observation have every reason to doubt the biblical story.
And this brings us to the million-dollar question: Did Jesus really exist? Many Christians may dismiss this as a daft question. But we have to remember that the story of how he began life is also highly implausible.
According to the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, a virgin, and told her she would conceive a son through the Holy Spirit.
But there is no empirical evidence that angels exist. There is no empirical evidence of virgins anywhere ever giving birth. So, how did Mary become pregnant without having sex with a man?
And what empirical evidence do preachers who say Jesus will return rely on? If none exists, on what basis should their claims be accepted?
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🔴 Sunday Thought cuts through the noise of prayer, piety and superstition to ask the questions most people avoid. It discusses God, faith and religion—not to preach, but to probe, challenge and sometimes unsettle. Whether you believe, doubt or have stopped looking altogether, Sunday Thought will make you think, question and maybe even rethink everything you thought you knew about the divine—and about life itself.