Did Romans Kill Jesus Twice?: The Beardless Versus the Bearded Jesus
Most Christians today think of Jesus as being a bearded man. This is not surprising given the amount of paintings, movies, and other forms of Christian iconography that present him in this manner. It often comes as a surprise for people to learn that the Early Christians had a different image of their saviour, one of a clean shaven youth. In order to appreciate how Jesus aged and grew a beard, it’s helpful to go back to the basics.
Early Christianity, c.30–313 CE
According to biblical accounts, the religion began with a person known as Jesus of Nazareth wandering around Galilee talking to crowds of people. After dying, Jesus rose from the dead, and his disciples were blessed with the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). The disciples became apostles (Greek for messengers) and began wandering the Roman Empire and beyond spreading what was called the Good News.
Many Early Christians gathered in private houses. Exactly what took place in these gatherings is unclear. It is generally presumed there was some sort of shared meal (or Eucharist), alongside sharing Jesus’ parables, having theological discussions, and communal prayer sessions.
Each Church had an overseer, which in Ancient Greek was called a bishop. The apostles were the first bishops, and they passed on the responsibility of overseeing Churches to others.
One of the original roles of Church overseers was to ensure each developing Christian community maintained a level of unity with others. There was no formal Bible in these humble beginnings, information was mostly passed on through word of mouth, with, of course, some supplementary letters that later became part of the New Testament (i.e., the epistles or written communications from overseers to emerging Christian communities, many of which are credited to the apostle, Paul).
The Christian Bible does not contain any detailed account of Jesus’ physical appearance, therefore when Christians started painting his image, they did so in accordance with verbal information or out of their imagination. Potentially the oldest example is in a house Church in Dura-Europos, c.232, modern day Syria.
A fresco painted on the wall of this dwelling depicts the Biblical scene of Jesus healing a paralysed man. The screenshot below taken from a short documentary video shows Jesus as a beardless man.
Other examples of Jesus depicted in this manner are rare but not entirely uncommon. The beardless Jesus was also often portrayed with a wand that he waved around to conduct miracles.
Many philosophers disagreed with Christianity, some of whom, like Porphyry of Tyre (c.234–305 CE), wrote treatises Against the Christians. Therefore, considering Early Christians got a bit of a bad rap, it’s not surprising many tried to stay under the radar.
Emperor Constantine (Reign: 306–37)
Everything changed In 313 CE when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Empire. His personal conversion was recorded as being due to having a vision of a cross in the sky and being told “In this sign conquer”. Subsequently, the Roman army’s standard incorporated the Christian Chi Rho, ⳩. (The Chi Rho comprises of the first two letters of the Greek spelling of Christ, ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, superimposed upon one another. X + P = ⳩.)
With Christianity’s rise to prominence, house Churches gave way to buildings that were funded by the government. At the same time, a relationship between Church and State developed, namely by Constantine ordering a council meeting (the Council of Nicea) to clarify doctrines and unify Christianity.
Under Emperor Constantine’s influence, leadership roles within Christianity became more formalised and a ranking system, like that of Roman military, gradually began to develop. Apostle Peter’s leadership, as the overseer of the Church in Rome, was especially honoured. A Bible verse in which Jesus said “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18) was used to justify the successive line of bishops in Rome being distinguished above others. Peter’s lineage was deemed the overseers of overseers, bishops of bishops, in other words, Papal rulership.
Back to Jesus’ and his beard …
One of the first appearances of Jesus with a beard comes from a Roman catacomb, late fourth century, i.e., after Christianity had become the official religion of Rome. In the example below, Jesus is depicted with the iconic reference of a halo and the Alpha and Omega letters which symbolise his divine eternal nature from the beginning and the end.
Another example of an early bearded Jesus, also from Rome, is the Apsis Mosaic, c.410–17CE. Not only is Jesus a mature man, his grand status is emphasised by gold paint and his stature is larger than those around him.
The grandness of Roman built Churches and their artwork are a far cry from Early Christian depictions of a modestly cloaked young Jesus who blended in with his peers, as depicted in the first few centuries of the common era (see image below).
As an alternative theory to Early Christians depicting Jesus based upon eyewitness accounts, it’s possible his youthfulness was symbolic of Christianity being a young religion. Those in the camp who believe Jesus was always a symbolic character can also note Jesus’ early appearances were similar to the Greco-Roman God, Apollo. (See sculpture of Apollo below for comparison; Apollo was associated with healing, medicine, light, truth, music, and much more. Apollo was the son of the Sun god, Helios).
By the end of the fourth century, Christianity was not so young anymore. It had become a major religion, and the leadership of Rome who were promoting the faith were trying to convert citizens on a much grander scale than the Early Christians. You could say the youthful Jesus did not pass marketing promotion standards. Jesus needed to be shown as all powerful, a true rival to his opponents, like Jupiter or Neptune (Zeus and Poseidon in Greek).
The grand status of Gods being promoted by sporting a beard may be missed on contemporary audiences, but not so to people of the past. To Greco-Roman citizens a beard indicated superiority and intellect, hence, Zeus, the supreme God of Olympus, also had a beard. (Zeus was known as Jupiter or Jove to Romans.)
Zeus was ether, earth, sky, and everything, so if he had a beard then surely there was truth in the beauty of a beard? Greek philosophers certainly thought so. This line of thinking prevailed all the way up to the 1700s when universities funded studies to ascertain empirical proof of facial hair being a physical indicator of superiority and intellect; their hypothesis was not supported, but the fact that it was an academic discussion goes to show how far the impression went.
When Christian artists began portraying Jesus with a beard, it can be presumed they were doing so with the knowledge that the facial hair would be associated with superiority, as opposed to showing a beardless Jesus.
Jesus’ beard raised his image from that of a vibrant young person who mingled with commoners to that of an authoritative, wise man.
In the above example of an early Christ Pantocrator (i.e., pantocrator indicates “Almighty” or “all-powerful”) it is interesting to note that Jesus is holding a book rather than holding a weapon, like Neptune’s trident or Zeus’ thunder bolt. Conversely, the Book could be viewed as a tool unto which Jesus metaphorically defeats his enemies (i.e., pagans? Jewish? Muslims?)
Arguably, no Early Christian associated Jesus with an authoritative text because none existed; Jesus was the living Word (John 1:1,14). The Christian Bible was a Roman invention.
By the end of the sixth century, depictions of Jesus with a beard were commonplace throughout Eastern and Western Churches. Specifically, the iconography of Jesus holding the Bible in his left hand and giving a blessing with his right was particularly enduring.
The transformation of the Early Christian Jesus into the Roman version was more than skin deep. The first believers focused on the Good News of imminent peace on earth. Consequently, they favoured a representation of the Christ as a Good Shepherd who looked after his flock.
The further one moves into Romanised Christianity, the images become more about suffering than prosperity, as notable in depictions of the crucifixion. No Early Christians depicted the crucifixion, this type of imagery did not come into vogue until appropriately 1000 CE.
Conclusion
Symbolic representations have a way of adhering to the cultural values of their creators, and conversely they shape the values of developing cultures. The young beardless version of Jesus says something about the Early Christians which is not present in the Romanised version of a middle-aged, bearded man. It is almost as though the Romans killed Jesus twice, firstly in the flesh and, secondly in symbolic iconography.
