Why do we celebrate Christ's mass when he's always portrayed as such a skinny guy?

Question

Could it be that he was actually obscenely fat but his spin doctors in the church subsequently portrayed him as slim and sexy in a public relations move?

And more interestingly, why did Y!A suggest that this question belonged in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered category?

Answer 1

LOL on that one - on so many dimensions. Love the play on words and love the insights on the spindoctors.

I suppose another question would be "Why in art is Jesus always depicted like the country from where the artist came." Did you ever notice that the Italians paint him w/ dark hair & Italian features, while northern European artists depict him w/ lighter skin and lighter hair? And, to think that if Christ really existed, he lived in the Middle East and probably had rather dark skin.

On a serious note, the "thinness" was probably due to 2 factors: 1) scarity of food/resources and 2) the last days before his death where I believe the story goes that he was starved & lasted several days on that Crucifix before dying. So whether conscious or subconscious, that's the image people have in their heads. Then the artists drew him that way, and the image has lasted ever since.

Also, I do think it's quite interesting that they chose the word "mass" for the ceremony. I guess in science, mass in constant (vs. weight which varies pending gravitational force), so perhaps that was one reason for that word.

I'm just glad to have the day off from work, regardless.

Finally, have no idea why this is coming up under Gay & Lesbian section. Sounds like there's room for improvement on that new sorting feature.

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Edit: According to Wikipedia, here's the info on the etymology of the word.
The origin of the word Christmas is controversial. Some believe that the word is derived from the Egyptian compound word Khristos-Mas (Christ's Birth). [3] Others believe in an Anglo-Saxon derivation. In Anglo-Saxon times, Christmas was referred to as geol[4], from which the current English word 'Yule' is derived. The word "Christmas" is a contraction meaning "Christ's mass." It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038.[4] The words for the holiday in Spanish (navidad), Portuguese (natal), French (noël) and Italian (natale) refer more explicitly to the Nativity. In contrast, the German name Weihnachten means simply "hallowed night." Christmas is celebrated around the entire globe!

Christmas is sometimes shortened to Xmas, an abbreviation that has a long history.[5] In early Greek versions of the New Testament, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ (Χριστός). Since the mid-sixteenth century Χ, or the similar Roman letter X, was used as an abbreviation for Christ.[6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ%27s_Mass

Answer 2

Actually he was just skinny by body but he was a great man he was the person to put christianity on the top of the world a great leader and God he is just a great man who beleived in simplicity he was born on 25th december so christmas is celebrated on his b'day.Just like teacher's day is celebrated on bday of dr radhakrishnan.

Answer 3

lol, good one. By the way, interesting comment about jesus being portrayed as sexy and slim. Of course he was. If you read the gnostic accounts of jesus, one of the characteristics that they give him and make big about is his beauty. And, anyway, this is of course true of Krishna, and Gautama Siddartha, and Osiris. After all, gods cannot be ugly in the greek way of looking at things, greek thinking being the environment that christianity grew out of

Answer 4

Ha ha! Funny word play!


Mass /mæs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[mas] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. the celebration of the Eucharist.


mass /mæs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[mas] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. a body of coherent matter, usually of indefinite shape and often of considerable size: a mass of dough.
2. a collection of incoherent particles, parts, or objects regarded as forming one body: a mass of sand.
3. aggregate; whole (usually prec. by in the): People, in the mass, mean well.
4. a considerable assemblage, number, or quantity: a mass of errors; a mass of troops.
5. bulk, size, expanse, or massiveness: towers of great mass and strength.


A knee slapper!

Answer 5

According to Isaiah, he was not an attractive man. Being a carpenter in those days, you could not be a weakling either. Hollywood is simply being Hollywood.

Answer 6

if you look at the where and when of his birth you would know that it is very unlikely that he was obese.

there was no "church" when he was alive. people created it.

i don't know why they do that. i've had them suggest what i thought was strange places for some of my questions to.

Answer 7

Because he was probably starved? I dunno.

Maybe it was placed in that category because it was a gay question. lol, jk

Answer 8

grow up