DID JESUS
WEAR
LONG HAIR?By E. L. Bynum [traditional Jesus art]
Did Jesus Look Like This?
Many men today are wearing their hair long.
This style seems to have had its start in modern
times by certain musical groups such as the
Beatles and others. The hippie movement, which
has spread like a plague, has adopted the long hair
style for men. The "Jesus freaks" and other
religious hippie cults have taken the long hair road.
Unfortunately many men and boys who are not
hippies have started to wear their hair in this
manner. Many try to justify long hair by stating
that Jesus Christ wore long hair. The time has
come to set the record straight.History Does Not Support The Idea
That Jesus Wore Long HairMany pictures drawn by artists in recent times,
picture Jesus with long hair. In this they are
wrong. The following is taken from the book,
"The Modern Student's Life of Christ," by Philip
Vollmer, published some years ago by Fleming H.
Revell Company.
"Archaeologists object to the conventional pic-
tures of Christ because they are not true to history.
A German painter, L. Fahrenkrog, says: ‘Christ
certainly never wore a beard and his hair was
beyond a doubt closely cut. For this we have
historical proof. The oldest representations, going
back to the first Christian centuries, and found
chiefly in the catacombs of Rome, all pictured him
without a beard. All the Christ pictures down to
the beginning of the fourth century at least, and
even later, are of this kind’."Even from Leonardo da Vinci and Michael-
angelo we have pictures of Christ in the Final
Judgment according to this older type.
The June, 1971 issue of "Tomorrow's World"
carried an article entitled -- DID JESUS WEAR
LONG HAIR? The article was illustrated with
authentic busts from the ancient world of the Ro-
man Empire leaders proving that short hair was
the accepted mode in Roman-occupied Judea.The busts of General Pompey, Julius Caesar,
Caesar Augustus, Emperor Trajan, and King Herod
Agrippa -- all showed that short hair was the style.
The article stated:"For example, on pages 126-127 of Avi- Yonah's
work (A History of the Holy Land) are found busts
of Pompey, Augustus, and one believed to be Herod
[Julius Caesar bust]
JULIUS CAESAR--all with short hair. All statues and carvings of
legionnaires show them with closely cropped hair.
A Roman with long hair was an oddity as is--used
to be the case for men in our society. In fact,
all Roman Emperors before, during, and after the
time of Christ, from Julius Caesar to Trajan, wore
short hair. And the emperor was the individual
who set the pattern in style and mode of dress for
the whole empire."We do not think that it is scriptural to hang
pictures of Jesus Christ in the Church or in the
home. Many popular pictures of Jesus that were
painted in relatively recent times, have perpetuated
the satanic idea that Jesus wore long hair.There Is No Biblical Evidence
That Jesus Wore Long Hair"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that,
if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?"
I Corinthians 11:14Jesus was not a Nazarite! According to Num-
bers 6:1-27, a Nazarite did wear long hair. How-
ever, Jesus was a Nazarene and not a Nazarite.
While the two words look similar in English, they
are entirely different in looks and meaning in the
original language of the Bible. A Nazarene was one
that lived in Nazareth, according to Matthew 2:23.
A Nazarite was one who took a Nazarite vow, ac-
cording to Numbers 6.
The Nazarite vow was usually temporary.
(Samson and Samuel seem to be notable exceptions,
for their vow was for life. See I Samuel 1:11 and
Judges 13:5; 16:17).
The Nazarite vow was a vow of separation.
Three things were forbidden as long as he was un-
der the vow. (1) "He shall separate himself from
wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar
of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall
he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes,
or dried." Num. 6:3. (2) He could not cut his hair.
(3) He could not touch or come near a dead body.
Num. 6:6-9.
A Nazarite could not have used any product
of the vine, and thus Jesus could not have instituted
the Lord's supper if he had been a Nazarite. For
in this, he used the fruit of the vine.
If He had been a Nazarite, He could not have
touched the funeral "bier" (open coffin) of the
dead man in Luke 7:11-18.
If He had been a Nazarite, it is doubtful that
the Holy Spirit would have caused Paul to write,
"if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him."
I Cor. 11:14.
If He had been a Nazarite, Judas would not
have needed to identify Him in Gethsemane, since
Jesus would have been the only long haired man
there. Everything in the New Testament seems
to indicate that Jesus looked much like the other
Jewish men of His age. If there had been any
radical difference in His appearance, we believe
that it would have been mentioned in the Bible."Doth not even nature itself teach you," that
a man should have short hair and a woman long
hair? I HAVE NEVER SEEN A BALD HEADED
WOMAN, but I have seen many bald headed men.
Very, very few women become bald, and those that
do, are careful to conceal it with a wig. This surely
must be "nature" teaching us.The Bible clearly indicates that the hair style
of a man should be short, and that the woman's
hair should be long. There should be a clear dis-
tinction between the hair of a man and a woman.
Many Scriptures teach that a woman's hair should
be or was long. (See Luke 7:38, 44; John 11:2;
I Peter 3:3; I Timothy 2:9 and many others). On
the other hand the Scriptures indicate just the op-
posite for the man, for you can find no such list
of Scriptures as above, in relationship to the man.
Other than the very few Nazarites mentioned in the
Old Testament, we can think of only one long haired
man in the Bible and that was Absalom. He was
the wicked rebellious son of David.
"IF A MAN HAVE LONG HAIR
IT IS A SHAME UNTO HIM"The above quoted words were written by Paul
and were Divinely inspired of God. Therefore, we
are going to accept what God says, rather than the
fashion trend of the day. For the Christian, the
Bible is the final word, not some picture or popular
tradition.
For evidence, we quote what scholars have
said about I Cor. 11:14.
Lange says, "Accordingly, in contrast with the
practices of a cruder heathenism of the earlier
time, when long hair prevailed, there has grown
up among the most civilized nations, that good
taste which declares itself in favor of short hair for
men and long hair for women. Among men, the
wearing of long hair is now reprobated as a mark
of effeminacy and dishonoring to them, inasmuch
as it prevents the free exposure of the countenance."
Matthew Henry says, "The woman's hair is a
natural covering; to wear it long is a glory to her;
but for a man to have long hair, or cherish it, is
a token of softness and effeminacy.""...If a man have long hair, it is a shame
unto him." The Greek Word "ATIMA" is translated
"shame" in the above text. Elsewhere in the New
Testament it is translated "dishonor", "reproach"
and "vile". Thayer's comments on this word are
interesting and informative. He says: "Atima,
dishonor, ignominy, disgrace, I Cor. 11:14; I Cor.
15:43, (in a state of disgrace, used of the unseem-
liness and offensiveness of a dead body); . . . . base
lusts, vile passions, Rom. 1:26."
Could anything be plainer? The "shame" (ati-
ma) of long hair is elsewhere used in connection
with a dead and putrefying, decaying body. In
Romans 1:26, "atima" is translated "vile". Let us
read this verse carefully.
"For this cause God gave them up unto VILE
affections: for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature: And
likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman, burned in their lust one toward another;
men with men working that which is unseemly,
and receiving in themselves that recompense of their
error which was meet. And even as they did not
like to retain God in their knowledge, GOD GAVE
THEM OVER TO A REPROBATE MIND, ...;"
Romans 1:26-28.
God is thus associating the "SHAME" of long
hair with the "VILE" affections of the s*d*mites
and h*m*sexuals. Our generation has made long
hair acceptable and is seeking to legalize and pop-
ularize h*m*sexuality. Now, we have h*m*sexual
churches and other churches that gladly welcome
them into their membership. Long hair and h*m*-
sexuality do not always go together, but they are
very compatible. They both represent a revolt a-
gainst God given nature, and against His precious
Word.WHAT DOES LONG HAIR MEAN TODAY? Let the radical subversive Jerry Rubin answer
from his book, "DO IT". "Young kids identify
short hair with authority, discipline, unhappiness,
boredom, rigidity hatred of life -- and long hair
with letting go . . . Wherever we go, our hair tells
people where we stand on Vietnam, Wallace, Cam-
pus disruption, dope. We're living TV commercials
for the revolution . . . Long hair is the beginning
of our liberation from sexual oppression that under-
lies the whole military society."Preachers, Churches and Parents
Must Stand Against Long HairParents who allow a son to grow and wear
long hair are contributing to a rebellion against God
and against our country. This is a sure step in
losing control of a child. Preachers and Churches
who compromise on this subject, hoping to reach
more young people are actually fighting against
God. Let us stand, whatever the cost!
We believe that Christian Young men, when
taught the truth, will want to wear their hair short.
Informed Christian's will not want to be identified
with the "SHAME" or revolutionary revolt that
long hair symbolizes.TRACT # B-402 ORDER FROM: TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH
1911 34th St., P.O. Box 3100, Lubbock, TX 79452Send payment with order and we pay postage! If total order is less
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