The Manly Jesus

John Waddey

Some men feel that Christianity is okay for women and children but real men don't need it. They have mistakenly concluded that Jesus was a weak, feminine fellow to whom masculine men would not give the time of day. Perhaps they have been deceived by the artists' portrayals of Jesus, many of which depict him as frail, weak, and feminine. The artists probably were trying to portray his youth, innocence, and gentleness. However, the Jesus revealed in the gospels is not the weak, timid, trembling soul of the artists. Many years ago, Bruce Barton wrote a wonderful book, The Man Nobody Knows. In it, he demonstrated that, rather than being weak, Jesus of Nazareth was indeed a masculine, strong, and