DESCRIPTION OF JESUS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17756, 7 May 1923, Page 11

DESCRIPTION OF JESUS.

io •ike EDfroa o>- "the ir.s;-.' I •>'!•. —I read with nmus..-n.<■'..! tine | cahle.l iif,vs of th;. -iml of the Pari.- ! "Matin'" of the letter of I'u'.lius | Feniulns. fdviru; u de>eri:.l:"ii of i Jesns. The- -'.Matin "■ is ignorant, as are also the folk who have cabled you this piece of news. The "Letter cf Pubh'.'.s l.utitulus" \<i no "iind'' •hut a document well known t'J Church historians and quite spurious. The following is tn, ? fun text of it: — "In t-iiis time there has up;.'cared a I man, who lives ti.l now, a man eiidaw|ed with great power.-. .Meiv cal. him a i groat prophet: J lis own d.sciples term j him the Son of God. Mis name is .losus Christ, lie restores the dead V> I life and cures the sick of all manners of diseases. This man is of a noble and well-proportioned stature, with -a face full of Kindness and firiime.-s, so that the beholders both love him and fear him. His hair i.s the colour of mine and golden at the root—straieht and without lustre—but from the level ot the ears curling and flossy, and divided down the centre after the fashion of the Nazarenes. His forehead is even and smooth, his face without blemish, and enhanced by a tempered bloom: his countenance ingenuous and kind: liis beard is full, of the same colour as his hair and forked in form : his. eyes bine and extremelv brilliant: In re. proof and rebuke lie is formidable: in exhortation and teaching gentle and amiable of tongue. JNone have seen him to laugh, but many, on the contrary, to weep. His person is tall; his hands beautiful and straight. In speaking he is deliberate and grave, unci little given to loquacity. In beautv surpassing most men." This spurious letter was most likely composed in the fourth century and is akin to the spurious "Letter of Pontius Pilate to the Emperor" and "Eeport of Pilate taie Procurator concerning Jesus Christ, sent to Rome .to Tiberius Caesar." On the fact of it this letter is a forgery, quite apart from linguistic reasons which would not interest your readers. l>uring Jesus' lifetime and for some time after He was not called "Jesus Christ." His name was Jesus. ' "The Christ" or "The Messiah" was a title. Only some time after His death was the fife added to the name and used together as Jesus Christ. Also it is clear "from the Gospels that Jesus was not in His lifetime familiarly called By His disciples "the Son of God." When Peter near the end rose t 0 this height of understanding, it was the cause of a great joy to Jesus' heart that at last one at least of His disciples was beginning to understand. I am sorry to prick this bubble which may have thrilled the hearts of many of your readers, >but in the interest of historic truth I send you the facts Yours, etc.. JOHN PATERSON. St. Paul's Ohurch, Ohristchurch, May 6fch.