The Face of Christ

Because the early Church disapproved of idols, there is no contemporary record of Christ's physical appearance. The earliest representations, showing him as a beardless youth, date only from the 3rd century. And the traditional vision of a bearded Christ began only in the 4th century. Christ's life and teachings, however, were set down very quickly in the New Testament, all of which was written within about 70 years of his death in AD 30. The earliest document was St. Paul's letter to the Romans, written in about AD 58. Then, in succession, came St. Mark’s Gospel, St. Matthew’s (written for Jewish reader's) and St. Luke's (written for Gentiles). The last, St. John's, was written in about AD 100. [caption id="attachment_19877" align="aligncenter" width="292"] A 12th-century English carving of Jesus Christ[/caption]