{"id":110765,"date":"2025-06-16T14:25:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T20:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=110765"},"modified":"2025-06-16T14:25:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T20:25:51","slug":"can-we-know-what-he-looked-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2025\/06\/can-we-know-what-he-looked-like.html","title":{"rendered":"Can we know what he looked like?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Joseph<\/a>
Joseph Smith (portrayed by Paul Wuthrich) working in his garden
(Still photo from the set of \u2018Witnesses\u201d by James Jordan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The authors of the Bible, even across the centuries of its composition and the very different languages in which it was written, share a large number of distinctive traits. Among those, curiously, is a striking lack of interest in describing the principal figures in its narratives.<\/p>\n

Can you deduce from the New Testament gospels what Jesus looked like? \u00a0Do Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us whether he was short or tall? \u00a0Do they even tell us whether or not he wore a beard? \u00a0What did Moses look like? \u00a0We have essentially no idea. \u00a0And, it scarcely needs to be said, there are no verbal portraits of Abraham or Isaiah or Miriam or Jeremiah or Ezekiel or Mary.<\/p>\n

This is not necessarily a general characteristic of ancient literature. \u00a0We have pretty strong descriptions of Socrates, for example: \u00a0He is said to have been rather unattractive, to have had a snub nose and protruding eyes, even to have appeared satyr-like.<\/p>\n

In this respect, certainly, we moderns tend to be more like the classical Greeks than we are like the biblical authors. \u00a0We want to know how historical people looked. \u00a0For the past several generations, of course, we\u2019ve been aided in desire that by photography. \u00a0We have no need to speculate about the appearance of Abraham Lincoln or Eleanor Roosevelt or Mark Twain or Lorenzo Snow; we have good and reliable images of them.<\/p>\n

But such images were possible only after a certain point in the nineteenth century. \u00a0For instance, since Jane Austen died in 1817 at the age of forty-one, we\u2019re forced to rely largely upon her sister Cassandra\u2019s ability as a water-sketch portraitist for our notion of what Jane looked like. \u00a0And, although images of Brigham Young abound, we have had no settled certainty as to the appearance of his predecessor, Joseph Smith.<\/p>\n

But do we now have a reliable image of the founding prophet of the Restoration? Historian Donald Patrick Bradley Sr.<\/a> and artist Joseph Brickey<\/a> think that we may. \u00a0See their article \u201cRevealing New Rays of Light on the Smith Family Daguerreotype.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\"What<\/a>
Afa, Laura, Vera, and Isaac Ah Loo (borrowed from the \u201cGo Fund Me\u201d page)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This horrible story emerged from the \u201cNo Kings\u201d demonstration in Salt Lake City this past Saturday: \u00a0\u201c1 man dead after being shot during \u2018No Kings\u2019 protest in Salt Lake City\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Had I not been under other preexisting obligations on Saturday, I myself might have been at one of those demonstrations \u2014 though most probably in Provo. \u00a0While I agree that our immigration situation needs to be fixed, that government bloat needs to be reduced, that unelected regulatory agencies need to be brought under (congressional) control, and so forth, I\u2019m troubled by some of the ways in which these changes are being pursued and I\u2019m profoundly<\/em> troubled by the accretion of yet more power to the imperial presidency. \u00a0I intensely dislike rule by executive decree, for example, and I was not pleased by Saturday\u2019s militarized birthday parade in Washington DC. \u00a0(I am both a conservative and a small-\u201cr\u201d republican.) \u00a0So, although there were almost certainly elements of protest the other day in which I would not have joined, I wouldn\u2019t have been troubled at all by being there under the general banner of \u201cNo Kings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the specific politics here are of, at most, tertiary significance. \u00a0What happened on Saturday is a human tragedy, and I want to think about it on a personal level, to put a personal face on it: \u00a0\u201c\u2018We lost a very important person\u2019: Family, friends mourn protester killed in \u2018No Kings\u2019 protest shooting:\u00a0Family mourns the loss of Afa Ah Loo, the man killed at \u2018No Kings\u2019 protest in SLC\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
Afa, Laura, and an unidentified mystery guest at Temple Square during the Christmas season (borrowed from Jaxon Washburn\u2019s Facebook entry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I hope that Jaxon Washburn won\u2019t mind my borrowing his words (and an image from his Facebook entry) in order to call attention to this tragedy and to the \u201cGo Fund Me\u201d effort that has been undertaken to help a devastated family:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Samoan fashion designer and Latter-day Saint, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, lost his life as an innocent bystander at yesterday\u2019s \u201cNo Kings\u201d Trump protest in Salt Lake City, as local peacekeeping officials sought to apprehend a suspected gunman.<\/div>\n
This tragedy makes him the first fatal casualty during a Trump-related demonstration of the president\u2019s second term.<\/div>\n
Raised in Samoa, Ah Loo had since lived in Utah where he moved after serving a mission in Salt Lake City and getting married. He attended Brigham Young University \u2013 Hawaii and had been a contestant on Bravo\u2019s \u201cProject Runway.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
If you would like to participate\u00a0in even a small way in the \u201cGo Fund Me\u201d drive that has been established to help Laura Ah Loo, suddenly and tragically widowed, and her two small children, you can do so here<\/a>. \u00a0Forget about politics. \u00a0To me, it\u2019s a way \u2014 sadly, a small and utterly inadequate way \u2014 to express sorrow, love, and concern. \u00a0They now face the prospect of many decades without their husband and father.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"Brazil's<\/a>
The Fortaleza Brazil Temple was dedicated on 2 June 2019 by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I close by sharing a trio of irritating and offensive stories that I\u2019ve drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Church of Jesus Christ Donates Bales of Clothes and Boxes of Food for Oklahoma, Texas: Church members coordinate efforts to alleviate food insecurity in Texas, address clothing needs in Oklahoma\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGeneral Officers See God\u2019s \u2018Abundant Love\u2019 During Brazil Ministry: Sister Yee and Sister Spannaus traveled north and south in Brazil, sharing messages of hope, bringing humanitarian support and witnessing the Lord\u2019s hand at work\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Incredibly, although such meddling theistic busybodies deserve to be mocked, condemned and stigmatized, they actually sometimes receive awards<\/em>. \u00a0Here\u2019s an example: \u00a0\u201cKentucky governor honors Latter-day Saint for her volunteer efforts: \u2018When I am serving others, it helps me understand Jesus\u2019 mission better,\u2019 says honoree\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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