| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 297
Saviour. But the style of portraits was altered in consonance with the description handed down by good authorities.
A brass medal with a head of Christ on one side, was discovered in 1702, in some Druidical ruins, at Aberfraw, "Wales, which although of a later era than that assigned to it, is of great antiquity, and coincides with the pictures of to-day.
There exists a letter ascribed to Publius Lentu-lus and directed to the emperor Tiberius, which describes Jesus. Although it is apocryphal, yet it was certainly written in the days of the primitive Christians. It is translated as follows,—*
" There hath appeared in these, our days, a man of great virtue, named Jesus Christ, who is yet living among us, and of the Gentiles, is accepted as a prophet, but his disciples call him the Son of God. He raiseth the dead, and cures all manner of diseases; a man of stature somewhat tall and comely, with very reverend countenance, such as the beholders both love and fear; his hair the color of chestnut, full ripe, plain to his ears, whence downward it is more orient, curling and waving about his shoulders."
" In the midst of his head is a seam or partition of the hair, after the manner of the Nazarites; his forehead plain and very delicate; his face without a spot or wrinkle, beautified with the most lovely red; his nose and mouth so formed that nothing can be reprehended; his beard
• King'f " Tar* Thousand Wonders," p. 241. |
||