Jesus of Nazareth
This answer is given as an extended comment to James Saker’s answer in Quora to the same question arguing that Jesus would have looked like this, based on a facial reconstruction made on a Palestinian skull from Jesus’ time:
I commented to argue that it was indeed possible that he could have instead look like this:
My comment to his answer can be perceived as outrageous, but what if the “angel” that appeared to Mary was not an angel but a Northern-European ancestor of Vikings, who, because he was suffering from seasickness, would have become a world traveler to satisfy the exploratory urges shared by his sea-fit compatriots, and who would have met a young Mary while passing through Jerusalem nine month before the birth of Jesus? Then Jesus could have looked more like a Viking than a Palestinian, wouldn’t he? (I know. That is far fetch, but it explains many aspects of the bible)
For example, what if Elisabeth, to prevent Mary’s assured stoning, had concocted the tale of the Immaculate Conception after hearing her story of a sexual encounter with a beautiful blond-hair traveler? And what if the village and Joseph had reluctantly believed this tale in compassion for Mary?
This deconstruction goes even further in secular explanations. Let’s say that at the same time, and this is possibly not conjectural, three Eastern astrologers would have calculated that the conjunction of three planets would happen soon and that it was predicting the birth of a Jewish king, and that they would have decided to travel to Palestine to witness his birth. They would have got there when Jesus was born in a manger to proclaim, to Mary’s astonishment, and especially to Joseph’s, that their son was indeed destined to be a king.
Mary and Joseph could have become assured that the “Viking,” long gone by then, was indeed an angel and that Elisabeth’s story was true. They would have then come back to Jerusalem to tell their story, which would have been finally and eagerly believed by their co-villagers since it was supported by the gold, frankincense, and myrrh received as gifts from the Magi.
I am not that knowledgeable about Jewish affairs, but this, to me, seems to be well representative of their culture… of the time, of course.
This historical deconstruction would be the “secular” explanations of why Jesus, after having been “raised by a village” as “the son of God,” could have told his parents at the age of 12 what he believed for himself all his life: that he was taking care of his father’s business. And the reason why he deserves all the following that he ever had, since, if this deconstruction or something similar is valid and the Bible recalls of why and how he suffered and died are true, he is the greatest Jew who has ever lived. He is my hero, and, in this context, as an atheist, I am proud to say that I respect him to the highest degree and love him with all my heart.
