For some reason, with many of the things I have read, including the book on Jesus' married life by Vern Swanson, I have had this question veritably nagging at me for months and even years, now. In Vern's book, many statements were made about several of the early brethren of the Church being descended directly from the loins of Jesus and either Mary or Martha (or??). I do not know of their eye color, but I have thought of my own and those of my wife and those of all of our children - blue. I have a firm witness that I was to marry into the line my wife comes from - no question in my mind as I was attracted to three women with the same common ancestor - completely random and unrelated to each other in terms of how I came to know them while at school. Up until I ran into all three of them, I was a staunch "brunette" man. I would go out with a blonde, but nothing ever "stuck" until I got to BYU and an odd flip happened in my preferences for hair color. It had more to do with just having a girl that could "look good" at any time of day - in or out of makeup. I still cannot explain it to this day. And I analyze the heck out of the hows and whys of things until I think I have my answer.....
I come from a family where we have green, auburn, brown, and every eye color I can think of, including my own blue - one out of 8 kids that got the gene. We have the darker hair (as adults) with white pasty skin that I have been told is of the black Irish and black Welsh descent that our lineage comes from. Almost every one of us 8 kids started out as a bleach blonde and ended up calico (red, brown, black) in my case, on my hair color or just plain black or salt and pepper for most of the rest of the crew. Both parents were blondes as kids with the dark hair switch as they moved into adulthood. Neither had blue eyes. In fact, I cannot think of a single relative that does have the blue eyed gene on either side.
People such as Denver and many other comtemporaries, who have had the privilege of having seen the Savior always comment that his eyes are crystal blue, radiant and beautiful. Now - I LOVE to pass this little gem along to the Christian folk that do not believe in personal revelation or visitations, etc, as we LDS do. I immediately get the repudiating remarks usually along the lines that he was from the middle east, so his eyes must be brown or some other darker color. I initially felt the same way - when I first heard of His eye color as a teen. Then I read of the ancient Americans - all reporting that a bearded, blue-eyed god would return. Almost every modern account, the same thing.
I have also met plenty of people who are from the middle east and I have not seen one blue-eyed person with Jewish blood - except for the Askenazi Jews. I think I have seen several. So, if that is the case, I can probably safely say that Jesus got that gene from our Father - as He is in the express image of His Father. The question - or better - impression, that I keep getting is that there may be a possibility that the introduction of this gene was through that line - which then made it into the Northern Europeans as Jesus' posterity multiplied and spread after fleeing to France, Ireland and England as their numbers were dispersed over time. I have nothing other than a nagging hunch - that will not leave me alone. Maybe, now that I have written it down, it will quit bothering me.
I would love to hear input to the contrary so I can dismiss this crazy notion - or confirm it to my satisfaction.
Wasn't Adam created in the image of Heavenly Father, thus blue eyes too?
ReplyDeleteHe is tall about 6 foot 3 inches. Christ's form is masculine. He has a sturdy build with broad shoulders, strong limbs and large hands. This torso is well proportioned. His face is not thin but full with high cheekbones. His hair is medium dark brown with a red tinge and down to his shoulders. His eyes are the most beautiful crystal blue. His nose arch shaped, not Roman, as depicted in the painting by Kevin M. Schultz
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