Religion: Christ's Figure

To the grief of the devout, the writers of the New Testament neglected to give a satisfactorily complete description of Jesus. So little, so very little is known of His appearance that opportunity comes to many* for working out an elaborate thesis that He never existed.

Yet now and then, here and there, as Biblical researchers probe into moldy monastery caches or Roman tumuli, they bring to study some off-hand reference to the Man. One student, from some remnants of manuscript, puts His height at 5 ft. 2 in. (TIME, Feb. 15).

Last week another, Dr. Robert Eisler, working in his musty study...