Christ in Shorts

How did Jesus Christ dress? A new Sunday school book for three-year-olds, just approved by the General Council of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (U.S. membership: 809.000), shows him in what look like white Bermuda shorts, a white T shirt and a striped sports jacket worn outside the trousers.

This is not merely another anachronistic attempt to make Jesus a regular fellow, explained the denomination's director of curriculum, the Rev. Robert Koenig of Philadelphia. The flowing robes in which Christ is conventionally pictured were used only for traveling, as a sort of combination overcoat and blanket; archaeological research has shown that workingmen on the job wore short trousers and a short tunic-like shirt. To emphasize Christ's manliness, it had been decided to portray him in shorts, said Dr. Koenig, instead of in the traditional robe, which "suggests a feminine softness."

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