# So what was Jesus's DNA like anyways?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-jesuss-dna-like-anyways/541068>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 28, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-jesuss-dna-like-anyways/541068 "2010-05-28T13:54:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-jesuss-dna-like-anyways/541068/41 "2010-05-29T21:57:54Z")

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> [@silenus](#):
>
> See post #3.

I saw. I’m spelling it out for those not so subtle as you and I. 😉

[sub]and we both know we got it from Unka Cece’s old column…[/sub]

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-jesuss-dna-like-anyways/541068/42 "2010-05-29T22:51:33Z")

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> [@Umbriel2](#):
>
> That actually seems plausible, from the description. So we might potentially add “non-miraculous virgin birth” to the potential scenarios.
> 
> I mostly concur with **Polycarp’s** analysis, though Option 3 assumes the creator working through established physical means. While that’s not unreasonable, the alternative option remains that in the act of divine conception, God might have created part or all of His DNA in that act of conception.
> 
> While God might theoretically have made Him even more physically non-human, there’s no indication of his bleeding angelic ichor during the crucifixion, or anything of that sort, and one would think that it would subvert much of the point of the crucifixion and resurrection for Jesus to have been other than physically human. So if we assume a divine conception, I’d go with the “freshly custom-minted DNA” scenario. Whether any of that DNA would endure after the resurrection is another matter – I would propose that it might have ceased to exist or ascended along with Christ, leaving the bloodstains on the Shroud of Turin with fragmentary of no genetic material at all, and confounding efforts to analyze the artifact in scientific terms.
> 
> 'cause that’d be just like Him…

You’re correct; insofar as my ‘exhaustive’ analysis goes, the idea of direct creation of new DNA should have been included. At that point, however, I was focused on the orthodox Christian interpretation, which is emphatic that his ‘humanity’ (i.e., state of being a human being) derives from Mary. (Note that this is a Christological doctrine, not a Mariological one – the point being made is that he is both 100% God and 100% man, not a semi-human semi-divine demigod of the Hercules/Castor/Aeneas persuasion but a completely human individual. descended from Abraham and David, who was also God the Son in human form. While I don’t want to argue theology in MPSIMS, it’s a significant and often-misunderstood doctrine that I thought needed spelling out, owing to its relevance to the thread topic.) To assume a fresh creation of DNA, even demonstrably 100% human DNA, would obviate the “He’s one of us; he shares our humanity” theme that underscores this bit of theological nitpickery.

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**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-jesuss-dna-like-anyways/541068/43 "2010-05-31T07:47:26Z")

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High levels of midichlorians.

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**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-jesuss-dna-like-anyways/541068/44 "2010-05-31T08:13:56Z")

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> [@Hypno-Toad](#):
>
> His DNA was full of holes.

My God it’s full of stars…

What do theologians have to say about Jesus’ flora and fauna–the run-of-the-mill stuff everyone has? Did he have eyelash mites? Intestinal bacteria? Was there anything special about Jesus’ lice (a real headscratcher, that one)?

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**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-jesuss-dna-like-anyways/541068/45 "2010-05-31T10:25:54Z")

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No cite but I recall reading somewhere that the virgin bit was misinterpretation, the word for virgin was the same as that for young woman.

O.T. the bit about his walking on water apparently was a similar confusion of meanings, the phrase or whatever for WoW is the same for walking on the shore.

Though I can’t vouch for either of them.

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