# Why can't Jesus smile? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 20, 2001, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-jesus-smile/55194 "2001-02-20T08:59:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2001, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-jesus-smile/55194/21 "2001-02-24T06:14:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by goboy \* > \*\*The novel, _The Name of the Rose_, by umberto Eco, actually takes Christ’s laughter as one of it’s themes and plot points. there is a scene in the book where an elderly monk denounces the idea as trivializing God and dragging him down to our level. \*\* Yeah, the Name of the Rose is quite to the point of the OP. Don’t know what else to say, except read it. Or at least watch it. \*\* > [@](#): > > which to me shows that modren-day Christians really don’t understand their own faith. They seem to think that Jesus never suffered or acted like a regular person, and even on the cross, he was just pretending to suffer.\*\* Wouldn’t that make them Gnostics? Or even Gnostic Manacheens? (sp?) \*\* > [@](#): > > That’s not trivializing his humanity. To be human is not to be trivial. > > \*\* Well put. Can’t really imagine JC disagreeing. Anyway, just to be fair, I’ll mention one of the most Manacheen, and not particulary Christian groups i know of (IMHO) the 700 Club, was, a while ago promoting a video of the life of Christ where they specifically talked about how you never see Christ laughing and in this movie you do because surely Christ must have laughed. What with his love for the world and joy in the Lord and all. Hell, in that movie, Jesus even looked Jewish. So I have to give them credit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-jesus-smile/55194.md?page=1)