8. Jesus Objects

This chapter presents some examples of the vast variety of Jesus-related objects, discusses their functions, and considers contemporary attitudes towards them. The ubiquity of Jesus makes the catalogue of Jesus-related objects extensive, including automated clocks, bells, liturgical garments, and funeral shrouds. In particular, relics from Jesus's body (including his blood, his foreskin, his beard) and relics once in contact with his body (wood from the manger, clothing he wore, his sword) had complex histories, often crossing between the Muslim and Christian worlds, especially in their use as gifts or in their accumulation by enthusiastic collectors. Beyond relics, some more ordinary objects in the Jesus cult served as amulets infused with power through their design and application. Underlying the technology behind all these objects were numbers, oriented either to the deep ken (round in beautiful ways) or the plain (precisely measuring some aspect of the human Jesus). Doubts often clustered around plain-ken criticisms: The cross cult developed chronologically in time, and “True Cross” fragments combined far exceeded the size of the cross itself—an impossibility given the plain-ken rules of spacetime. The plain ken prevented the multiplication of relics, and demoted circumcision and crucifixion from powerful symbols to everyday first-century customs.