The Insurgent's Jesus cartoons

The Insurgent, a magazine published by University of Oregon students, has printed twelve cartoons of Jesus, in reaction to the dozen Mohammed cartoons printed last year. The two most controversial of the Jesus cartoons both feature Christ with an erection. Distribution of the magazine's current issue has been suspended by the University.

Tumescent Christs have caused artistic controversies before, including a Belgian sculptor's prosecution for blasphemy in 1988. Also, Danish artist Jens Jorgen Thorsen painted a tumescent Christ on the wall of a railway station in 1984. A series of three paintings (Man Of Sorrows, circa 1530) by Maaten VanHeemskerck depict Christ in a similar state, as discussed in Leo Steinberg's book The Sexuality Of Christ In Renaissance Art & In Modern Oblivion.