--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If Jesus had been a hunchback, they could…" description: "\"If Jesus had been a hunchback, they could hardly have nailed him to the cross.\" — Gunter Grass" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f5/gunter-grass-3046_cross_if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could_2387356.png" --- # If Jesus had been a hunchback, they could hardly have… ![“If Jesus had been a hunchback, they could hardly have nailed him to the cross.” quote by Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f5/gunter-grass-3046_cross_if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could_2387356.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f5/gunter-grass-3046_cross_if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could_2387356.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f5/gunter-grass-3046_cross_if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could_2387356.png) > “If Jesus had been a hunchback, they could hardly have nailed him to the cross.” [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A humorous hypothetical about Jesus’ physical condition highlights absurdity of literal interpretations **In simple terms:** Joking about Jesus’ back illustrates the absurdity of taking metaphors literally Key Takeaway Question literal readings of religious narratives Themes satire religion absurdity Mood provocative critical Type satirical cultural When to use this quote - academic lectures - satirical essays - public debates Key Concepts theology literary criticism cultural commentary Questions to Reflect On - How does satire affect religious discourse? - Can humor bridge or widen cultural gaps? A Different Perspective May offend believers who view the subject as sacred ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cross/) [Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jesus/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [God is Love. We eventually have to ask ourselves the question; why was Love nailed to a cross?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/god-is-love-we-eventually-have-to-ask-ourselves-the-question-why-was/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [Mistakes are teachers of life, Trials are molders of the strong, Defeats are coaches of the brave, Hope gives you chances and above all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mistakes-are-teachers-of-life-trials-are-molders-of-the-strong/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The Cross is where the flesh goes to die. Its hands can no longer reach for what it desires because they have been nailed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dami-olu/the-cross-is-where-the-flesh-goes-to-die-its-hands-can-no-longer/) Dami Olu > [“My hands ached from the wounds of being nailed to a cross in Tennessee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dirk-patton/my-hands-ached-from-the-wounds-of-being-nailed-to-a-cross-in-tennessee/) [Dirk Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dirk-patton/) > [You have the right to claim blessing, healing, protection, freedom, deliverance, because He was unjustly nailed to a cross so you could have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-b-joshua/you-have-the-right-to-claim-blessing-healing-protection-freedom/) [T. B. Joshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-b-joshua/) > [Easter was when they nailed Him to the cross. And He never said a mumbling word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/easter-was-when-they-nailed-him-to-the-cross-and-he-never-said-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believe in Him and not trust in Him? You might as well say, the Jews did love Him when they nailed Him to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/believe-in-him-and-not-trust-in-him-you-might-as-well-say-the-jews/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The neurotic is nailed to the cross of his fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adler/the-neurotic-is-nailed-to-the-cross-of-his-fiction/) [Alfred Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adler/) > [“Of all the gods nailed to the cross, Discord was the most beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norah-labiner/of-all-the-gods-nailed-to-the-cross-discord-was-the-most-beautiful/) Norah Labiner > [Jesus is a half-naked guy, hanging, nailed to a cross, and then people wear that around their neck, and then those are the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/jesus-is-a-half-naked-guy-hanging-nailed-to-a-cross-and-then-people/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [It is not possible that a just God should forgive people who are wicked because another person who was good endured agony by being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/it-is-not-possible-that-a-just-god-should-forgive-people-who-are/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“No men can save himself, that's why Jesus was nailed on the cross.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evans-biya/no-men-can-save-himself-that-s-why-jesus-was-nailed-on-the-cross/) [Evans Biya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evans-biya/) > [At the cross God wrapped his heart in flesh and blood and let it be nailed to the cross for our redemption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/at-the-cross-god-wrapped-his-heart-in-flesh-and-blood-and-let-it-be/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) > [In the Christianity of Christendom the Cross has become something like the child’s hobby-horse and trumpet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-christianity-of-christendom-the-cross-has-become-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) ## More by Gunter Grass > [Melancholy has ceased to be an individual phenomenon, an exception. It has become the class privilege of the wage earner, a mass state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/melancholy-has-ceased-to-be-an-individual-phenomenon-an-exception-it/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Melancholy and utopia are heads and tails of the same coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/melancholy-and-utopia-are-heads-and-tails-of-the-same-coin/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [If work and leisure are soon to be subordinated to this one utopian principle - absolute busyness - then utopia and melancholy will come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/if-work-and-leisure-are-soon-to-be-subordinated-to-this-one-utopian/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [I have often supported Israel, I have often visited the country and want the country to exist and at last find peace with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/i-have-often-supported-israel-i-have-often-visited-the-country-and/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Whenever there has been talk of exterminating rats, others, who were not rats, have been exterminated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/whenever-there-has-been-talk-of-exterminating-rats-others-who-were/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [“You can begin a story in the middle and create confusion by striking out boldly, backward and forward. You can be modern, put aside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/you-can-begin-a-story-in-the-middle-and-create-confusion-by-striking/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [There must be reasons why we men are so hipped on breasts as if we'd all been weaned too soon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/there-must-be-reasons-why-we-men-are-so-hipped-on-breasts-as-if-we-d/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Often I had to imagine the things I needed. I learned very early to read amidst noise. And so I started writing and drawing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/often-i-had-to-imagine-the-things-i-needed-i-learned-very-early-to/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Art is hard for a puritan to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/art-is-hard-for-a-puritan-to-understand/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [What does a river like the Vistula carry away with it? Everything that goes to pieces: wood, glass, pencils, pacts ... chairs, bones, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/what-does-a-river-like-the-vistula-carry-away-with-it-everything-that/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Love That’s it: The cashless commerce. The blanket always too short. The loose connexion. To search behind the horizon. To brush fallen leaves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/love-that-s-it-the-cashless-commerce-the-blanket-always-too-short-the/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [“They had tried doing it by themselves in her room with a cheap onion, but it wasn't the same. You needed an audience. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/they-had-tried-doing-it-by-themselves-in-her-room-with-a-cheap-onion/) [Günter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [ \[To be an artist,\] this desire to conquer all with images. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/to-be-an-artist-this-desire-to-conquer-all-with-images/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained without a rival. This unusual situation unleashed its greedy and - above all - its suicidal power.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/after-the-collapse-of-socialism-capitalism-remained-without-a-rival/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [“Suppose you're teaching math. You assume that parallel lines meet at infinity. You'll admit that adds up to something like transcendence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/suppose-you-re-teaching-math-you-assume-that-parallel-lines-meet-at/) [Günter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) [Explore all 128 Gunter Grass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) ## More Cross quotes > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [I do enjoy intense, bloodthirsty action, but I like to blend and cross genres. I don't want to be too predictable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-marshall/i-do-enjoy-intense-bloodthirsty-action-but-i-like-to-blend-and-cross/) [Neil Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-marshall/) > [In the Christianity of Christendom the Cross has become something like the child’s hobby-horse and trumpet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-christianity-of-christendom-the-cross-has-become-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know it's a film and all of that, and it's a Hollywood film, but it kind of feels like this sometimes, when you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-marber/i-know-it-s-a-film-and-all-of-that-and-it-s-a-hollywood-film-but-it/) [Patrick Marber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-marber/) > [“You can always count on the promise of forever that He made when He died on that cross and rose again three days later.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naya-s/you-can-always-count-on-the-promise-of-forever-that-he-made-when-he/) [Naya S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naya-s/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/to-endure-the-cross-is-not-a-tragedy-it-is-the-suffering-which-is-the/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [I am interested in bringing Africa to the foot of the Cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhard-bonnke/i-am-interested-in-bringing-africa-to-the-foot-of-the-cross/) [Reinhard Bonnke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhard-bonnke/) > [There is a very thin line dividing characterisation from impersonation. I've to make sure I don't cross over into mimicry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sushant-singh-rajput/there-is-a-very-thin-line-dividing-characterisation-from/) [Sushant Singh Rajput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sushant-singh-rajput/) > [The Son of God goes forth to war,A kingly crown to gain;His blood red banner streams afar:Who follows in His train?Who best can drink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reginald-heber/the-son-of-god-goes-forth-to-war-a-kingly-crown-to-gain-his-blood-red/) [Reginald Heber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reginald-heber/) > [Sin is the second most powerful force in the universe, for it sent Jesus to the cross. Only one force is greater-the love of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/sin-is-the-second-most-powerful-force-in-the-universe-for-it-sent/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“God has chosen to save the world through the cross, through the shameful and powerless death of the crucified Messiah. If that shocking event…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hays/god-has-chosen-to-save-the-world-through-the-cross-through-the/) Richard Hays > [God makes me play well. That is why I always make the sign of a cross when I walk out on to the pitch.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-maradona/god-makes-me-play-well-that-is-why-i-always-make-the-sign-of-a-cross/) [Diego Maradona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-maradona/) > [Do you love the cross because it makes much of you? Or do you love it because it enables you to enjoy and eternity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/do-you-love-the-cross-because-it-makes-much-of-you-or-do-you-love-it/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [“The point of trying to understand the cross better is not so that we can congratulate ourselves for having solved an intellectual crossword puzzle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/the-point-of-trying-to-understand-the-cross-better-is-not-so-that-we/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) [Browse all 986 Cross quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cross/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If Jesus had been a hunchback, they could hardly have nailed him to the cross.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gunter Grass" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could-hardly-have-nailed-him-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cross" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could-hardly-have-nailed-him-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f5/gunter-grass-3046_cross_if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could_2387356.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f5/gunter-grass-3046_cross_if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could_2387356.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f5/gunter-grass-3046_cross_if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could_2387356.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If Jesus had been a hunchback, they could hardly have nailed him to the cross.” — Gunter Grass", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gunter Grass", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If Jesus had been a hunchback,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could-hardly-have-nailed-him-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/if-jesus-had-been-a-hunchback-they-could-hardly-have-nailed-him-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```