Was jesus white????

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Valtiel

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I wonder if this has been asked before, but if jesus was not purely white and the depiction of him as a stereotypical white man is incorrect, why does the church have such an image indorsed???
 
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Valtiel:
I wonder if this has been asked before, but if jesus was not purely white and the depiction of him as a stereotypical white man is incorrect, why does the church have such an image indorsed???
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Valtiel,

Actually, Jesus was Semitic–much like modern Arabs. But I have never heard of the Church “endorsing” an image of Jesus in any way, shape, or form. Can you give me a reference to that?
  • Liberian
 
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Liberian:
Valtiel,

Actually, Jesus was Semitic–much like modern Arabs. But I have never heard of the Church “endorsing” an image of Jesus in any way, shape, or form. Can you give me a reference to that?
  • Liberian
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The statues, the paintings, all of a the sterotypical white jesus…
 
The artists who depicted Jesus in the West came mostly from a European background. It made sense to them to depict Jesus in a European way. The Church has never made any pronouncement on Jesus’ looks, because that is not important. I have never liked the image of the ‘Swedish Jesus’ so often seen in America.
 
What does it matter how we depict Jesus. I have black friends who have paintings of a black Jesus. As Jesus was a semetic Jew, I seriously doubt that he was black. But so what? If it helps you to relate to him, I think that Jesus would be happy.
 
Do a google on pics of Jesus and look around. He is depicted in a wide variety of ways. Since you live in the same area I do, you probably have been exposed only to the “white” Jesus. If you lived in Central America, you would probably see him depicted as a native of that area. Most of the depictions I have seen, though, clearly show his (physical) middle eastern roots.
 
Considering where Jesus was born and that he was a Jew I sincerely doubt that he is the dark blonde, blue eyed man who is often portrayed in North America and Europe.
As far as an endorsement by the Church I doubt that there has been one.
 
Jesus was of fine Minor Asiatic stock, the finest in all the world! 😃

Ok, enough ethnocentricity. Look at pictures of Jesus and Mary from places like Ethiopia: they look distinctly Ethiopian. God came as one of us, and He appears as ALL of us. Mary even usually appears looking like the natives the areas of her apparitions. Compare the Lady of Guadalupe with other depictions.

It simply shows how much God loves all of us.
 
The only problem I have with the this-is-what-Jesus-really-looked-like people(scientists and whatnot, I don’t mean the African Americans or the Hispanics who make Him look like He’s from their country cuz that’s cool) is that they almost always say his hair would have been shorter because that was the typical style of whatnot at the time.
 
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Valtiel:
The statues, the paintings, all of a the sterotypical white jesus…
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None of this has any aspect of some official “endorsement” of Jesus’ appearance, and I’ve never heard, prior to your post, even the suggestion that the Church would “endorse” such a thing. Could you explain yourself better, and perhaps tell us what you mean by “Church endorsement”? Artists have, throughout the centuries, depicted Christ in a variety of ways. Although he was Semitic, I have seen him portrayed as an American Indian in some art, simply because the artist is trying to make the point that Christ is everyone’s Saviour, including American Indians. Since the tradition of Western Art is essentially European, the same has been done there throughout time. No one (and certainly not the Church) is “endorsing” the idea that Jesus was actually some Scandinavian-type with light hair and blue eyes. Given his ethnicity, it’s likely that he had dark hair and dark eyes, with a medium complexion.
 
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geezerbob:
If you lived in Central America, you would probably see him depicted as a native of that area.
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Not really, although a lot of people in Latin America kind of look similar to people in the middle east anyway 😉
 
Well, consider that when Our Lady appeared at Guadalupe, she had the apparance of a native Mayan.
 
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JimG:
Well, consider that when Our Lady appeared at Guadalupe, she had the apparance of a native Mayan. [/FONT
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This got me thinking. Do we have any physical descriptions of her from her other apparitions?
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Catolico:
This got me thinking. Do we have any physical descriptions of her from her other apparitions?
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Well, yes!! From the pictures I’ve seen, she’s blond haired & fair skined & blue eyed as well!! Where do you think Jesus got His looks? 😉 😛

Seriously, I think that French nun said that she was magnificent & beautiful. Lourdes…whoever saw her at Lourdes.
 
I have seen several different examinations of this subject, some in TV shows and some in books. One of the striking things about the physical appearance of Jesus is that it has always been essentially exactly the same throughout the ages. Most of the images that are different are of recent origin. The “white-looking” Jesus (which could just as easily be described as Jewish-looking since many Jewish people have light skin and dark hair) did not originate in, nor is it limited to, Europe. The leading theory seems to be that since shortly after his death generations of artist’s depictions have been based on a common source which most researchers seem to believe is the Shroud. This is based on striking similarities between characteristics of the Shroud and those in pictures from various eras and lands, one of which is several loose hairs hanging down the forehead and another of which is an inverted triangular mark over the nose. I wish I could remember the name of the last History Channel show on this subject, it was very convincing. I do not know if the Church has ever “officially endorsed” a physical appearance of Jesus but the Church does recognize the Shroud as a “Holy Relic”.

P.S. And before anyone challenges this based on the Carbon-dating of the Shroud, please realize that those tests were universally recognized as botched even before it was proven beyond any doubt the the tested portion came from the repaired section done in Europe after the fire had damaged it.
 
well, to say the least, anyone of very light color most likely would not have survived too long in the middle eastern desert 2000 years ago. Melanin is the protective pigment in our skin that gives it a dark color. Semetic people have a darker complexion because they require much more melanin to protect their skin.

the romans were darker colored people, but still had trouble with the sun and skin conditions.

Jesus as a European skin color in the desert like that. probably not.
 
Reminds me of the Christmas carol “Some Children See Him” (I don’t remember the words exactly):

Some children see Him lily white
The baby Jesus born this night
Some children see him lily white
With hair of lighter hue.

Some children see Him bronzed and brown
This little babe from heaven come down
Some children see Him bronzed and brown
With soft and heavy hair.

The children in each different place
Will see the baby Jesus’ face
Like theirs but full of heavenly grace
'Tis love that’s come tonight.
 
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