Was Jesus white?

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QuestingKnight said:
People are talking at cross purposes here.
  1. There is what Jesus looked like when he was incarnate.
  2. There is how he is depicted in icons.
  3. There is how he subsequently chooses to appear in revelations to mortals.
  4. There is how he would appear if you could see him as God i.e. transfigured.
No. 2 is what is confusing people. They didn’t have cameras in 1AD, 'though the Turin shroud might qualify!

I’ve tried to attached a picture of what a little savant girl drew, which she said was what he actually looked like when incarnate and how he normally chooses to appear to men in Heaven. This was independently backed up by another little boy subsequently. Both are private revelations, by non-Catholics AFAIK and not authorised by the Church, so you can take it or leave it. It’s a famous pic.
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Akiane’s depiction of Christ is beautiful! (The thumbnail did not come over with the quote, but see QuestingKnight’s post #24 above to view it. forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=10843838&postcount=24)
 
This reached my train of thoughts a few years ago and decided that the present day pictures do not represent how he might have really looked. Since God sent Him into that Community he would have looked a little like that Community in terms of skin tone. Even if He was white, he wouldn’t be because his skin would have been tanned by the sun unless he was totally covered. We do not know what he really looks like and am pretty certain none of the icons and photos bear any real resemblance as of pop stars today which is an awful comparison but from the point of view of airbrushed online pictures and make up etc and what they may actually look like when no one can see them at home… We don’t know in real terms. Any blemishes and blackheads etc will be smoothed over with make up and all the rest of it.
Yet Jesus is our visual concept of God and am not sure if what we are given has ever been the right version as his hair changes quite a bit and before the days of colour dye… We don’t know and just got to take on faith of the way He is portrayed. It not colour, hair style or clothing we are interested in.Even though we need visual impact so desperately. It is his message that we are interested in. I am sticking to nature of a visual concept ofGod because that is real to us today as no one can fudge what you see in front of you. It is of God and helps me feel close to God:thumbsup:
 
HolyRosaryChild said:
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My interpretation of Jesus’ physical image when here on Earth are both; olive/brown and white/fair skin.

It is what your Soul believes Jesus to appear like!
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As God perhaps, but not as man. This cannot hold true for Jesus as man. As man Jesus was an actual physical person (“suffered under Pontius Pilate” places him in an actual historical timeframe) who as a human was like other men around him. He had one physical appearance which was definite and fixed. Jesus was fully human, and as such had a fixed physical appearance. If two people have two conflicting views of what Jesus looked like, then (regardless of any deeply held beliefs on the matter) at least one of them must be wrong.

His appearance as a man is not determined by what an individual believes it to be, it was as it was, regardless of one’s own beliefs, or one’s own relationship with Jesus. Our beliefs on this matter have no more effect on what Jesus actually looked like, than our beliefs on any other historical character (such as Pontius Pilate) would affect their actual appearance.
 
loramaca said:
Well I think he was white. But it doesn’t mean that black people are lower race than white people. It would be weird if he was black and lived in Rome, because in Rome people were white. There is no need for him to have weird body. He was God in body normal for place he was living in. I hope I answered your question.
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The only thing I think is weird is your reply, Our Lord was Jewish, lived in Nazareth, Jews in that region have sallow skin, DEFINITELY NOT WHITE. OUR LORD NEVER NEVER LIVED OR VISITED ROME. WHAT IS WITH THE WEIRD BODY ? PLEASE READ YOUR BIBLE,
 
If we were intended to see HIM as HIS natural body, we would have lived in Roman Judaea of AD31.

For HIS appearance as a natural body, we have only the witness of the Shroud of Turin; which I believe wholeheadedly; but tells us nothing about HIS skin.

According to the SoT, HE looked very good indeed, even dead (that to me is itself a minor miracle; no-one looks good dead!!)

ISTM that a Human Body freed from the effects of a Fall would look great. He would not have carried all of the corrupted DNA that we do.

Besides, not only did HE work with HIS hands and shoulders, HE also walked hundreds of miles all over Israel as a matter of course (great arms and legs).

No, not like Arnold; probably even better.

ICXC NIKA
 
FWIW: Here are some old frescoes:

Coptic:



Ethiopian Orthodox



As far as appearances go, I would tend to take those above a bit more seriously than something I saw in Europe.

Or you could take the Biblical description of how he looks

[bibledrb]rev 1:13-16[/bibledrb]

 
Issa87 said:
I’m asking since every portrait I see of him He is white. Why don’t painters give him more color?
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Because he is Godhead of Europe. European artists have done the lion’s share of painting Jesus and Mary with beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair. To make them anything other than European would b3 too scary. 😉
 
Issa87 said:
All of the picture I have or have seen of Jesus he is white or of fair skin. But aren’t a lot of people in that part of the world brown-skinned? Or am I wrong? Is it possible Jesus was brown? Just curious. It’s something a friend pointed out to me last year and has haunted me ever since. What do you guys think?
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Jesus was a Middle-Eastern Jew, so not “white” like he is depicted in most paintings. Those were done by people in Europe so their models would not have been Middle-Eastern Jews. Jesus probably looked a lot like your average Palestinian today, actually.

But God is not of any racial make up so try to see past the externals.
 
Issa87 said:
I don’t know what you mean by weird body, but I was thinking of Jesus perhaps looking more muslim, maybe. I don’t know. More brownish, not necessarily dark, but then again, Africa is just across the sea, so, maybe. Although, I didn’t realize Jesus was in Rome. Jesus was in Rome? When was Jesus in Rome?
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Muslim isn’t a race. And Islam didn’t even exist until several centuries later. Perhaps you mean Arab.
 
this obsession with race is based relatively modern notions. when was “white” first used as a racial description? 16th? 17th century?

what’s the purpose of even asking “was Jesus white”?
 
He probably looked liked an Israelite - His mother was Hebrew. The Shroud of Turin is probably the best interpretation of what Jesus probably looked like. He was a devout Jew so He probably wore his hair what ever the custum was of that time. The color of his skin is irrelevant to Him being your Lord and Savior.

He is beautiful whatever the color of His skin. Amen!
 
Yes, olive skin colour.
Dark black hair.

When I have ‘seen’ him he looked something like Cat Stevens used to look.
 
Jesus had the good sense to be born with a skin color that was between white and black so that race baiters from either side would have no race based claim on him.
 
boomerang said:
I always pictured Jesus looking similar to this racial type of Yemeni Jew:
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This does seem very accurate to me, as a natural skin colour. I think He would be a tad darker, almost sunburned, due to His lifestyle and being outdoors all the time for three years.

Judas did have to identify Jesus at the time of the betrayal. It means that he looked no different from any Jew in His time. He wouldn’t have stood out in a crowd, if He were not speaking or preaching.
 
loramaca said:
Well I think he was white. But it doesn’t mean that black people are lower race than white people. It would be weird if he was black and lived in Rome, because in Rome people were white. …
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Romans wouldn’t have called themselves “white”, race as we are obsessed with today wasn’t an issue then. Rome was a cosmopolitan city, so there were ethnicities from all over the Mediterranean world there.
 
I doubt his race would matter. He is our Lord and Savior. It does not matter whether he is African, Caucasian, Asian, etc.
 
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Years ago during the 1980’s I was travelling with a school girlfriend (whom I had not seen for a few years until we discovered that both of us were living in the same City). She offered me a lift back to our home town. While chatting for the 5 or 6 hour drive, she pulled out a photo (no mobiles or digital cameras back then here) of Jesus in the clouds over our home town that her sister or someone in the family (I cannot recall) had taken. Where this photo is today I have no idea and whether or not it was ever put on to the internet I do not know!

I clearly recall that Jesus face was the most incredibly beautiful face and His garments White. I must try and track down this old school friend to find out if anyone has kept the photo. I was only mentioning this story (and its not a lie) to my grown up Children last week to be honest and nothing surprised them about the photo! Older people who have endured a great deal more in their lives or have been hurt a great deal more and lost faith in Jesus can be cynical and disbelieving. I find that many young people who have not communicated as yet with God, and upon hearing different stories from Christians, do believe easily.
 
HolyRosaryChild said:
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Years ago during the 1980’s I was travelling with a school girlfriend (whom I had not seen for a few years until we discovered that both of us were living in the same City). She offered me a lift back to our home town. While chatting for the 5 or 6 hour drive, she pulled out a photo (no mobiles or digital cameras back then here) of Jesus in the clouds over our home town that her sister or someone in the family (I cannot recall) had taken. Where this photo is today I have no idea and whether or not it was ever put on to the internet I do not know!

I clearly recall that Jesus face was the most incredibly beautiful face and His garments White. I must try and track down this old school friend to find out if anyone has kept the photo. I was only mentioning this story (and its not a lie) to my grown up Children last week to be honest and nothing surprised them about the photo! Older people who have endured a great deal more in their lives or have been hurt a great deal more and lost faith in Jesus can be cynical and disbelieving. I find that many young people who have not communicated as yet with God, and upon hearing different stories from Christians, do believe easily.
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Jesus could have been polka-dot for all we know. The important thing is what he said and did (preaching and working miracles and then dying for our sins)
 
Its impossible to say for sure.

But I prayed to see what he was like and saw
Dark olive skin, black ringlet curls long hair, oiled.
Big black oval eyes.
And sight that could see right into me.

It was different to what I expected, and very close I was shocked & ‘jumped’ at seeing it.

I was convinced. I’m not trying to convince anyone else though.
 
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