answer me this?

Question

if Jesus was from the middle east why is he portrayed as white

Answer 1

Why does he look Chinese in the Chinese depictions of Jesus? Jesus wasn't from China, was he?

Different cultures adapt images of him to make him look more familiar. It's still the same person.

Answer 2

He is portrayed as white because the artist of long ago who painted the pictures of Jesus were most likely white Europeans and they painted a picture to represent their own culture, not the reality of who Jesus really was or where he came from. In some Asian cultures Jesus is portrayed as Asian and even in Africa today, the pictures of Jesus have Him with darker skin tones than the Europeans made Him. With our knowledge today, intelligent people would know that Jesus most likely had a swarthy complexion like the people of the Middle East today. The old pictures were painted to represent Jesus so the people would have a focus on Biblical stories and incidents. They really didn't pay attention to race and culture of the ancient times. For all we really know Jesus could have had the coloring of an Asian or an African. Does it really matter. Supposedly we are all made in the image and likeness of God. So what color was He?

Answer 3

Because he is not white, but he is Caucasian. He's Jewish. But on that note, the Middle Eastern people are caucasoids, racially speaking - they are grouped in with Europeans.

I've only ever seen Jesus as a Jew. While he's always been light of colour, he's clearly portrayed as a Jewish male when he's "white". He was likely of a more olive skin colour, but everyone in the Middle East is technically "white" - our features and theres are surprisingly almost identical, which you cannot say for African or Asiatic people.

Answer 4

Because white people like to see white people as their religious leaders. Why is there a movie, "Little Buddha," in which Keenu Reeves plays Buddha? His varried heritage and white skin comes no closer to an accurate depiction of an Indian prince than the standard blue eyed, blonde haired Jesus comes to depicting a Middle Eastern Jewish carpenter.

While we're asking, why do so many African Americans believe that Jesus was black? Jesus' actual heritage would have made him slightly tan, but definitely not as dark skinned as an African man.

Also, why is the holy grail so often depicted as a golden chalice, encrusted with jewels, when the cup used at the dinner of a carpenter and his fishermen buddies would have almost certainly been a wooden cup that rotted to dust long ago?

The answers, are simple. Wealthy white men, who have largely shaped Western Christianity (at least one English king created his own branch of Christianity) want to worhip a wealthy, white man. People like to endentify with a deity that is similar to themselves. If Africans had been the ones primarily spreading Christianity thoughout the world, we would all have pictures of a black Jesus on our walls right now. Jesus could easily be depicted in a variety of ways, it is simply an accident of fate that he was most commonly depicted by, and as, white men.

Answer 5

I saw a picture of a black Jesus in a black lady's room in a nursing home. Jesus is portrayed as white because the people at the top of the Roman Catholic heirarchy are white, and they have always made the rules.

Answer 6

Because a majority of the artists who have portrayed him throughout the millenia were white, and many looked down on those with darker skin as being beneath them. However, if you look at the supposed area of origin of Jesus, he should, indeed, be depicted with darker skin, if not truly Middle Eastern.

Answer 7

Even though Jesus was probably very Middle Eastern looking, Christiany spread like wild fire in Europe, thus people tended to portray him as an European man. Also, we must remember that the very first Icons of Jesus were made by European artists such as the Italian masters. It is logical that they would portray God in their Aryan image. I think they were not very concerned with historical accuracy, rather artistic expression.

Answer 8

Because white people seem to relate better to a white man. I did manage to find one image from a Mexican church where Jesus is portrayed as Hispanic. Actually, several. Link below. People relate best to people of their own culture.

Answer 9

Insane (and others with his opinion) you're right the work was in the hand of the artist.

As for c.j. there's only one race, the human race with different nationalities; I feel you though.

The only common (human characteristic) that the bible gives us about Jesus is:

Isaiah 53:2 (Amplified Version) For [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no form or comeliness [royal, kingly pomp], that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.

Soooo...even the good-looking white pictures portraying Jesus are sadly interpreted.

Answer 10

When Christianity was brought to Europeans by the earliest Christians, they didn't like Middle-Eastern view of how Jesus looked.
Europeans wanted to make Jesus fit their image, so they began portraying him as a fair-skinned, brown-haired European.

Answer 11

Comes down to Catholicism, everyone in the Catholic church was white, so why shouldn't everyone from the early tradition be white as well?- He isn't always portrayed as white nowadays though. I've seen some black/tan/dark versions of him floating about.