If Jesus was a hebrew why is he represented like a white person ?

Question

(blue eyez,brown hair ,white) shouldent he look more like arabs syrian or palestinian

Answer 1

becuase white people created christanity.

Answer 2

Interesting question - I've often asked "since we don't have any description of what he looked like ..."

I recommend the documentary "The Face: Jesus in Art"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005BCK2/sr=1-1/qid=1154124258/ref=sr_1_1/104-9499435-1527166?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

It explains how Jesus has been represented in different periods and offers some insight into what the motivation was behind the changes that were made and when particular changes occured.

Bottom line: the image of Jesus often takes on the characteristics of the culture in which the image is created.

Answer 3

Jesus was Jewish.
Though there are many "white, blue eyed, light haired" Jews today, in the ancient times MOST of the Jews had the Hebrew- Semite appearance (dark hair and skin etc). The "Caucasian" Jews (including myself) are most likely the result of thousands of years of exile. In other words- we share more genetic background with light skinned gentiles than the ancient Hebrews did (red haired king David, for example, was not "fully Jewish" by his family tree: his grand-grandmother, Ruth, was converted to Judaism).

Though no one really knows how did Jesus look like (we don't have any portraits of him from that time), it is more likely that he looked like nowadays Mediterranean people: dark olive skin, dark wavy hair and a prominent nose.
The reason you know Jesus as a European man is that the more popular portraits of Jesus were painted by Europeans. Muslim portraits of him (from North Africa and Asia), as well as the earlier European portraits presented him more Semite.
Some of the black people claim that Jesus was black and I saw an Asian portrait of Jesus as an Asian…
I think it's funny, but I guess it's only natural to feel like the owner of something you love and care about.

Answer 4

Where is he represented as a white person? Maybe in 1940's movies or something he might be because of the attitudes back then, but I think these days most people realize he was Jewish and therefore of Middle Eastern descent

Answer 5

It depends on who is doing the art. In Asia, you see Jesus represented as an Asian. In Africa, he has dark skin. In Mexico he has brown skin. In Western European countries and the US and Canada, he has white skin. My guess is he looked much like modern day Israelis or Palestinians look, but I'm a lousy artist, so I don't even try to paint or sculpt him.

Answer 6

Why do people look at color? We are all the same color just some darker than others. One man gave a good example on here, if you put a piece of white paper by a white person it does not match. If you put a black piece of paper by a black person it does not match. We are all different shades of one color because we all came from the same origin when the world began.

Answer 7

In the Middle Ages, at the time, all (or most) of the artists were all from Europe.They painted Jesus to look like them because they probably never seen someone from the Middle East.

Answer 8

Europeans look at themselves as Gods so they portray God like them. They don't want to give any race but themselves any credit for anything unless they can get some of the glory too. So they are getting some of the glory by making the Messiah blue eyed and Blonde.

Answer 9

what is one more lie amongst thousands .
this Jesus story has changed shape so many times ,from Osiris and Horus onwards,to suit the present believers.

in reality he wasnt even a person but the sun ,its death and rebirth,and should look like a ball of fire not a human of what ever race.

Answer 10

The people who depict Jesus that way have never read the Bible. He should look like a Jew, which He was.

He had olive skin, not white, and He wasn't very good-looking.

Answer 11

European bias. Jesus was a Jew, and he was presumably average-looking, given that the chief priest's soldiers needed Judas' help to point Jesus out to them.