If it does not matter what to color of Jusus skin was then why is he always portrayed as being White?

Question

I always here the "it does not matter" statement but if it did not matter then why was he changed into a white person at the conference of Nicene? If you were to make Jesus look Black, Mexican, Asian, etc... people would tell you that that is not Jesus. It is like your mouth says it does not matter but the actions are much different. I have not seen many Christian embrace the Black Madonna!

Father K:
The reason that Romans adopted Christianity was because many i of the Roman solders and other were converting to Christianity in Northern Africa. There were several black popes before the religion was adopted by the romans. The Romans felt that if they could not beat them then they must join them and act as if they were the creators of the belief system. Arius was kicked out of the conference because he said that they were turning Jesus into a creating character (Serapus). Now I am sure if you read it from the European perspective then that truth will be hard to find. Look from the Ethiopian point of view and the facts will not be hard to find. You may want to be sure the history you learn is not biased before you accuse others of not knowing their history!!!

http://www.nbccongress.org/black-catholics/african-popes.asp

http://www.bethel.edu/~letnie/WesternNorthAfricaHomepage.html

http://www.fhi.net/fhius/ethiopiafamine/christian.html

mvette78:

http://afgen.com/jews.html

mahendra d:

OK - Most of the time - at least 90% of the time he is portrayed as white.

^7^ :

Most European Jews or Kazarians converted to the Jewish religion in 900 AD - plus Jeduism is a religion or a belief system. Not a race!

ross:

This is not my cause - It is just an observation!

sarahharas24:

No it would not matter but at the same time - The truth shall set us free.

Answer 1

I think Jesus WAS black and white people just can't accept that.

Answer 2

Jesus skin tones are irrelevant, and any sculpture or painter will personalize his vision of Christ with what he knows, or is familiar with. None of the images represent an accurate portrayal.
In genetic terms Jesus was likely in the Haplogroup K(M9), which makes up a large part of the original inhabitants of the middle east, and then moves eastward into turkey and eventually Indian. The skin colours of the people of those countries range from white to a deeper brown colour. Who knows what Jesus skin colour was.
The conference of Nicene did many things, such as decide which books remained in the bible, and which did not, but no discussion or decision was made with respect to Jesus being white...

Answer 3

Not always white. It is a matter of who the artist is, and the simple fact that humans psychologically "mirror" and "project", plus the effects of social approval and popularity-- like how all the renaissance paintings showed voluptuous women, because that was POPULAR, though NOT ALL women were that size!!!
Same thing, with skin color.
Art does not represent fact or truth, it is a reflection of mans experiences and thoughts and feelings. Dont take it as trying to say what is or isnt and definitely not 'what should be'.
Now, if it were Polaroids we're talking about, that'd be different.
I for one dont have an opinion of what he looked like, because nobody knows at all and there are no real photographs.
Hey, they couldnt' even portray cleopatra accurately, remember that issue with the coin recently?
Nobody knows what he looks like or that he even existed.
Faith, is ENTIRELY a matter of something that the indivudla conjures up, so it makes sense that they conjure up what they think Jesus looked like in the first place, too.

Answer 4

Jesus was not Black, White or Asian. As for Mexican I would say some would see it closer to the Middle East in appearance. If you look at Jews over in the Middle East that is more to the color and appearance of Jesus.

Now, most paintings of Jesus that survive today come from the Renaissance and those people did not travel abroad and drew(pun) upon what they did see. So in various countries Jesus is drawn as they see themselves.

Answer 5

Cultural upbringing plays a huge role.

Deities in Hinduism and Buddhism come in various colored skins... Divine Mother Tara appears in Green, Blue, Black, Red, White and Yellow... :) But each color has a deep symbolic meaning and is said to induce certain centers of the brain to bring about positive emotions like Love, Kindness etc

I DO wonder though, if the first settlers of Christianity in China ever made the images look for oriental .... ( coz the image of Mother Mary looks incredibly similar to the traditional Buddhist image of White Robed Kuan Yin or Avalokitesvara )

Answer 6

White people portray him as being white. I guess they want to relate. If someone thinks it doesn't matter what color PEOPLE are in general - then I'm sure they don't care what color Jesus was. I don't. BUT - unfortunately - skin color is something that some people make a big deal about - so they would want Jesus to be the same color as them.

Actually - based on where he was born - and who his parents were - and their backgrounds - I think he was a nice light brown/olive color - and his hair was probably dark and curly or wavey. Still - that's not what I think of when I think of Jesus - because the "white image" has been what I've seen my whole life.

We can imagine him however we choose to do so. As long as we are feeling love in our hearts toward him and toward all people - I don't think it really matters.

Answer 7

Jesus is NOT always portrayed as being 'white'. Millions of Christians embrace the Black Madonna. The Council of Nicaea made no reference to Jesus' skin color and did not change him into a white person. Google 'black Jesus' for a start.

Answer 8

I think we relate to Jesus on such a personal level, think of him as brother, we get a mental image of him looking like family. I think this comes through in artistic interpretations.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with Jesus being depicted as black, white, Asian, whatever. It reveals the personal relationship between artist and subject. We are all his brothers and sisters regardless of our skin color. So what does it matter?

Answer 9

Well I have my doubts Jesus was Asian or Mexican. He probably was darker in skin though. Just a quick question for you...would his skin colour change the type of person he was? I thought not. Also I wish that people would not judge others by the colour of their skin. Just by posting this question you are contributing to it.

Answer 10

It is only an artist conception, biases on the color of the artist.
I have seen Black pictures of Jesus.
First of all, I don't like the idea of a picture of anything in heaven or the earth or under the earth in a church anyway.

Answer 11

Jesus was Jewish.
HE WAS NOT WHITE!
Those who chose to paint HIM as white
do not know the scriptures.

Jesus was NOT black either.
He WAS a JEW, born of a Jewish mother...

There is NO BLACK heritage involved EITHER.
(No offense to ANY and ALL who are African-toned in color).

JESUS WAS JEWISH, WHICH MEANS THAT THE PAINTINGS THAT BECAME POPULAR OVER THE DECADES ARE VERY UNSCRIPTURAL. HE MORE THAN LIKELY HAD DARKER THAN ASIAN SKIN, MORE OF A DARKER OLIVE TONE.
SCRIPTURE ALSO SAYS THAT HE WAS NOTHING IN APPEARANCE THAT WE SHOULD DESIRE HIM. MEANING: HE WAS NOT NECESSARILY UGLY, AND HE WAS MOST ASSUREDLY NOT HEAVILY ATTRACTIVE. *SO THOSE WHOM HAVE PAINTED PICTURES OF THE GOOD LOOKING, DARK BLOND HAIRED, BLUE EYED MAN~ HAVE LIKEWISE DONE AN UNSCRIPTURAL ACT. SHAME!

JESUS was not black, nor white- -HE was Jewish. Look to Israel and see for yourself how "non white" HE was.

I'm just as irritated about this as you are. The Word of GOD stands TRUE, and JESUS was born among Jews, his mother was Jewish, and the Lord GOD CHOSE Him to be Jewish.

GOD BLESS YOU~
^7^