Why is Jesus portrayed as white in almost all pictures of him? I am an atheist but I have studied a lot of Christianity and according to the place where Jesus supposedly lived he would have skin very similar to the color that Arabs have today. Are Christians racist? Are they too ignorant to know the difference between skin colors?
2007-08-08 08:29:16 · 13 answers · asked by Drew 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I vote this become a drinking question.
Up until the middle ages there were no pictures of Jesus. There is not even a description of him. But as time passed and followers became more distant from Jesus's time they wanted something to help visualize. Hence the great artists of the time after the Byzantine times. As they were mostly European, then so was Jesus. It wouldn't have dawned on them to make him middle eastern. They were living in Italy.
2007-08-08 08:33:28 · answer #1 · answered by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to the regions that the one called Jesus lived he would have been Black. What is " Arab Looking"?
Arabs rang from Jet Black to Lilly White.
The Original Arabs were Jet Black Arabs called Moors.
His image was re-created White because White supremacy was on the march and it was a contradiction to Hate Black people and worship a Black God.
2007-08-08 09:30:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've seen him portrayed as every color imaginable (i.e. ethiopian, east indian, thai, chinese....) I still have a calendar I bought at a Christian bookstore in Cairo, and he was portrayed almost exactly as he is in the pictures you've seen, his skin was a bit more "olive" in complexion, but the difference was negligible. Hope this helps.
2007-08-08 08:41:48 · answer #3 · answered by Rossonero NorCal SFECU 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think that the artists were white so they drew/painted him so that they looked like themselves? Everyone wants Jesus to look like their own race. You are right that he would have been darker and he also would have had dark curly hair. They are not racist for wanting Jesus to look a certain way.
2007-08-08 08:39:19 · answer #4 · answered by Unafraid 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree. Jesus would look like an Iranian or someone from the middle-east. The thought of him being blonde, blue-eyed cracks me up. Its almost as though Hitler drew the pictures.
2007-08-08 08:36:10 · answer #5 · answered by Harlequin 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He is portrayed as white to appeal to the people who aren't so sure about believing in a Hebrew... I, personally, have no problem believing in a person of different ethnicity
2007-08-08 08:34:53 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the artist who painted or sculpted is white. Black artists portray Him as black, latino's paint Him as Latino. He's one of the rare individuals every race wants.
He was a Jew, and would have looked like a Jew of that time.
2007-08-08 08:33:39 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's because the English church could not stand to worship a man that wasn't white. White means right.
2007-08-08 08:32:56 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
B/c we live in a white america and people are too stupid to open their eyes to the reality of things.
2007-08-08 08:40:20 · answer #9 · answered by mspooh 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Becuase Whites are still the majority in the U.S
2007-08-08 08:33:14 · answer #10 · answered by Maurice H 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋