Was Jesus black, white, brown etc....?

Question

In every cross, picture etc...he looks white, but since he was from the middle-east I presume he was brown. Why is he white in modern religious images?

Thanks for your answers so far.
And please, none of this 'does it matter rubbish'.This is a genuine question.

Answer 1

Cultures that steal historical figures to venerate generally tend to make said figure appear more like members of their own group so that more people will embrace that person as one of them.
It's called Propoganda.
If you want to imagine what Jesus looked like, I suggest you picture someone on the thin side, with dark brown eyes, black hair down to his shoulders, a beard and dark brown skin because of constant sun exposure from all that walking around he did. Think Naveen Andrews from Lost, the guy who plays Saiid. That would be fairly close-ish.

Answer 2

Jesus was the born the son of Mary, a Jewish girl so therefore would have a light brown skin tone (olive tone)

Early artistic representations of Jesus had the intent of portraying him to appeal to non-converts so they represented him with a lighter skin tone to be more acceptable, harsh but true, please also remember that most people at the time were illiterate so conveyance of the message was done through art, a fine example of this would be early 7th century illuminated manuscripts eg: Book of Kells.

As Christianity emerged from the catacombs and became a state religion, the images of Jesus began to take on a more imperial look. He was depicted in royal robes, and the halo became very prominent. Themes of the Good Shepherd still remain, as can be seen on the apse mosaic in the church of Santi Cosma e Damiano in Rome, where the twelve apostles are depicted as twelve sheep below the imperial Jesus. By this time Jesus had begun to be depicted with the distinctive "look" that dominated much of the history of art, with shoulder-length hair and a beard.

French scholar Paul Vignon has listed fifteen similarities between most of the icons of Jesus at the time, particularly in the icons of "Christ Pantocrator" ("The all-powerful Messiah").

Basically - to convey a message that would impress.

I am talking purely from an artistic standpoint, not a religious one.

Answer 3

Yes, there is some cultural bias in that most images of Jesus were made by white Europeans, so he tends to look more 'white' than he really would have been. Jesus would have been Semitic - i.e. what is often called 'olive' complexion as seen in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern populations. Semitic people are usually considered 'white' except by white supremacists and their ilk. They are not distinctly 'brown' - beyond the sense that the average Caucasian is not really 'white' but a light pinkish-brown.

Answer 4

Jesus was born in the middle east so the majority of people from that area have a variying amount of colour from a very light brown (nearly white) to a very dark brown.

The reason that Jesus' immage is painted white is because the Europeans in the middle ages painted him a colour that they would accept.

Answer 5

Jesus would have been a typical "brown" color with the addition of his Jewish features, relatively short by today's standards, and would have spoken Aramaic. I believe he spoke only to those in his nearby vicinity. "... to visit all his beloved Slaves. As God, he should have done that because his presence on the earth is for that purpose." Slaves? I hope not. I'm not even a christian and even I understand that his presence on earth was for something far greater than just a visit! Just sayin'..........

Answer 6

I saw this on a TV show once, he would have had quite dark skin, had short curly hair as most men did at the time and actually been quite short. He is white in modern images because western churches would prefer a white messiah.

Answer 7

Jesus was very dark complected, he is described as having a olive complexion, he was not black though.

White people try to make him white, black people try to make him black, I don't know why people do this, when it come right down to it, it doesn't matter what colour your skin is nor what colour Jesus' skin is.

Jesus was a Hebrew.

Answer 8

If he existed he was a Jewish man from what is now Israel (Jewish in the sense of the distinct ethnic group as well as the religion) so he would almost certainly have had olive coloured skin,brown eyes and black hair.

Answer 9

presumeably, he would be of a darker skin tine, however, with the whole idea of him being white, holds an underlaing message of white superiority, which i find to be extremly racist, I, myself, have no idea on why he was dipicted as white, but if you really wanted to know you could search the internets to find something

hope this gave you some insight

Answer 10

Mostly likely he was dark. Considering the climate that he lived in. The white version is what the white man wanted you to believe at the time. .