Was Jesus really Caucasian?

[NeonLightChild]

In most, if not all pictures I see of Jesus, they depict him as being a white man with longish hair, a beard, and a moustache. I'm not debating the male part nor the hair stuff, but if you think about it, the Mediterranean area, especially close to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, some people from there have more of an olive-tone to their skin. The only one picture I've ever seen of Jesus that might suggest that he wasn't white was in an editorial waaaaaay long ago in my newspaper when they were trying to describe him as some sort of cave-man freak who ate Brontosaurs. I don't nkow if there's an evidence out there that proves he was white or black or olive-toned or what, but I'm sure there is and I just haven't gone looking for it yet. I've also wondered if it's something of white supremacy to suggest that he's white...but like I said, I don't know. What are your insights/thoughts on this whole deal?

[Klark]

I don't think it's so much a white supremecy thing so much as it is having a religious icon that one can connect with. By most of the Christians being white, have a white Jesus would make sense. And no, if Jesus existed, he was most assuredly not white, at least, that's what I believe.

[Aquilan]

Well, they had no pictures, and no discription, so what did everyone do when they had the chance to depict him? Thats right! They made him in their own image! Kinda selfish really, but I suppose I'd do the same thing. He probably looked like everyone else at the time, you know, kinda like the a long haired version of arabian fashion. :shrug:

[Darth Cluich]

Why does it even matter? :shrug:

[Klark]

Why does it even matter? :shrug:

And you've never asked a question that seemed irrelavent to someone?

[blueeyes]

Jesus, saying he existed, was supposed to be a middle-eastern guy, most likely Jewish, with the curly hair and a complexion that wouldn't roast under a 100-watt light bulb. Making him the standard West European was just a way for the religious groups in the Dark Ages to make Christianity that little bit more acceptable. It was at the end of the Dark Ages when a lot of Church art was drawn, so it's easy to understand why they'd assume that their savior wasn't one of those strange people who keep fighting them near their holy cities. That's also why you don't see a single person with a yamaka on in 'The Last Supper', although that was a different time period. Jesus and his friends might have been rebelling against the establishment, but they wouldn't have forsaken hats. It's not so much rascism as stupidity, as always.

[Sane Inside Insanity]

Jesus is more likely to look more middle-eastern than caucasian.

[Aquilan]

What is caucasion anyway? I assumed that it WAS middle eastern. (This should give you an idea of all the wierd stuff I don't know that I should)

[kat]

Caucasian, aka "White People", the Man, Whitey, Crackah's

[Aquilan]

OooooooooOOOOOOOOOOO Ooooooooh. *blinks* 'Aight. :shrug:

[Teej]

I thought it was already discovered that he was really middle-eastern-looking?

[kat]

I thought it was already discovered that he was really middle-eastern-looking? No.

But it is a good assumption. We're still not even entirely sure Jesus existed in the first place.

[zodiac]

I'd say odds are he existed. maybe not as the lords son but as a prophet. Heck he may not have even been named jesus, they might have called him that because he was supposed to be the saviour and thats what jesus means isn't it? but as far as his skin color, he was the son of God I'm sure he could've been rainbow colored if he felt like it and I think a white guy would probably stand out more and grab attention making preaching easier. but most likely he was a jewish guy of slightly darker complexion. but what the hell do I know? :D

[Frostbeard]

Heck he may not have even been named jesus, they might have called him that because he was supposed to be the saviour and thats what jesus means isn't it?

You're thinking of "Christ" or "Messiah". Though oddly enough you're not far off the mark. He wasn't named Jesus. Jesus is a Greek name, and the dude was Jewish. From what I've seen, it's far more likely that his name was "Yeshua". We got the name "Jesus" passed down to us because many of his early followers were Greeks, and many of the earlier versions of the New Testament were written in Greek.

[Xzengrim]

That's true, his real name was closer to Yeshua. But aside from that, Popular Mechanics tried to reconstruct a model of Jesus last year sometime. I think a good look at the evidence made them pretty successful. Think about it... Jesus was a Jew, he was born and raised of a particular tribe and family and so on (all of which it says in the bible). So he was Middle Eastern, and probably a brown-skinned man like the rest of his demographic. So the model that PM came up with was this very generic model of a twentysomething Jewish man from one of the tribes of the area (He didn't look like they say). Aside from that, I think that if Jesus was the one cracker in all of Israel, someone would have written that down.

Although it's also important to remember that the myth and the story of the Messiah existed long before Jesus was born. That, and Yeshua was a VERY popular name. The article said that in that area, among men of Jesus' heredity and age, about one in three people were named Jesus, Yeshua, or some permutation of that name.

[Ves]

Jesus was indeed a Greek name. His real name is believed to have been Yeshua or Joshua. When the New Testament was being written in Greek it was noticed that the name Yeshua ends in a vowel which usually denoted a female name in Greek. Hence they renamed him to Jesus. "Christ" is merely the Greek form of the Hebrew word "Messiah" meaning either saviour or king, I can't remember which.
He would likely have not been a caucasian as he was born in the middle east and his family were locals. One point of note is that long hair was not the norm in that area in those times (perhaps on account of long-hair is so bleeding uncomfortable in hot weather, believe me I know).

[COLONV]

Truly nobody knows how Jesus was physycally,it is a mistery to all.There are even no painting,nothing.

[Ves]

Truly nobody knows how Jesus was physycally,it is a mistery to all.There are even no painting,nothing.
The fact is until such time as someone pops back a couple of thousand years and gets a nice photo of Jesus sharing a joke with one of his disciples, then his skin colour, demeanor, even his existance can be no more proven to the general populace than say, the existance of werewolves in our time - all we have is people's word for it, and a leap of faith.

[Fuzzy]

-Please don't kill me...
I think that Jesus was the offspring of a roman soldier and Mary, a middle eastern woman. I believe that she was raped and came up with the whole divine birth thing when she was too embarrased to admit the truth(it's also possible she was just sleeping around). This could give him less of an olive like complexion(sp?). I'm sure that he existed, and it's possible that he was this really great guy (or an egotistical nutball), but the son of God is a rather tall order. Especially if you're like me and you think that God was dead far before Jesus was ever born.

[Lycan_Ghost04]

In most, if not all pictures I see of Jesus, they depict him as being a white man with longish hair, a beard, and a moustache. I'm not debating the male part nor the hair stuff, but if you think about it, the Mediterranean area, especially close to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, some people from there have more of an olive-tone to their skin. The only one picture I've ever seen of Jesus that might suggest that he wasn't white was in an editorial waaaaaay long ago in my newspaper when they were trying to describe him as some sort of cave-man freak who ate Brontosaurs. I don't nkow if there's an evidence out there that proves he was white or black or olive-toned or what, but I'm sure there is and I just haven't gone looking for it yet. I've also wondered if it's something of white supremacy to suggest that he's white...but like I said, I don't know. What are your insights/thoughts on this whole deal?
well if u read the bible it tells you, that his skin was firey bronze. also hebrews are not white. therefore jesus being born in bethlahem (maybe a miss spell, i duno), he could not possbily be white. hope that helps. bye.

[COLONV]

well if u read the bible it tells you, that his skin was firey bronze. also hebrews are not white. therefore jesus being born in bethlahem (maybe a miss spell, i duno), he could not possbily be white. hope that helps. bye.I'm with you.

[Ves]

well if u read the bible it tells you, that his skin was firey bronze. also hebrews are not white. therefore jesus being born in bethlahem (maybe a miss spell, i duno), he could not possbily be white. hope that helps. bye.
Hold up, isn't it bronze that goes green? (or is that copper I forget).
If he had green skin it sure would explain one or two things.

[COLONV]

Hold up, isn't it bronze that goes green? (or is that copper I forget).
If he had green skin it sure would explain one or two things.Then is copper then.

[MorganaFang]

Bronze can turn a little green as well as turn the skin brownish greenish when worn. But it is copper that is notorious for turning green and taking on that wonderful crustiness.

COLONV, elaboration is our friend.

[Ves]

Bronze can turn a little green as well as turn the skin brownish greenish when worn. But it is copper that is notorious for turning green and taking on that wonderful crustiness.
Well darn, there goes the theory that Jesus was a green alien.
Apologies for being fascecious.

[Béni_Etre]

You know this is just another topic of he said she said. How do we really know what he was? Yes we can say what we think but who's really sure. We make up evidence to support our theory but it's still just a theory. I know many things start with less than that but this topic seems to be going on from start to finish. Forever we will talk about this until the topic is banned. And I doubt that will happen.

If we are all "jesus' children" then that means he couldn't have been just Caucasian. Niether could the elusive couple of Adam and Eve...Damn belly buttonless aliens!

Well that's how I see it.

[Klark]

Well, I see no reason why it wouldn't be ok to talk about our thoughts, theories and evidence to support nothing. That's kinda what this is all about, Mrs. Obvious.

Anyway, I wanna know how Fuzzy gets the idea for the Roman Soldier.....

[COLONV]

Bronze can turn a little green as well as turn the skin brownish greenish when worn. But it is copper that is notorious for turning green and taking on that wonderful crustiness.

COLONV, elaboration is our friend.He was a light brown colored.

[Béni_Etre]

I wasn't saying we don't have the right to post our opinions. I was just saying that this will always and forever be an on going topic and dispute with no logic to settle it.

You fight over why you should wear a helmet. Someone says because you can crack your head easier. They show you facts, statistics, logic...so most likely you will have a reason to wear one. Not saying you will though.

Don't think I live in a world of fact and logic. I really wish there was none at all. Then the world would be new to us all again. I mean why are army men green? Why does jello jiggle? Why is the alphbet A B C instead of U C Q? Why is it dog instead of OGD? And why is Dog God backwards? Things we may never know but just except. Kind of off topic but just an example of things logic can't explain but we don't dispute about it.

[DarkWolf]

I can only wonder if people actually know what "Caucasian" means:

Caucasian:
adj.

1. Anthropology. Of or being a major human racial classification traditionally distinguished by physical characteristics such as very light to brown skin pigmentation and straight to wavy or curly hair, and including peoples indigenous to Europe, northern Africa, western Asia, and India. No longer in scientific use.

2. Of or relating to the Caucasus region or its peoples, languages, or cultures.

3. Of or relating to a group of three language families spoken in the region of the Caucasus mountains, including Chechen, Abkhaz, and the Kartvelian languages

-------

So the question becomes: Was Jesus from Europe, northern Africa, western Asia, or India?

I failed geography miserably so I wouldn't know but:
If yes: He is caucasian.
If No: he is not caucasian.

Skin pigmentation is not a concern.

Advice: Learn the words before you use them. Dictionaries, and English, are your friends - use them.

[Béni_Etre]

Haha...thanks for the tips. I honestly thought it was white. Hmmm anyway.

[StrayWolfen]

Jesus was Jewish. He was probably of arabic descent considering the area, but there were also Romans in the area who would have been white or white-ish. *shrugs* Does it really matter what race he was?

[Darth Cluich]

Jesus was Jewish. He was probably of arabic descent considering the area, but there were also Romans in the area who would have been white or white-ish. *shrugs* Does it really matter what race he was?

No, it doesn't. But, as I've already noted in this thread, Jesus was Aramaic -- not Arabic (or any other ethnicity). Before posting, read the entire thread.

[Firesong]

Herte is a pic of what historians believe the REAL jesus looked like

the beauty that is JESUS (http://popularmechanics.com/science/research/2002/12/real_face_jesus/images/tb_jesuslead-lg.jpg)

the fact is that the real jesus probably looks closer to THIS than the idealized version the white man is comfortable with.

[StrayWolfen]

No, it doesn't. But, as I've already noted in this thread, Jesus was Aramaic -- not Arabic (or any other ethnicity). Before posting, read the entire thread.

Sorry. I got lazy. ;) And besides, when I'm behind on my sleep, all the words start to blur together in my head anyway.

[NeonLightChild]

Herte is a pic of what historians believe the REAL jesus looked like

the beauty that is JESUS (http://popularmechanics.com/science/research/2002/12/real_face_jesus/images/tb_jesuslead-lg.jpg)

the fact is that the real jesus probably looks closer to THIS than the idealized version the white man is comfortable with.
Thanks for finding that, Firesong. I saw it a long time ago and didn't know exactly what to look for or how to go about searching for it.
And DW, yes, I was referring to skin color. It's just that "Caucasian" is used for that and no one knows what it means anymore. Thanks for the heads-up.

[Vendetta]

Thanks for the definition DarkWolf.

However I can PROVE Jesus wasn't caucasian.

1. Anthropology. Of or being a major human racial classification traditionally distinguished by physical characteristics such as very light to brown skin pigmentation and straight to wavy or curly hair, and including peoples indigenous to Europe, northern Africa, western Asia, and India. No longer in scientific use.
Read that last bit again.. "No longer in scientific use."

Jesus wasn't caucasian because there's no such thing. Not that Jesus ever has much to do with science to begin with. :)

[Firesong]

Thanks for finding that, Firesong. I saw it a long time ago and didn't know exactly what to look for or how to go about searching for it.
And DW, yes, I was referring to skin color. It's just that "Caucasian" is used for that and no one knows what it means anymore. Thanks for the heads-up.

No prob...it was in newspapers and science journals all over the place a while back.

[Lance Walker]

I find something a bit troubling when going through and reading all of these posts and other posts on religious topics pertaining to Christianity. It's the, "We don't even know if he existed or not." statement. Actually, according to most history books, Jesus DID IN FACT exist. And that he lived to be about the age of 33 years of age when he was crusified by Romans. Though to futher demonstrate this I've decided to click and paste info from the Jesus Institute's website.

Brief Summary of Jesus' Life

Jesus (also called Christ which means king or Messiah) was born in Israel 2000 years ago. Modern civilization marks his birth by dividing time B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini - or the year of our Lord). For his first thirty years, Jesus lived a traditional Jewish life, working as a carpenter. During this time, all of Israel was under Caesar's Roman dictatorship, including Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and Nazareth, where he was raised.
In his thirties, Jesus began his public teaching and display of recorded miracles, yet still never travelled more than 200 miles from his birthplace. Over a three year period, despite his efforts to keep a low profile, Jesus' reputation spread nation wide. The Roman governors and rulers of Israel's provinces and the leaders of the Jewish people (the religious counsels) took note of him. Jesus' key messages included:

God loves you and is with you
Love one another
Immense value of each person
Good news: kingdom of God has come to earth
Reality of judgment to heaven or hell
God forgives those who ask
Jesus' most controversial act was that he repeatedly claimed to be God, which was a direct violation of the Jewish law. Therefore the religious leaders asked the Roman government to execute him. In each of several official trials, the Romans found that he was not guilty of breaking any Roman law. Even the Jewish leaders recognized that other than Jesus' claim to be God, Jesus followed the Jewish law perfectly. Still the religious leaders, using the argument of political disfavor, persuaded Pilate, a Roman governor of the Southern province of Israel, to authorize an execution.
Jesus was brutally tortured and then hung by his hands, which were nailed to a horizontal wooden beam (cross). This method of execution restricted the airflow to his lungs, killing him in three hours. However, according to more than 500 witnesses, Jesus returned from the dead three days later, and over the next 40 days journeyed in both the southern and northern provinces of Israel. To many, this was conclusive proof that Jesus' claims to be God were real. Then Jesus returned to Jerusalem, the city where he was recently executed, and according to witnesses, he left the earth alive by rising up into the sky.

As a result of these miraculous events, the number of his followers increased dramatically. Only a few months later in that same city of Jerusalem one record states that some 3000 new followers were added in a single day. The religious leaders responded by trying to stomp out Jesus' followers. Many of these people chose to die rather than deny their belief that Jesus was truly God.

Within 100 years, people throughout the Roman empire (Asia Minor, Europe) became followers of Jesus. In 325 AD, the following of Jesus, Christianity, became the official religion of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Within 500 years, even Greece's temples of Greek gods were transformed into churches for followers of Jesus. Although some of Jesus' messages and teachings were diluted or miscommunicated through the expansion of a religious institution, Jesus' original words and life still speak loudly for themselves.

Although, according to what I believe they have it a bit wrong on this in the, "He even claimed that he was God." statement. When asked by his disciples if he was God, he would always simply refuse to comment and would instead say that he was the son of God. Though I do believe that he is the son of God and at the same time God Himself due to him being a part of the holy trinity (God the Father, God the son (Jesus), and God the holy ghost) I believe that he refused to acknowledge himself as God while in human form on this earth simply because he thought it would be a grave sin against his father because he was still man then.

Although all are entitled to their beliefs, I find it odd, that since most history books state that Jesus was a man who was born and died like the rest of us, that some would state that they don't know if he existed at all. Too simply have doubts about what has already been stated as fact in most school history books would be to question and doubt established history. I only bring up this little bit because I felt as if it should be know that most historians consider him to be a man who as born and died. The religious part comes into play as to if you believe that he was the son of God and therefore the messiah and was resurrected from the grave. That and it seemed to be a current mini topic forming in this topic.

Now that that's out of the way, as to the "Was Jesus Caucasian?" I believe that he was most assuredly NOT. He was more likely light brown in skin color with black hair and a black beard. The only reason why he appears as a white guy with reddish hair and beard or brown hair and a beard is due to the fact that for the longest time early Christians would not make images of Jesus due to one of the commandments from the ten commandments of the Old Testament that forbid the making an image of God. And when images of God finally DID start being produced that was about roughly the start of the Renassance when there was a rebirth of knowledge so to speak and people begin to become more secular in their views. Jesus was made white during this period of art and for a long time afterward because the for the longest time Western culture, namely the Europeans, viewed the white race as superior to all others and therefore made Jesus to fit their ideal image of what they thought he should look like, instead of the alternative of an image of a race of people the considered to be pagan and savage.

I hope that this helps and that I haven't offended too many people.

Later,

Lance Walker :cool:

http://www.jesus-institute.com/historical-jesus/jesus-life.shtml
Source:

[Lucius]

Jesus, saying he existed, was supposed to be a middle-eastern guy, most likely Jewish, with the curly hair and a complexion that wouldn't roast under a 100-watt light bulb. Making him the standard West European was just a way for the religious groups in the Dark Ages to make Christianity that little bit more acceptable. It was at the end of the Dark Ages when a lot of Church art was drawn, so it's easy to understand why they'd assume that their savior wasn't one of those strange people who keep fighting them near their holy cities. That's also why you don't see a single person with a yamaka on in 'The Last Supper', although that was a different time period. Jesus and his friends might have been rebelling against the establishment, but they wouldn't have forsaken hats. It's not so much rascism as stupidity, as always.

A well thought out reply. And one I happen to agree with. ;)
Aside from that, followers of any given 'white-light' religion consistantly exhibit an inherent need to physiologically identify with their favorite externalization. It extends into the very anthropomorphizing of any deity, for that matter.

[wolf bollocks]

we, whiteys, can't take that the founder of our religion was black, but saying that thats what he looked like because of our feeble star that we leach life off,the sun, if he is the one true god then he will apear to us as our own most trusted race and speak in our own language, like it or not there will always be a little racist in all of us, just another human fault

[Ves]

Oh for the love of all that's holy...
This thread is seriously going round and round in circles.
So to summarise:-

- Jesus was not a caucasian.
- He was probably of middle-eastern colouring seeing as how that's where he was from.
- The church wanted him portrayed as a caucasian so as not to alienate the faithful (who were incidentally being told to go kill people that looked like middle-easterners at the time in the crusades).
- Jesus may or may not have actually existed, but it's looking fairly likely he actually did. (Though I would point out History books are not necessarily accurate, in 2000 years "John Doe" might be thought to have been a popular name in the late 20th century)
- Whether or not he was the son of God, God itself, or just an ordinary guy is still a matter of debate.

OK next thread please thankyou.

[J.L.R.]

Having a friend who is a Jew. Most certianly Jesus was probably, as already mentioned, olive skin, with brown eyes, according to region at the time...

But honestly people...

I think we are missing the point. Jesus Christ, according to the Bible, came to die and save ALL people, regardless to race. So does it really matter what color He was? What matters is the life He lived.

[Ves]

I think we are missing the point.
In the words of Vic Reeves, "ooh you wouldn't let it lie would you".

[Salahudeen]

The whole reason that the Prophet Jesus (as) is depicted as white is because of the Europeans. I saw in a popular mechanics magazine that they did a forensic study of the bible and made a better mock up of what Jesus (as) looked like. He had short hair because he says in the bible that it is shameful for a man to have long hair and he looks more like an Arab only a little darker as he was a semite. The white Jesus (as) is a result of Europeans who felt themselves better than everybody else.

[Salahudeen]

Having a friend who is a Jew. Most certianly Jesus was probably, as already mentioned, olive skin, with brown eyes, according to region at the time...

But honestly people...

I think we are missing the point. Jesus Christ, according to the Bible, came to die and save ALL people, regardless to race. So does it really matter what color He was? What matters is the life He lived.If you look in the bible Jesus (as) was only sent to the Jews.

"A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, 'Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.' He [Jesus] answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.' The woman came and knelt before him. 'Lord, help me!' she said. He [Jesus] replied 'It is not right to take the children's [Jews] bread [blessings and miracles reserved for them] and toss it to their dogs [the Canaanite, or the Philistines].' 'Yes, Lord' she said, 'but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.' Then Jesus answered, 'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 15:22-28)

"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: 'Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.' (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 10:5-6)

[Loups_Garou]

Jesus was a Nazerite, Nazereth was around modern day Iraq. So Jesus was an Iraqi.

[Human Hunter]

This reminds me of the gnositc legend that Jesus was the son of a german mercenary, the captain of the Jerusalem Legion called Pandera.

[Ves]

GAH! I beg the moderators, please close this stupid, pointless thread, please!

There's really no point in debating what colour Jesus was, because nobody knows for certain, and nobody can prove that he even existed in the first place (which incidentally would be a far better thread than this).

He was described and depicted as a white man with brown beard in the middle-ages because we were merrily tromping around the holy land slaughtering the locals at the time and to suggest that the Lord might have looked like one of them naughty saracen chappies was not considered a politically brilliant idea, simple as that. Right, can that now please be an end to it. Thank you.

[LV426]

Jesus was an alien.


Right then!