The white Jesus

What Bible do you read?... The Koran?

Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
(Rom 9:4-5)

How about looking how Josephus described Our Lord and Savior:


“At that time also there appeared a certain man of magic power … if it be meet to call him a man, [whose name is Jesus], whom [certain] Greeks call a son of [a] God, but his disciples [call] the true prophet … he was a man of simple appearance, mature age, black-skinned (melagchrous), short growth, three cubits tall, hunchbacked, prognathous (lit. ‘with a long face’ [macroprosopos]), a long nose, eyebrows meeting above the nose … with scanty [curly] hair, but having a line in the middle of the head after the fashion of the Nazaraeans, with an undeveloped beard.”


^
This portion is very interesting:

Black Skinned and Hunchbacked!

he was a man of simple appearance, mature age, black-skinned (melagchrous), short growth, three cubits tall, hunchbacked, prognathous (lit. ‘with a long face’ [macroprosopos]), a long nose, eyebrows meeting above the nose

Pure unadulterated urban legend.

. Do we really need another controversial race thread at this time?

You say this because you don't believe in the power of the Gospel, you need something else.

Your ideas are just as wrong as the bishop who you are criticising. Do we really need another controversial race thread at this time?

I don't think it will affect salvation. It is ignorance, for sure, but it's one easily corrected by actually reading the Bible.

But observe that every race does this. Native Americans paint frescoes of Jesus like He was a Native American. In Asian churches He looks like an Asian. And black people like to paint Jesus black. White people painted Him white. What is my point. That everyone imagines a face of a person they haven't seen with a skin color they are used to the most. I'm saying it's not racially motivated and it is not malignant. If I am black and someone tells me a story about some person and I don't know how they look, I will be imagining a black person throughout the story, because that's how the faces of my immediate family look like and what I'm used to. Same if you ask people to imagine a fruit most will imagine apple, if you ask them to imagine a tool a big majority will say they imagined hammer. Same goes for an artist painting a fresco.


(church in Osaka, Japan, with a very Japanese looking Mary)





(Ethiopian Orthodox church frescoes)


(from a church in Beijing)



(Indian nativity fresco)


(traditional Orthodox frescoes, this one is in Russia, but also in my country and all Eastern Orthodox countries, represent Biblical characters with diverse tones of olive, some even very dark, which is correct as representation of Semitic skin color. And this is the iconographic canon in Orthodox church, colors vary slightly, it goes from golden/olive/ruddy (most commonly) to brown, I've never seen a pasty Jesus in an Orthodox church in my life.

Problem is that - and I might get hate for this, but pretty much this is American believers doing this - they only know a bit of Catholic tradition not even whole Catholic tradition and then act like they know all about most branches of Christianity or what "white men" do, and they go off the rails based on poor information and bias.)


(14th century Ethiopian church)


(The Apache Christ on the Mescalero Apache reservation)


(South Korean church mosaic)



(some more Ethiopian Christian art)

And I can go on and on, but I think I proved my point... I suggest American believers to get educated, no offense meant, Catholicism isn't the whole Christianity and is barely half of the early church, and not just in this area, American believers are still stuck in Reformation movement in ways, this goes for many areas of discussion and on many topics people just kneejerk to everything... Sorry if this came across as aimed at you, I did not follow all your posts to know your full stance on this matter, it's rather intended to a lot of people, I am a bit tired of watching people raving in utter ignorance about both basic human psychology and Christian iconography...

Jesus is depicted as a white man and that poses a challenge when trying to present the Jewish Jesus.
So how does one present a case against someone who has been disturbed by the misrepresentation of Jesus?

I tried uploading a video but the extension is not allowed.

The following are the words of a Bishop residing in South Africa:


"The day I will see a white man dying for a black man, then I will believe in the white Jesus dying for black people. As far as am concerned, the black man is still hanging on the cross, surrounded by the two thieves on the left and on the right. These are the Europeans and the Chinese who are busy crucifying Africa on the same cross. We cannot even talk about the death of Jesus, let's talk about the dying of Africa constantly. Let's not create Theology of poverty and misery and glorify the death of Jesus when our brothers and sisters are still dying. The death of Christ, is a symbolic death, the death of truth, the death of the poor, the death of the marginalized, the death of the children of the soil and if religion is used to pacify that, then that is the doctrine of demons. For he came to set the captives free and until Africa is free, there is no Jesus who has died on the cross. We are still dying to date. It cannot take one man to save the world yet we have 20 million Africans who died in the sea during slave trade. Is these God not tired of drinking blood, how much more blood does he need. Can you look at Congo, give me the 15 million that died plus the 25,35 million. Calculate all the wars that has been fought in Africa, how many more millions. Your telling me all this blood that has been spilled is worth northing except the blood of one man who hang on the cross. Theology must not be used to create a sympathy for the white man. Theology must be used to evoke the African to start thinking. Have we come down from the cross yet or the Romans, they have not changed, they are still Europeans, they are still nailing our hands, the chastising of our work, putting on crowns of thorns on our heads, managing our minds and what we think. Piercing our sides,poking our reserves of food and etc. Nailing our feet, passports we cannot travel without this and that. Can you tell me that Jesus died on the cross?The day I see a black man free, I will start talking about Jesus who died for the sins of the world.He could not have died for a black man and the white man who believes in him did the crimes that he did".

He is very persuasive and have caught the attention of many people. his words reminds me of the Jewish people who rejected Jesus with the expectation of being delivered from the Roman oppression.

I am a black woman who believes that Jesus died on the cross to save humanity from it's sinful state. but how can I convince a black person holding on to the image of Jesus being depicted as a white man?

Let us kindly engage in a manner that will bring glory to God.

The Bible doesn't say what Jesus's skin pigmentation happened to be. We can make inferences, assumptions, and project an idea but that isn't the same as knowing is it?

In my view it doesn't really matter what his skin color was. Without empirical evidence there really isn't a case to be made. Had the Bible been explicit about skin color, we would probably see a more harmonious depiction of Jesus in art across cultures. We don't see such a thing; We see people making an idealized Jesus based off of what people can relate to.

it is not a misrepresentation it is an association. I have seen in my travels around the world pictures pained and status of Jesus

Asian
African
european
middle eastern

No, I follow the God who is *NOT* racist. As your OWN verse which has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus' race says.

Like I said, daring say the obvious that Jesus was Palestinian doesn't sit well with many Christians. And you didn't disappoint. Keep those dislikes coming. Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America, and this idea that God has some "chosen race", as opposed to the second-class, non-chosen race of Ishmael is pure racist myth. And it's got to go.

Jesus is depicted as a white man and that poses a challenge when trying to present the Jewish Jesus.
So how does one present a case against someone who has been disturbed by the misrepresentation of Jesus?

I tried uploading a video but the extension is not allowed.

The following are the words of a Bishop residing in South Africa:


"The day I will see a white man dying for a black man, then I will believe in the white Jesus dying for black people. As far as am concerned, the black man is still hanging on the cross, surrounded by the two thieves on the left and on the right. These are the Europeans and the Chinese who are busy crucifying Africa on the same cross. We cannot even talk about the death of Jesus, let's talk about the dying of Africa constantly. Let's not create Theology of poverty and misery and glorify the death of Jesus when our brothers and sisters are still dying. The death of Christ, is a symbolic death, the death of truth, the death of the poor, the death of the marginalized, the death of the children of the soil and if religion is used to pacify that, then that is the doctrine of demons. For he came to set the captives free and until Africa is free, there is no Jesus who has died on the cross. We are still dying to date. It cannot take one man to save the world yet we have 20 million Africans who died in the sea during slave trade. Is these God not tired of drinking blood, how much more blood does he need. Can you look at Congo, give me the 15 million that died plus the 25,35 million. Calculate all the wars that has been fought in Africa, how many more millions. Your telling me all this blood that has been spilled is worth northing except the blood of one man who hang on the cross. Theology must not be used to create a sympathy for the white man. Theology must be used to evoke the African to start thinking. Have we come down from the cross yet or the Romans, they have not changed, they are still Europeans, they are still nailing our hands, the chastising of our work, putting on crowns of thorns on our heads, managing our minds and what we think. Piercing our sides,poking our reserves of food and etc. Nailing our feet, passports we cannot travel without this and that. Can you tell me that Jesus died on the cross?The day I see a black man free, I will start talking about Jesus who died for the sins of the world.He could not have died for a black man and the white man who believes in him did the crimes that he did".

He is very persuasive and have caught the attention of many people. his words reminds me of the Jewish people who rejected Jesus with the expectation of being delivered from the Roman oppression.

I am a black woman who believes that Jesus died on the cross to save humanity from it's sinful state. but how can I convince a black person holding on to the image of Jesus being depicted as a white man?

Let us kindly engage in a manner that will bring glory to God.

The skin color that Jesus had was neither white or black but rather Arabia. And the spirit of Christ is neither white of black.

No, I follow the God who is *NOT* racist. As your OWN verse which has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus' race says.

Like I said, daring say the obvious that Jesus was Palestinian doesn't sit well with many Christians. And you didn't disappoint. Keep those dislikes coming. Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America, and this idea that God has some "chosen race", as opposed to the second-class, non-chosen race of Ishmael is pure racist myth. And it's got to go.

Rome renamed the land of Judea after Israel's extinct ancient enemies the Philistines as spite .. Jesus is a direct descendant from King David through Nathan through Mary

And also through Isaac, NOT Ishmael

Yes, it is important to get that straight

Jesus was not Arabian; Arabs are descendants of Ishmael as already explained in post #85

Jesus came through Isaac's line, the son of promise