Was Jesus Christ white? In the English language, people have been called “white” only since the 1600s. Race is a way of looking at people to excuse slavery and genocide, an idea from We…
Was Jesus white? | Abagond Home About Broken Records Comment Policy Glossary Links Open Thread Promised Abagond 500 words a day on whatever I want Feeds: Posts Comments Was Jesus white? Thu Dec 26th 2013 by abagond Our picture of Jesus does not fall from the sky. Was Jesus Christ white? In the English language, people have been called “white” only since the 1600s. Race is a way of looking at people to excuse slavery and genocide, an idea from Western imperialism. No one back in the time of Jesus thought that way. Furthermore, Jesus’s part of the world is at the wrong end of Western imperialism. In this sense Jesus was not white at all – wrong time, wrong place. The paradox is that most white Westerners are Christians. To square the circle they picture him as white, as something like this: The Divine Mercy image, the number one image for “Jesus” in Google Images in 2013 skin: white hair: long, flowing, brown eyes: sometimes blue (as in Joseph Smith’s vision) robes: white body: tall and thin nose: narrow and pointed That picture of Jesus is dangerous and wrong. Dangerous because of the part White Jesus has played in dehumanizing people of colour, through internalized and externalized racism. Wrong because as best we can tell he probably looked something like this: A Jewish man from Jesus’s time and place. Jesus looked something like that in terms of race. skin: light brown hair: short and black, maybe curly. St Paul condemned long hair, so it is unlikely Jesus himself wore his hair long. eyes: brown robes: not white. The New Testament points out when people are dressed in white, so it was pretty rare. body: short by current Western standards, as anyone knows who has visited Pompeii, destroyed some 35 years after Jesus died on the cross. nose: somewhat broad That is what Jewish men from Jesus’s time and place generally looked like. One had his appearance forensically reconstructed for the BBC in 2001 (pictured above). The key is that Judas had to betray Jesus with a kiss. That meant Jesus looked pretty much like everyone else of that time and place. A White Jesus would stick out like a sore thumb. No kiss necessary. The same goes for a Jesus who looked like St John’s vision (Revelations 1:14-15): His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. In the earliest pictures we have of Jews, from the 200s, they were brown-skinned. They were markedly darker than most Jewish Americans, whose ancestors had lived in Europe for nearly 2,000 years before coming to America. In short, Jesus was Awkwardly Brown. Awkward, that is, for white racists. The U.S. Census would currently count him as white, as it does all Jews and all people from the Middle East. But the New York police and American airport security would currently racially profile him as a possible threat to white people. Theologically, a white Jesus is a perversion. James Cone: Whiteness, as revealed in the history of America, is the expression of what is wrong with man. It is a symbol of man’s depravity. God cannot be white, even though white churches have portrayed him as white. – Abagond, 2013. See also: Jesus Christ Megyn Kelly: Santa is white Was Cleopatra black? Jews How black are Jews? The Third Enlargement of American Whiteness terms The term “Middle East” The term “race” The three pillars of American white supremacy – where brown people fit in white racist guide to writing history – honorary whites The most beautiful white women – definition of “white” racial profiling Pompeii Share this post:TwitterFacebookPinterestTumblrRedditEmailPrintLike Loading... Posted in stuff | 187 Comments 187 Responses on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 15:21:36 Mosh The U.S. Census would currently count him as white, as it does all Jews and all people from the Middle East. But the New York police and American airport security would currently racially profile him as a possible threat to white people. True, If Jesus were alive today, he would be detained at an American airport and probably sent to Gitmo, Jesus wasn’t white, nor was Saint Nicholas, they both were ‘Brown’. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 15:31:55 AJNC The same goes for a Jesus who looked like St John’s vision (Revelations 1:14-15): His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. ————————————————————————————————- There’s a white woman who actually claimed on Youtube that Jesus was black – based on the above passage of St.John who describes Jesus’ hair to be of a wooly texture….. My Christmas love to all readers! LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 15:44:24 indigoblu As a Christian, I’ve revisited this subject often and I’ve seen this image over and over again (pale skin, narrow nose, blue eyed Jesus)…and questioned it because it simply made no sense in reality of the past but a lot of sense in reality of our present world. Viewing Jesus as a “white” man is just easier on the white psyche. I’d tell myself and I’d hear people exclaim that it doesn’t really matter what Jesus looked like, but it sort of does for a couple of reasons: 1. It’s not a accurate depiction of his physical appearance which was made very clear in the Bible and if all things are to be considered and we are to not change things in the Bible in terms of wording and essence, reasoning should stand that depictions should also reflect the words of the Bible and not what we’d merely like it to be–unless, of course, you believe Jesus to be like the tooth fairy: purely imaginative so he can look however you want him to look in your mind. 2. If you are a believer and truly have a problem with seeing Jesus as he was based on the physical descriptions in the Bible, would you love or honor him any less looking nothing like the pale skin, narrow nose, blue eyed Jesus you’ve always thought of? That just may be a problem in the hearts of many. LikeLiked by 1 person on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 15:56:42 Sharina @indigoblu Absolutely love the way you put it. @the topic The thing I have found is that many take the metophoric use of white and black literally. Good must be white bad must be black and so and so on. This may be the very reason many many believe Jesus to be white. They feel that anything good must be of white or of white skin. My 6 year old recently struggled with this concept and I asked my husband, who she fashioned to be “white”, to exlain to her the idea of white and black as presented in the bible vs this false idea of white good black bad. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 16:19:52 dave Good post Abagond.. Some people have gone the other way, for what I believe to be their own racist reasons, and depicted Jesus to look like a Jamaican guy with dreads. I was always under the impression that he was probably somewhere in the middle and said the same as you that “it wasn’t as important at the time”. I don’t believe all of the depictions have racist origins… If you go around to other cultures around the world Jesus is usually depicted to look like them. Some of that could be racial reasons, but some could be that Jesus can take any form he wants and he is within all of us no matter the color. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ChineseJesus.jpg) LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 16:41:13 dave @AJNC by the way the book of revelations is from the second coming that apparently hasn’t happened yet. I don’t think he comes back in his same exact form. I don’t think that should be the proof for the black racist who want him to look like Wesley Snipes with long dreads. Sorry to single you out personally I just have seen that argument used alone (The Revelations vision) with no historical basis as Abagond has used here. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 16:55:33 indigoblu @dave You said: I don’t believe all of the depictions have racist origins… If you go around to other cultures around the world Jesus is usually depicted to look like them. Some of that could be racial reasons, but some could be that Jesus can take any form he wants and he is within all of us no matter the color. —-In the Western world, no matter the what part, Jesus is USUALLY depicted as a white man, not Latino, not black, not other.The Bible CLEARLY STATES HIS PHYSICAL APPEARANCE and it’s not white. You’d certainly would be one of those people whose heart would be troubled as I a spoke of earlier. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 16:57:36 King “The Bible CLEARLY STATES HIS PHYSICAL APPEARANCE” Where? LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:10:21 indigoblu @King Do your own homework; I’ll help you a little this time; make sure to look into historical and realistic depictions of Jesus considering the part of the world he lived in and then read Abagond blog post all over again. You’re welcome. Revelation 1:15 ESV His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. Revelation 1:13-14 ESV And in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, Daniel 10:5-6 ESV I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:12:10 indigoblu If you’re not sure of what bronze looks like, please — just google it. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:20:58 dave @indigoblu… I’m saying he was somewhere in the middle. Obviously you want to say he looked more like you.. if he did I have no problem with it. I also wouldn’t have a problem if he was lighter either and neither should you. He’s my lord and savior and I really don’t want to argue in that manner. He loves all of us no matter the color. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:32:34 indigoblu @ dave Nothing I said implies I WANT him to be anything–lol, and that is actually the point; I just know that he WASN’T a white man with blue eyes living in the middle east, sticking out like a sore thumb, as he is oh so often depicted. I, unlike you, am not turning a blind eye to this reality nor am I making excuses for it. I’m going with the Biblical description and what historically makes sense; if you have issues understanding that, I can’t help you, and I don’t think anyone could. LikeLiked by 1 person on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:34:43 indigoblu @Peanut That is a good way to go about it. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:38:49 indigoblu smh peanut…I just read your second post, lol…a mess. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:41:00 King Both Daniel and Revelation are prophetic books, filled with symbolic imagery. Jesus is also called ‘The Lamb of God” Revelation 5:2; Revelation 5:9; Revelation 5:12—It doesn’t mean that Jesus’ physical appearance is that of a sheep. One hint should be the description in your very own text: Daniel 10:5-6 ESV I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl” Beryl is a green semi-precious stone. his face like the appearance of lightning” What color is lightning? his eyes like flaming torches What color are flaming torches? And finally we come to the part that you are basing his race on: his arms and legs, like the GLEAM” of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.” So the description is talking about how his arms and legs gleam or shine not what their color is. And in any case, BURNISHED brass looks like this: Burnishing a metal means that you use an abrasive in order to make it shinier than it would be otherwise. No, I’m afraid these descriptions are not at all proof of race. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:42:12 dave Jesus can. He can help you to let go of your anger too. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:51:50 dave @King that’s pretty much what I was trying to say earlier.. you just did it more eloquent than me. Revelations is a dream or a “vision” that is about when Christ comes to save us at the end times. The book of Daniel has similar implications. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 17:53:21 indigoblu @Dave If only I were angry about anything, I’m sure he could. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:00:15 dave Ok then Merry Christmas to you.. and have a safe and happy new year. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:03:50 mary burrell I watched a documentary on CNN last night titled After Jesus, it was mentioned that depending on the region he was from, his skin color would be swarthy/dark with dark hair and eyes. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:03:59 indigoblu @ King Are you even aware of what you are arguing and what my point is? I’m not arguing that Jesus was black; I’m simply arguing was not white. Rather or not you see the biblical description as imagery or not–if you look purely at this historically—people in that part of the world are simply not white. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:12:11 indigoblu …extenuating circumstances, of course, could change that. “White” tampers on relativity now, unless it’s brown enough to be called black. LOL LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:14:28 mary burrell @indigoblu: Very eloquent words, LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:25:05 King @ indigoblu It’s not really a question of “whether or not Isee the biblical descriptions as imagery.” Any careful reading of the text will reveal the green beryl, the white lightning, and the fact that the gleam of bronze is being referenced rather than the color. Given these multiple colors it would be impossible for anyone to make ANY racial point whatsoever using these texts. Race (as we see it today) was not a concept back in the biblical era, and I think it is probably wise not to use the bible as a determinant do what modern race we think a person might be or might not be associated with today. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:29:35 King However, I think anthropologically, from a what we know of the region and time in which Jesus lived, he was almost certainly of a darker, Semitic complexion with darker, somewhat curly hair. Not that his race is ultimately important, of course. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:38:07 indigoblu @King I don’t see the text a pure imagery. Of course, at least in part, it HAS to be but it doesn’t have to be entirely, especially seeing what part of the world Jesus lived in. Revelation 1:15 ESV His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. Who is to say that this is not also in reference to his skin tone, as this particular passage is NOT referring to gleam or shine of the skin but the skin itself. Yes, I know how burnished bronze appears and it’s not white. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:49:44 King But that is exactly the point Indigoblu. There is no way that you can make the point textually, simply based on picking and choosing which texts you believe to be literal and which ones you do not. (on what basis?) (Note: Again, BURNISHED bonze is not brown, it looks more like like a dull brass (not quite as bright) A person could just as easily point to “his face like the appearance of lightning” and argue that he was White. It seems far wiser to just let descriptions in prophetic books alone as determinants of what phenotype someone was. And as I say again, just because it bears repeating, it really shouldn’t be that big a deal whatever race he was. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 18:54:32 King Ooops, somehow missed understanding you last sentence, so forgive my beating a dead horse on burnishing. But really, I think most people today get the fact that jesus was not White intellectually. It’s just that with centuries of art portraying him as White, it’s hard to get it visually. Most people probably still see Jesus as White, based on all the images portraying him as such. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 19:02:19 indigoblu @King …but isn’t that what you just did with the scriptures I provided you? Of course. It’s your opinion that it’s purely imagery and it’s my opinion and it’s not necessarily purely imagery especially in light of historical context; If lightening was white–that may be something worth thinking about. No, it doesn’t “matter” what race, that’s where we agree, but he was not a pale skin, blue eyed man with a somehow vastly different phenotype from his counterparts in the same part of the world. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 19:08:04 indigoblu @ King Yes, an obvious social fact but not the obvious historical fact; LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 19:11:23 King …but isn’t that what you just did with the scriptures I provided you? Of course. No, not really. What I did was to say that all of it was within a context that would be unreliable for using to determine race. The “color coding” in the texts points to several varying colors, therefore no specific “race” can be determined or eliminated. So, the texts probably aren’t talking about race (based on the given scriptural context—not on my own selective choosing) No, it doesn’t “matter” what race, that’s where we agree, but he was not a pale skin, blue eyed man with a somehow vastly different phenotype from his counterparts in the same part of the world.” No, I totally agree, based on history and geography that he was not a pale skin, blue eyed man with vastly different phenotype from his counterparts in the same part of the world. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 19:24:43 indigoblu @ King Lol, of course you did; you took the passages that would make your argument the strongest about imagery and left out the one that would not. It does reference several different colors (and in reference to several different things other than skin tone); agreed. Is pure imagery the only way to look at it these passages? Absolutely not. By thinking that all of it was imagery, does that make it correct, right, completely sound? No, not really. I can use the “bronze” in regard to skin tone referenced in that text to say that he was not a white man and actually be correct in how the writer intended the description outside of imagery, again also considering the historical context. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 19:25:18 Sharina @ dave Don’t assume she is angry simply because she chose to address you. You know what they say about assumptions. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 19:27:47 Sharina @ king Thank you. Symbolic is a more appropriate term to use instead of metaphoric. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 19:53:41 King @ indigoblu I think I’ve gone as far as I am going to into biblical interpretation, because it gets to be “in the weeds” for most, and I think the main point of the will get swallowed up in a particular use of a few texts. Of course, I could go deeper into the principles of eisegesis versus exegesis, but imagine how boring that would become… So I’ll choose to just leave it at that. If you wish to believe that the burnished bronze has some racial connotations, then so be it. LikeLike on Thu Dec 26th 2013 at 20:00:20 King of Trouble There is nothing about religious art that seems to accurately portray Jesus. I mean shouldn’t be a wild man who loves to party. Very social, had tons of friends from both the wrong and right crowd. Yet, religious art is stuck at the point that he goes and prays for another way to forgive sin, one that doesn’t take his life. I truly believe that Jesus was not his best at miracle time but when he was expressing his human side. When he was talking, par… truncated (110,960 more characters in archive)