Is Jesus' portrayal in churches racist?

[Pope66]

Which was exactly why I picked Samaritans as the best modern example of what 1st Century Jews looked like, and not Ashkenazi Jews.

Whereas Yemeni Jews are a poor example for exactly the same reason as Ashkenazi Jews are; in both cases there has been intermarriage with non-Jews over the centuries.

Well many Ashkenazi would not look out of place in the Levant. BTW Albert Einstein and Anne Frank are from Germany, but if you saw them in the street, you would not think they are ethnic German. Also Goldier Meir was born in Ukraine, and she certainaily does not look like a typical Slavic Ukrainian. Ariel Sharon family comes from Belurus and Russia, yet he does not look like an typical ethnic Slavic Russian.

BTW I have encountered many Askkenazi Jews and many of them would would not look out of place as if they are originally from the Levant.

Many Askenazi Jews look Semitic, yet many do not too.

 

[Radagast]

Well many Ashkenazi would not look out of place in the Levant.

Genetically, the Ashkenazim are about half European (for various reasons, the genetics of the Ashkenazim has been very thoroughly studied). Take a look at the chart.

The Samaritans, who stayed behind, have probably mixed less with other ethnic groups.

 

[Pope66]

Genetically, the Ashkenazim are a bit over half European.

Well I am sure when Anne Frank lived in the Netherlands, she or her family would not be able to blend in like the Dutch natives in WW2 in the Netherlands if one saw them walking in the street, neither in Germany, even if they did not have the star of David on them.

BTW according to studies:
Jewish communities from Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus all have substantial genetic ancestry that traces back to the Levant; Ethiopian Jews and two Judaic communities in India are genetically much closer to their host populations.

Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews have roughly 30 percent European ancestry, with most of the rest from the Middle East, the two surveys find. The two communities seem very similar to each other genetically, which is unexpected because they have been separated for so long.Studies Show Jews’ Genetic Similarity

Yet for Jews of Europe today and North America, Jews are more likely to have 50% more European ancestery. Yet intermarriage of Jews and non Jews have for thousands of years have been tradionally been taboo. Yet things began to change with increased secularism in Europe from the end of the 18th century and intermarriage became less of a taboo.

I am sure in the 1920s Germany it was becoming increasingly common for intermarriage between Jews and ethnic Germans. With that the Nazis saw that as a huge threat to the purity of the German race.

Anyway it is more likely there intermarriage throughout the centuries between Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews, due to the common religion and the ability to speak Hebrew with each other. That is a reason due to the similarity of a common ancestry.

 

[Radagast]

Well I am sure when Anne Frank lived in the Netherlands, she or her family would not be able to blend in like the Dutch natives in WW2 in the Netherlands

I agree.

BTW according to studies:
Jewish communities from Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus all have substantial genetic ancestry that traces back to the Levant

That was exactly my point; genetically about half.

Ethiopian Jews and two Judaic communities in India are genetically much closer to their host populations.

That was also my point, which is why Yemeni Jews are not a good indicator either.

Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews have roughly 30 percent European ancestry, with most of the rest from the Middle East, the two surveys find.

The more recent and more detailed study that I linked to (and from which the diagram comes) says 35% to 60% European, with the European mixture coming at two different periods in history (one in southern Europe and one in eastern Europe).

 

[rturner76]

There is no "fact" about him being dark brown or with typical arabic/jewish look of today.

And do not expect that church or the whole world will change everything just because of some local American internal political problem.

Jacob, the father of Israel, was the twin brother of Esau who is described as “Adomni” which is translated as ruddy, red haired, or golden haired in Genesis 25:25.

David, King of Israel is also described as “Adomni” in 1 Samuel 16:12 meaning he had red or golden color hair.

Joseph of the Old Testament married an Egyptian woman in Genesis 41:45 however Egyptians at this time, particularly the Egyptian elite, were fair skinned people. An examination of King Ramses II, a Biblical contemporary at the time, has showed that this Egyptian Pharo was a natural red head. In addition thousands of red and blond haired mummies have been found in Egypt and the famous King Tut shares DNA with 50% of modern Western Europeans.

In the Bible we are told that Jesus has white or red hair. Revelation 1: 13-16 describes his hair as white as snow, or another translation can read “burning in a furnace” which would indicate red, like a flame.

Also, Christian visions of Jesus/Mary do not support typical dark-skinned, "arabic" or "palestinian" type of look at all.

Depictions of Christ as having fair or reddish hair are the most common depiction of Jesus since the beginning of Christianity.

It is only logical that the look of the Son of God will be atypical, extraordinary and esthetic.

I saw a whole website dedicated to trying to convince people that Egyptians were white or the nobility was white. All of which are lies.

Were there white Egyptians? Of course and for a European to migrate to Egypt they or their family would have to be rich. Rich people mingle with royalty and people mix. So I also have no doubt there could be amEgyptian prince with some European DNA. That said

If you do research at just about any university that does anthropology on Egypt. Virtually all the Kings of Egypt were brown, dark brown, and light brown. All of the status, paintings, and even their written language is based on brown men and woman.

So just because there are some fair haired mummies, it doesn't change the fact that Egypt was and always has been brown skinned curly haired people of varying shades of brown and tan. Especially in southern Egypt where the monuments are dark brown almost black.

Now Jesus is another story. Personally I think it's a vague description and not a lot of details on his looks is because he could have been anybody. That is part of his universal appeal. Israelites come in every color of the rainbow. Dark black Africans, Blonde Norwegans, Chinese, Russian, so we can't know. The reason he looks Italian in so many paintings is Italy made most of the art of the Church for hundreds of years. All the paintings we think of when we consider Jesus are the Italian models , relatives, and friends of the artists that made them in Italy or France

 

[Hazelelponi]

Hi all,

With recent events focusing on fighting racism, do you think we should talk about how Jesus is portrayed in western churches? Fair and white, yet we know for a fact he was dark brown from the middle east.

I've been reading this article of what Jesus mostly likely looked like, based on the appearance of Isreali people at that time period.

CNN.com - From science and computers, a new face of Jesus - Dec. 26, 2002

Thoughts?

There should never be any depiction of Jesus anywhere, for any reason.

Icons, Graven Images, and the Church – by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon | Reformed Theology at A Puritan's Mind

It's a sin in the first place, so arguing racism is a moot point and is attempting to be political where concerns our Lord, which is something we should never be where concerns the Christ. He is above the thoughts and ways of man...

Bringing Him down to your level should be also considered sin.

 

[Marumorose]

Hi all,

With recent events focusing on fighting racism, do you think we should talk about how Jesus is portrayed in western churches? Fair and white, yet we know for a fact he was dark brown from the middle east.

I've been reading this article of what Jesus mostly likely looked like, based on the appearance of Isreali people at that time period.

CNN.com - From science and computers, a new face of Jesus - Dec. 26, 2002

Thoughts?

Exodus 20:4 says "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."
Jesus Christ is heavenly and everything was created through him. The Book of Enoch says
"For men were not created, that they should confirm their faith like this, with pen and ink."
We should not be making images of him. We must ignore those pictures of Jesus christ. If we are righteous and we keep his commandments, he will reveal himself to us
May God Bless You

 

[Swag365]

Exodus 20:4 says "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."

You have already made an image of yourself in your avatar. And you are on the Earth.

 

[buzuxi02]

Then we should let the Christian Palestinians back in.. What good is allowing the Muslim kind when Islam is bent upon destroying all Jews? Let the Muslims back in on a technicality so they can wreak havoc upon the Jew?

Less than 2% of the the Christian's now remain. Ramallah was predominately Christian up till a few decades ago. It was found as a Christian town a few centuries ago. But if you read the history of the area you can see why many just emigrated to the States in the past 5 decades

 

[George95]

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