Where did people get the idea that Jesus was white, had flowing, wavy brown hair

[raccoon]

and a beard, and blue eyes?

[Deep13]

1. From white church officials and artists.

IIRC, most middle-eastern Jews don't look like that.

[triguy46]

40. Pretty much sums it up.

[Fox Mulder]

2. I've been wondering that too.

[redqueen]

3. Was it Michelangelo?

I heard a story that he used his cousin for a model...

[catmandu57]

4. He don't look like bob dylan to me

My grandmother had a picture of what was supposed to be hayzus praying at night in the garden, long straight hair, blue eyes, nice Aryan features.

[SteppingRazor]

5. What we think of when we think of Jesus dates back to about the 4th Century

Supposedly, it's based on the Greek image of Zeus.

[GirlinContempt]

6. It's not uncommon for people to

personalize heroes/mythical or historical figures/whatever.
I've seen white jesus, black jesus, hispanic jesus (and mary), etc.
White is more predominant because most of the art we're familiar with is from European history, as Christianity was the religion happening then.

[deadparrot]

32. Exactly.

People create images of Jesus in their own image. Asians, African and South Americans, etc. Western art predominates our culture, so those are the images we see most often, but it's certainly not exclusive to European art.

[hunter]

39. I didn't know THAT was a representation of Jesus!

[Deep13]

41. During the 1988 Jesse Jackson campaign we used to meet...

...in a Black Baptist church in the basement. On the wall was painted a Madonna with baby Jesus with Black faces.

[sniffa]

7. when whitey found jesus

[MrCoffee]

8. i read somewhere that the beard was used because the gospels are vague

as to what he looked like (there are no detailed descriptions of his physical appearance). of course, i can't find a source for that, but i promise i did read it.

[trof]

16. If he was an orthodox jew, wouldn't he have a beard and earlocks?

i.e. long hair?

[GirlinContempt]

21. Peyot? Well, I suppose if his hair was long enough you wouldn't

know he had peyot. Leviticus does not state "Ye must grow only the hair on the sides of your face, and curl it". It just says you can't 'round off the corner of your head'.
Technically, if all your hair was long, it would blend it, also with a beard.

Doesn't really matter :)

[Sequoia]

30. Oh yes there is....

In the book of Revelation 1:14 it says the son of God has hair like lamb's wool.

"His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;"

http://members.tripod.com/jrmoore1958/jesus.html

[Genevieve]

9. A hypothetical reconstruction of someone from the same time and place of Jesus,

created by forensic artist Richard Neave.

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:qREtBNpVXIoJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_of_Jesus+JESUS+SEMITIC+DARK+HAIR+EYES&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RFJesus.jpg

[IndianaJones]

10. what the heck else would white people worship? nt.

[Irishonly]

11. I Think it

was the Renaissance. Almost everyone looked like a WASP in paintings

[AngryAmish]

12. Because most of the people in this country are white

Most churches find it easier for people to relate to an artists depiction of Jesus that looks like them, for the obvious reason that people relate more to people that look like them.

In other parts of the world the artists' depictions look different. In fact if one looks in different ethnic areas of the US one can find artists' depictions of Jesus that look asian, hispanic, african, etc.


You should get out more.

[GirlinContempt]

15. I posted some above

:)

[Burma Jones]

13. Can you imagine what he smelled like?

People have a real problem worshiping someone they'd despise in real life....Of course, that's the point of Jesus' teachings, isn't it?

[Felix Mala]

14. I have some really "out there" religious family members who recently

discovered the internets. Whenever I get pictures of these Caucasian Jesuses, I always write back and ask "Who's the white guy supposed to be?"

[NC_Nurse]

17. from those black velvet paintings...

[Swede]

18. Probably from medieval depictions.

I don't think he was described in the bible.

[mikeytherat]

19. From this:

"Head of Jesus" - 1940

I was born in 1967, and almost every church I've been in has at least one print of this portrait (often, you will find several). Whenever I see this portrait, I always ask myself, "I wonder who that hockey player is."

mikey_the_rat

[GirlinContempt]

20. Uh, how about Raphael, Guido Reni

Botticelli, Rubens, Raphael?

[zabet]

24. My Grandmother

had that lithograph in a funky twisted brass frame.
:)

[johnnie]

22. Maybe from this?

"One final historically recorded description of Christ which shall be mentioned is to be found in a letter written to the monarch of Rome by Publius Lentrelus who was a resident of Judea in the days of Tiberius Caesar. This letter first appeared in the writings of Saint Anselm of Canterbury in the eleventh century A.D.

There lives at this time in Judea a man of singular virtue whose name is Jesus Christ... his followers love and adore him as the offspring of the Immortal God. He calls back the dead from the graves and heals all sorts of diseases with a word, or a touch. He is a tall man, well-shaped, and of an amiable and reverend aspect; his hair of a color that can barely be matched, falling into graceful curls, waving about and very agreeable.... His forehead high, large and imposing, his cheeks without spot or wrinkle, beautiful with a lovely red; his nose and mouth formed with exquisite symmetry; his beard and of a color suitable to his hair...his eyes bright and blue, clear and serene. Look innocent, dignified, manly, and mature; his arms and hands delectable to behold. (Taken from page 75, Appendix B of The Resurrection Tomb, by E. Raymond Capt."

http://www.crutchercpa.com/jesusdescription.htm



I remembered a letter supposedly by Pontius Pilate that mentions some physical traits too.

[formerrepuke]

23. Everyone knows Jesus looked exactly like this:

...Just LOOK at those eyes! Isn't he dreeeeammy?
(Jeffrey Hunter in 'King of Kings')

[Locrian]

25. dude!

Dreamy eyes?? Hmmm, dude! I am soooooooo stoned. (that was SOME burning bush)


Marijuana in the bible?

it's believed that marijuana was used in annointment oils mentioned in the bible. kaneh-bosm, as it was referred to was wrongly translated as calamus, when it was actually Cannabis. assuming this is true, is it possible the bush mentioned in the story of the burning bush is actually marijuana? it would certainly account for someone hallucinating and seeing "god".

[Sequoia]

34. Funny you should mention that about the burning bush.

I recently finished the book "Under The Banner of Heaven" about the fundlementalist Mormans and Dan Lafferty, who with his brother Ron, murdered their sister-in-law and her 2 year old daughter because they thought she was in the way of the teachings of the prophet. Creepy guys to be sure. But Dan mentioned that he had gone to another fundlementalist camp before all this and drinking wine and smoking pot was okay. He said he truly believed that the Bible was full of references to cannibis and that the burning bush was the fire on the bud which spourts open when it's touched by flame.

[ChickMagic]

35. Oooh!

Derby and I call that "I Was A Teenaged Jesus".

[Sequoia]

26. Maybe that movie, "King of Kings"

with Jeffrey Hunter who was the head on a robot Captain Pike in the piolet for Star Trek.





I saw this movie as a kid and remember saying, "But Jesus had brown eyes."

[Dr. Strange]

27. I think they got it from his yearbook.

Galilee High School, AD 22.

[ZombieNixon]

31. Wouldn't that mean he graduated around the age of 26?

Not the sharpest crayon in the shed, if you know what I mean. :hide:

[Dr. Strange]

37. Oops, wrong yearbook.

I think it was the 16 edition. His brother James graduated in AD 22. My bad.
I should have just checked his school records.

[RevCheesehead]

28. When they found his driver's license.

He fudged a little about his weight, too.

[electprogdems]

29. And the Mormons took it step further

and made a savior or angle or whatever you call it, an American, born and walked the Earth in the Americas! North America, of course.

[Arugula Latte]

33. Jesus looked like Brad Pitt, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

[applegrove]

36. White religion projects themselves onto him. I'm surprised he doesn't

have a crew cut these days.

[SoCalDem]

38. Few people knew he was also a magician..

[northzax]

42. have you seen his parents?

Mom:

Dad:

what would you expect him to look like? huh?

[NewWaveChick1981]

43. Everyone knows Jesus looks like a country music star.

:shrug: You didn't know that?