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What color was Jesus?

If Jesus existed, what color was he? All of the Jews I have ever seen are white. Some black churches have changed the color of their Jesus to Black. This isn't a bad idea because young black people grow up praying to a white Jesus and that just adds to the white supremacy issue.
I have read where in some cases in countries around the world, their Jesus looks like a regular citizen. I mean, in China, their Jesus is a Chinese person, etc.. In Africa, some groups have an African Jesus.
Basically, what color were the Jews around the time of Jesus? Most ancient paintings of Jesus show him as white, perhaps because the painters like Michaelangelo were white Europeans. What color was Jesus?

Grecio 7 Aug 16
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8

He was glow-in-the-dark, according to the thing that hung on the wall of my second mother-in-law's bedroom.

7

From an article years ago, Jesus would have looked like this guy, swarthy and not very tall, like the rest of the people of that area looked like based on records from the time. Given the amount of sunlight that the area gets, they would have been a darker skinned people, and due to the nutritional standards of the time they would not have been as tall as humans are today.

That was from National Geographic magazine.

6

I doubt he ever existed so I never contemplate this question .This is a good question for a believer.

I agree. I ask believers how a Palestinian Jew could be blue-eyed with reddish hair?

@Beowulfsfriend people do mix.. i have seen some Palestinians with red hair..

@AmmaRE007 I have no idea the ratio of red hair in Palestine in 10 bce, however, I would expect it to be rare, especially if, according to legend, Jesus carried the Cohan gene at the time.
If he existed, he most likely would have had brown skin, brown eyes, and curly hair. Had he been a carpenter, he would have been most likely physically fit. Had he been a rabbi, he would have been able to read (Not necessarily able to write though).

@Beowulfsfriend

Jewish is a religion, not a race of people.

Race is a social construct. There are plenty of people from all sorts of skin and ethnic variance who claim the jewish faith.

@SCal I know. There is only one race - human. The term has become a social construct. And, I never said race - I did use the word ratio, which I meant.

@SCal I mentioned the Cohen gene because it is often used to identify people descended from the dominant group of people making up the Jewish religion, especially in Israel where 10% of the population of males carries the gene. It is a rarer gene in the general population and only carried by males. Speaking of different backgrounds and people of different color, a group in sub- Saharan Africa, along the coast, long claiming to be descended from Jewish people were tested and 50% of the males did have the Cohen gene. Those tribal people's religious practices do have a smattering of Jewish attributes.

@Beowulfsfriend

Interesting.

5

He was invisible, just as all other examples of non-existant figments of the imagination are.

5

Why would anyone waste brain cells on this question? It goes nowhere.

Hypotheticals like this one amuse some people.

I think the discussion started going..when Christians ( Kristians) were saying the whites are the chosen race and superior.. and they have Christ to prove it...

which brings up a good point; things like this might go nowhere, or with a little digging, one might discover some theory that clicks, and might even fit with some other knowledge. I was raised a baptist believer, and it was difficult to come to the understanding that Jesus probably never literally existed; but that led me to a new understanding of the Esau story, the guy who "eats red stew," and from there i found No son of man may die for another's sins, and the whole religious ball of bullshit came undone pretty quickly after that! Religion is hideous, and also the most roundly condemned thing in the Bible, unbeknownst to most; the NT is basically a record of the failure of a Theocracy, right?

5

Jesus is colored imaginary.

5

none. He didn't exist

you beat me to it

4

Because he's imaginary, you can imagine him as any colour you like.

4

Plaid?

I don't think he was a Scot...😄

@Merseyman1 He could have been. He's White enough. 🙂

3

What color is 'non existent'?

BDair Level 8 Aug 17, 2020

Well said.

3

I don't know, what colour equates to fictional?

In fiction, they're mostly good looking.

3

Purple?

3

If he existed, he would have looked like a jew of the times.

Jewish is a religion. There are people from the jewish faith of all colors. Race is not real.

@SCal thanks for sharing. I love Steve. Saw him twice. F*#k with him and he will cut you down while everyone else there laughs at you

2

Clear. Glass-like. Transparent. Devoid of colour......

2

The first time I encountered the idea that Jesus was black, was when I read the novel "The Col.or Purple", where it referred to a verse which described jesus as having skin of ebony and hair like lambs wool... which si pretty clear.

Here is a site that refers to the bible saying Jesus was black. [africason.com]

Of course if he was black, if he came back as Christians believe, he'd likely be lynched or shot by Americna Christians.

Great comment.

I viewed the article at Africason. Quite compelling. Thanks..

. . . he'd likely be lynched or shot by Americna Christians.

Additionally, he'd be attacked as an unemployed, homeless Marxist.

In one biblical story, he told his starving followers it was okay to get food directly from the fields. Try that act around here, they'll get out a box of shot gun shells and shoot you. They'll even shoot you if you stop the car next to their cabbage patch.

The locals are trigger happy when they see anyone using their driveway to turn around.

2

The depictions of Jesus we are familiar with in paintings and statues are almost exclusively of a white blond, fair haired, blue-eyed European...because that is how Europeans imagined and painted him. If indeed he existed he would have looked just like all the other Palestinians look, ....Middle-Eastern. It struck me when I visited Jerusalem some years ago that I couldn’t tell who were the Christians, Jews or Muslims in the streets, unless the Jews were wearing a kippah and the Muslims a keffiyew, because their countenances were all remarkably similar!

Well said

2

OMG: This is such a non- issue! I totally do not care. If, indeed, I HAD a rat’s ass, I’d still hang onto it.

Well, in the USA, rioters, and ANTIFA people are destroying statues of Jesus. I guess a white Jesus has something to do with promoting white supremacy. I dunno.

@Grecio Yeah, I get that. But I’m just surprised that this would be of interest to anyone who isn’t a christian. I know that most people on this site are ex-christians, so wonder why they would care now. (Personally, I rather we devote some of our brain power to some of the real life issues we are facing!)

If, indeed, I HAD a rat’s ass, I’d still hang onto it.

  • A rat's ass is the tastiest part.* -- Percy the Tom cat.

@WonderWartHog99 Love it: Percy is wise!

2

we create god or jesus in our own image and color. However, if he was a real person, he would be a Palestinian Jew kind of olive-brown he would look like all the rest of them.

he would look like a terrorist according to many people's standards

@AmmaRE007. Yes he would at thatt.

2

The men (there were probably many) on whom the Jesus character was modeled were most likely a deep olive tan and a paler olive, since he was modeled partly on Jews, and partly on Romans. If he had led a more sheltered life, this character would be lighter than Obama, but darker than Yang.

But this character was often literally unsheltered. So, what with sun exposure and all, he was probably closer to a Mike Tyson shade.

And his hair would probably have been a ratty mess. Hmph. You don't go camping all over Galilee and still have soft, flowing locks.

2

As Egon said, "it's whatever it wants to be".
When you're making stuff up you get to make your own choices. Ha, ha.😎

1

He never existed. But the jeebus from the bible was from the middle east.

1

I myself don't believe Jesus of the Bible Existed... But he could have been another Apocalyptic Rabbi that helped spread word. He could have been an Actual Carpenter that the Council Used for their Religion. IDK, If he existed, He would be a Brown skin color man called Yeshua...🤷🏿♂️

1

Take a trip to Israel like I did 3 years ago and travel the four holy cities 'Psfat, Tiberia, Hebron, and Jersusalm. I mention the 4th because that is where you will only see a 'White Jesus ' or anyone suspect to being a near or close likeness to the pale colored skin of what has been painted by other.
I went freelance and everyone speaks English. If they do not then move away. Very inexpensive and very much worth the trip economically and religiously. Stay away from the tours and you will avoid wait lines, destinations. and places of interest when not invaded by tourists.

What do you mean "religiously"? There is very little evidence that Jesus actually lived. There is very little evidence that the Bible is true.

I visited Israel & when I speak of it, most folks automatically assume Judaic affiliation. Very annoying how quickly Americans prejudge others.

1

If Jesus existed, he might have been Amaterasu, Brahma or Zeus color!

1

Revelation chapter 1 has a description of Jesus.
14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,
If Jesus' feet were bronze colored presumably his face was also bronze colored.

Good point.

That passage sounds like a metaphor, but hair like will sounds like an old black man's hair.

@Grecio Don't you think it is possible that Jesus was a brown guy with curly white hair???

@nicknotes I've never seen a 30 year old brown person with white hair. Living in Dixie, I've seen plenty of brown people.

@WonderWartHog99 Just because you have never seen a brown person with white hair doesn't mean they don't exist.

@nicknotes I've seen my share of share of brown people with white hair; NOT 30 year old brown people with white hair.

I should remind you just because I haven't seen fairies dancing on the lawn that doesn't mean they don't exist. Like what's the odds, dude?

@WonderWartHog99 This is certainly something we don't need to argue about.

@nicknotes Oh fudge.

I was hoping on a conversion about on dancing fairies. 😉

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