Insisting Jesus Was White Is Bad History And Bad Theology
In trying to police his depiction, Megyn Kelly is wrong on both the facts and the essential universality of the Christian message.
Fox News television host Megyn Kelly told viewers on her December 11 broadcast that Jesus and Santa are both white men.
Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesnt mean it has to change, Kelly said. Jesus was a white man, too. Its like we have, hes a historical figure thats a verifiable fact, as is Santa, I just want kids to know that. How do you revise it in the middle of the legacy in the story and change Santa from white to black?
Setting aside the ridiculousness of creating rigidly racial depictions of a fictitious character that does not actually existsorry, kidslike Santa, Kelly has made a more serious error about Jesus. The scholarly consensus is actually that Jesus was, like most first-century Jews, probably a dark-skinned man. If he were taking the red-eye flight from San Francisco to New York today, Jesus might be profiled for additional security screening by TSA.
The myth of a white Jesus is one with deep roots throughout Christian history. As early as the Middle Ages and particularly during the Renaissance, popular Western artists depicted Jesus as a white man, often with blue eyes and blondish hair. Perhaps fueled by some Biblical verses correlating lightness with purity and righteousness and darkness with sin and evil, these images sought to craft a sterile Son of God.
Yes, actually.
What Did Jesus Look Like On The Cross
Additionally, the Bible says in Isaiah 52 and 53 that near the time of crucifixion Jesus endured immense torture both physically and mentally. Isaiah 53:4-5 says that Jesus carried our grief and sorrows and that He was whipped, wounded and bruised for our sins. Imagine what Jesus looked like after going through all of that torture. Imagine the look on His face when the nails were placed in His hands. Imagine the look on His face when the crown of thorns was placed on His head. Imagine the look on His face when He forgave Peter. Imagine the love on Jesus face when He sees you, over 2,000 years later, and forgives you for all you have done.
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Also Do You Know What Color Was God In The Bible
God is not a human, the Psalmist plainly states. Jesus himself said that God is Spirit. Whether or not spirit can possess the property of color I do not know but, if so, we are certainly not told which color. Besides that, both the Old and New testaments insist that God is invisible to humans.
Generally What nationality is Jesus? Jesus was Jewish, born to Mary, wife of Joseph. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke offer two accounts of his genealogy. Matthew traces Jesus ancestry to Abraham through David.
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What Must I Do
What must I do? That same question was asked in Acts 2:37 at the end of the very first gospel sermon ever preached. Before we look at Peterâs answer in verse 38, letâs look at some answers Peter did NOT give.
What must I do? John Calvin answers, âNothing!â According to Calvin, there is nothing we must do and nothing we can do. Each of us has already been personally predestined to Heaven or Hell without regard to anything we do on Earth, and so, logically, according to Calvin, the only answer to the question in Acts 2:37 is âNothing.â But that is NOT how Peter answered that question.
What must I do? Many preachers today answer, âYou must make Jesus the Lord of your life.â But that answer makes absolutely no sense then or now! Peter had just said in Acts 2:36 that âGod has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.â Jesus was already Lord of their lives! Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings, which means he is your Lord and your King whether or not you obey him or believe him. We obey Jesus because he is Lord and King â not to make him Lord and King.
Jesus Likely Had Black Hair And A Beard
And do not swear by your head, for you will not be able to make even one hair white or black, Jesus instructed his disciples . Jesus most likely wore a beard and short curly hair with long sideburns or payot, as the Greeks called them. You shall not round off the hair on your temples or ruin the corners of your beard, according to Leviticus 19:27, therefore Jesus adhered to the rules of grooming. In modern times, Orthodox Jewish men continue to have a lengthy beard on the sides of their heads.
Does not the very nature of things tell you that if a man has long hair, it is a source of embarrassment for him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is a source of pride for her? Paul says to early Christians in Corinth.
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What Is The Church Of Christ
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised to build a church. In Acts 2:47, Luke tells us that people were being added to that church. Thus, we can conclude that Jesus built His church sometime between His promise in Matthew 16 and Lukeâs statement in Acts 2. Indeed, a closer study of the events in Acts 2 reveals that the Lordâs church was established on that first day of Pentecost following the Lordâs resurrection when Peter preached the first gospel sermon. That church is the church of Christ.
A common misconception about the church of Christ is that âThe Church of Christâ is its name. It is not. The âchurch of Christâ is its description. The church of Christ is the church that belongs to Christ, that was established by Christ, that was built by Christ, and that was bought by Christ. It is not our church it is His church, the Lordâs church. We are not voted into the church by men, and we do not join a church the way some might join a country club. Instead, God adds us to His church when we obey His gospel.
Thus, the real question is not what is the church of Christ, but is rather how do you become a part of the church of Christ? That question was asked in the first century as it is asked today, and the answer remains the same. We are saved and added to the Lordâs church when we obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like the Apostle Paul, we are saved when our sins are washed away at our baptism.
You Must Be Baptized For The Remission Of Sins
Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. It is at this point that your sins are forgiven. It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!
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What Did Jesus Really Look Like New Study Redraws Holy Image
A quick Google search of Jesus will pull up an assortment of images showing a tall, white guy with long, blondish hair and a beard. But what did Jesus really look like?
In her new book, a scholar says Jesus probably didnt look anything like this modern picture.
The Gospels in the Bible say that Jesus was a Jew who was born around 4 B.C. in Bethlehem and lived in Egypt as a child for a short time before moving to Nazareth. These writings make no mention of what Jesus looked like, aside from some references to the clothing that he and his disciples wore, wrote Joan Taylor, professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at Kings College London, in her book What Did Jesus Look Like? .
Its so curious how little is made of it, what he looked like, Taylor told Live Science.
Even so, both Moses and David, who the Bible says killed Goliath, were described as being handsome figures in the Hebrew Bible.
Additionally, the earliest artistic depictions of Jesus date to at least two centuries after he died, and they provide little credible information about what Jesus may have looked like, Taylor wrote in her book.
To get an idea of Jesus visage, Taylor turned to archaeology and texts that provide clues about the general appearance of Jews in Judea and Egypt at the time Jesus lived. She also looked at artistic images on coins and Egyptian mummy paintings.
What Color Is Jesus And Is There A Hadith Contradiction
In some hadith, Jesus is said to be of red or reddish-white. eg:
Narrated Ibn `Abbas: The Prophet said, I saw Moses, Jesus and Abraham . Jesus was of red complexion, curly hair and a broad chest
Also see Jesus was reddish-white.Yet another hadith says:
Narrated Salim from his father: No, By Allah, the Prophet did not tell that Jesus was of red complexion but said, While I was asleep circumambulating the Ka`ba , suddenly I saw a man of brown complexion. He was the son of Mary.
Only Allah knows the truth, but my question is: why two sahih hadiths contradict each other or, why two contradicting hadith are graded as sahih?
- @Zia Ul Rehman, I checked the Answer #7 you mentioned and I do not agree with it. M.MJun 21, 2016 at 16:37
- Please note that all 3 narratives you refer to use the same word . It is the translator who translated it differently in each occurrence.
There is no contradiction in the original Arabic text of Hadiths.
I checked the translation, it translates this part as , and that is because they translate the word, but it does not work that way, in Arabic you need to understand the context so if you read the word Adam in Moajam , you see it has different meanings one of them is dark complexion, but another meaning is complexion, and if you read the Arabic explication for the group of Hadiths about Jesus, its clear that Jesus had white reddish complexion.
which is translated to :
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What Does All This Mean For Us Today
Knowing that no images or sculptures of Jesus were created during his lifetime serves as a reminder to us that God looks at the heart and not the external appearance of a person. Once, when God enlisted the prophet Samuel to pick the king of Israel, God gave him extremely precise instructions to avoid Saul, who had the appearance of a king but did not have a desire to serve the Lord. In response, the Lord instructed Samuel to disregard his outward appearance or the height of his stature because he had been rejected by Me.’ Because the Lord views things differently than men do: men gaze at the external appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. It is critical that we learn from this and refrain from judging ourselves or others based on our external looks.
Jesus Was Neither Tall Nor Remarkably Good Looking
They would have made a comment if Jesus arrival had been noteworthy in any manner, according to the gospels writers. For example, in the Gospel of Luke, a tax collector by the name of Zachaeusas short is described. Jesus was on his way to him, and Zacchaeus was interested in seeing what he was like. Zacchaeus, on the other hand, was a small man who couldnt see above the crowd. As a result, he went ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree, says the author. If Jesus had been taller than the average person in the throng, Zacchaeus would have been able to see him clearly over the rest of the people.
Kish had a son named Saul, who was better-looking and more than a head taller than everyone else in all of Israel, according to the story.
The Bible says . The giant Goliath was mentioned in 1 Samuel 17:4 as being six cubits and a span tall, which equates to more than nine feet tall.
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What Is The Shroud Of Turin
Of the many possible relics related to Jesus that have surfaced over the centuries, one of the most well-known is the Shroud of Turin, which surfaced in 1354. Believers argued that Jesus was wrapped in the piece of linen after he was crucified, and that the shroud bears the clear image of his face. But many experts have dismissed the shroud as a fake, and the Vatican itself refers to it as an icon rather than a relic.
A negative image of the Shroud of Turin.
Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
The Shroud of Turin has been debunked on a couple of occasions as a medieval forgery, says Cargill. Its part of a larger phenomenon that has been around since Jesus himself, of attempting to acquire and, if they can’t be acquired, to produce, objects that are part of Jesus body, life and ministryfor the purposes of either legitimizing his existence and the claims made about him, or in some cases, harnessing his miraculous powers.
The Color Of Jesus Skin
In the news recently, there has been quite a discussion as to the color of Jesus skin. How sad that so much energy is wasted on something that does not matter.
In the Bible, it talks of clay pots. And how although the clay pots may age and deteriorate . Its what is In the pot that is truly the Treasure . It is the same with the color of Jesus skin. It simply does not matter what color of skin Jesus had.
We love and follow Him because of who He was on the inside. We love and follow Him because He loved us so! And His greatest command is that we love God with our whole heart and soul, and love our neighbor as ourselves.
Notice Jesus did not say, love those with whom we agree, lol. He said love every one.
Jesus does not recognize any of the ways we divide ourselves. Whether it beeconomic, political or race, because Jesus loves us all-each and every one!
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Does Jesus Skin Color Matter
Q: By John
I subscribed to your messages and to expand the understanding of God through Jesus because of the open-hearted, loving messages of John Shelby Spong and several others that I had read. Lately, it seems to have many messages spewing hatred toward white, heterosexual males like me. I agree with the general premise that people who look like me have dominated and abused the world, and I am working for change much to the chagrin of many people who know me. Todays message insists Jesus was an African, but nobody really knows. By the time he walked the earth, Jews had spread around the Mediterranean, traveled all over, and had mixed with Europeans. Yes, those horrible Europeans! Jews were taking converts from everywhere. It is unnecessary for anybody to throw stones because of anybodys race or ethnicity. It repulses me and is plain not Jesus-like. It is prideful and hateful.
A: By Rev. Mark Sandlin
Dear John,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and concerns. Id like to start by recognizing that, like you, I am a white, cisgendered male. Id also like to start from a point of common agreement. As you so aptly put it, people who look like me have dominated and abused the world. So, right off the bat, there are a few things in common.
So, the idea that he could have been white , while isnt completely unlikely, it is highly improbable.
~ Rev. Mark Sandlin
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The long-haired, bearded image of Jesus that emerged beginning in the fourth century A.D. was influenced heavily by representations of Greek and Roman gods, particularly the all-powerful Greek god Zeus. At that point, Jesus started to appear in a long robe, seated on a throne , sometimes with a halo surrounding his head.
The point of these images was never to show Jesus as a man, but to make theological points about who Jesus was as Christ and divine Son, Joan Taylor, professor of Christian origins and second temple Judaism at Kings College London, wrote in TheIrish Times. They have evolved over time to the standard Jesus we recognize.
Of course, not all images of Jesus conform to the dominant image of him portrayed in Western art. In fact, many different cultures around the world have depicted him, visually at least, as one of their own. Cultures tend to portray prominent religious figures to look like the dominant racial identity, Cargill explains.
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