Why do christians like to think that jesus was white or black?

I was just wondering. Jesus was born in the middle east. How would he have been white or black? The likenesses of Jesus, the earliest, were not created until the 6th century, so no one has any idea what he looked like. I am willing to bet that he was most certainly neither white nor black, but I would like to know what others think on this subject.

PURPLE!

May I ask why you hate Christians so much?

Where did I EVER say I hated Christians? Why do you assume that? How can I hate people I don't even know? How do you know if I am NOT a Christian? Next time, just send me fun mail, instead of pretending to answer the question. thanks.

Well... he was Jewish. Jewish people were generally white, I'm not sure about now. When He was on earth he probably was white. But in my opinion it really doesn't matter. God is the One people are most confused about,most people don't know He's not in human form therefore, probably doesn't have a skin color.

Maybe because your other question was entitled 'Why do Christians think they are better than everyone else?'

wouldn't he be the same colour ar middle-east people are today?
like iran...iraq...saudi arabia?

Well think of it this way,, if we all said he was black and assumed that instead of white you could be commenting why does every one think hes black,,

it doesnt mater

I wanted to know. Its why I asked. Maybe if you actually READ the other post you would understand it. I really do not care what you think. I do not have to explain myself to you or anyone else. Please leave me alone sir.

We don't know what Jesus was... And honestly does it really matter?

Either way white, black, brown, green or purple he's still freaking AWESOME!

I think it's because people tend to identify with their gods. The ancient Greeks certainly saw their gods as 'Greek.' No reason for people today not to do the same.

well...he was jewish, so logically we give him the traits that jews had back then. does that make sense or do you still not really understand what I mean?

This is a good question. My British/Carribean friend had a lovely children's Bible where all the characters were drawn as black. It looked a bit weird to people who have got used to 'Gentle Jesus Meek and Mild' with blond hair and blue eyes, but in fact I think it was a great challenge - He didn't have blond hair! He didn't have black skin either, but we love Him as a Brother so we tend to identify Him with the other people in our family. So long as we know that's just symbolism, and not some kind of 'racial superiorty' statement, as it may have been in the past, I think that's fine.

Well he has to be either one or the other...maybe olive or brown/tan ?

Here's a reconstruction of a skull from Jerusalem from the time of Jesus - the archaeologists point out that it's as good as guess as any for what Jesus actually looked like:

Drat - accidentally deleted the picture! Here it is again:

flossheal, I like the picture. It is about what I thought Jesus must have resembuled; the dark skin, black hair, beard, dark eyes...Thank you for the picture.

sillygirl said 'well...he was jewish, so logically we give him the traits that jews had back then. does that make sense or do you still not really understand what I mean?'

I agree with you. Jesus would look like the jewish people back then because He was born there, I have never imagined Him any differently.

justabloke said: 'Well he has to be either one or the other...maybe olive or brown/tan?' Yep, I believe Jesus was an olive or brown/tan. AMEN!

I've read a bit on this subject. I got interested in this when some white supremacists told me that Jesus had to be white because the Bible describes him as having ruddy skin and only caucasions can have ruddy skin. I've since read that the description may have been that he had a healthy complexion rather than what we think of as ruddy skin. When I suggested that Jesus probably looked like modern day Middle Easterners they told me no way that Jesus was a sand n???. I can see how the race of Jesus would be rather important for racists.

Some imagry of Jesus comes from depictions of Zeus. Some artists painted Jesus to look like themselves or people they knew who they found attractive. As was pointed out we don't know what Jesus looked like though some people do claim that he has appeared to them.

To me the most laughable depictions of Jesus are ones where he is drawn pale and slight of build. Remember that he was a carpenter and there were no power tools back then so Jesus would probably be robust and solidly built.

flossheal, great picture. thanks for that. quite amazing.
I am not sure what a jew looked like back then because jews were everywhere and had physical traits of many cultures.
I have always thought of Him as looking like a mixture of EVERYONE, a beautiful blending of every trait, skin type, eye color, etc. in my mind, that is why each culture developed an image of Him that looked like them. they were able to see themselves in Him, because he was a perfect blending of everyone that was and was to be.

He was jewish...

No matter what color Jesus was, He was perfect and when He returns at His second coming He will still be perfect no matter what color He is

again odal, you are awesome!