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What ethnicity was Jesus?

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:09pm
by Cosmic Average
This isn't a debate as to whether Jesus existed or whether he was the son of god, but rather what race he was.

So, what do you feel he was?

If a mod wants to add another ethnicity, go ahead.

Re: What ethnicity was Jesus?

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:13pm
by Darth Wong
Cosmic Average wrote:This isn't a debate as to whether Jesus existed or whether he was the son of god, but rather what race he was.

So, what do you feel he was?

If a mod wants to add another ethnicity, go ahead.
Wasn't he Jewish?

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:17pm
by Cosmic Average
Damn, that's a race?


Okay then, was he dark complected?

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:20pm
by TrailerParkJawa
Ive been told its both a race and a religion. However, there is so much mixing between Jews and non jews its hard to say. I also know there are black jews in Africa.

I tend to believe he would be classified racially as an Arab. White people like me, where living in Northern Europe at the time, and Black folks where must farther south.

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:30pm
by Rye
According to the "son of God" series on the bbc, he was most likely egyptian looking, with egyptian people today to compare against.

As were most jews of the time.

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:30pm
by SAMAS
I need to double-check, but I remember reading a passage in the bible saying that Jesus was to have dark skin, and hair "the color and texture of Lamb's wool."

So in short, Jesus looks like the black guy on Ice Pirates when they snuck into that harem... :D

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:34pm
by TrailerParkJawa
SAMAS wrote:I need to double-check, but I remember reading a passage in the bible saying that Jesus was to have dark skin, and hair "the color and texture of Lamb's wool."

So in short, Jesus looks like the black guy on Ice Pirates when they snuck into that harem... :D
ROFLMAO ! :lol:

Im sure you would win some new friends by saying that on a fundie board.

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:36pm
by Superman
Jesus was a Mexican and he pronounced his name "Hay-SOOS." That guy moved after borrowing my gardening clippers too, but the handle was broken. HA HA! Joke is on him!

Posted: 2003-05-16 01:57pm
by brothersinarm
Well since Jesus was born in the Middle east I would say he's a mix of white,black and asian. Unlike most traditional European drawings and African drawings which portay Jesus as fully white with blond hair or black with curly hair, Jesus probably have black hair, tan skin. I think TLC had a show on Jesus a few months back, worth watching :)

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:00pm
by LadyTevar
He was Jewish/Aramaic.

Which, technically is Mid-Eastern.

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:13pm
by El Moose Monstero
Eddie Izzard on the crusades wrote: "We kill you for your dark skin, for Jesus was a white man from Oxford..."

"No he wasn't!"

"Really? Well, look, we've come all this way..."

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:23pm
by The Penultimate Ninja
Kevin Smith is God. Dogma is the only truth.

Therefore Jesus was black.

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:27pm
by Stravo
Does it really matter? What is more important, the message or the color of the man delivering the message?

And for the record he probably looked like a Palestinian or Egyptian.

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:28pm
by Wicked Pilot
Image


He is clearly white.

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:34pm
by Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi
I'd say he's black. He was a brother, man, spreading the word with his 12 homies.

Seriously, I'd say Arabic.

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:35pm
by Spanky The Dolphin
First Century Aramaic Jew.

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:50pm
by Peregrin Toker
An analysis revealed that he probably looked like an average Arab.

Posted: 2003-05-16 02:59pm
by Montcalm
Fundies will hate me for this but i believe Jesus may have been black or arabic looking,cause i`m sure if he was a tall withe guy with long hair,then why did the Roman needed Judas to point to them wich one was Jesus.

Posted: 2003-05-16 03:02pm
by El Moose Monstero
Because obviously, all the other disciples were white as well, and were in fact, all Dorset fishermen on holiday... :D

Posted: 2003-05-16 03:19pm
by InnerBrat
Thing is, I don't thikn you can just point at all the people living their now and said - "he looked like them" because a lot of them moved there since for religions reasons (DON'T quote me - not certain)

Posted: 2003-05-16 03:27pm
by Spanky The Dolphin
innerbrat wrote:Thing is, I don't thikn you can just point at all the people living their now and said - "he looked like them" because a lot of them moved there since for religions reasons (DON'T quote me - not certain)
No, you're sort of right, actually.

Because the ethnicity of the native populations of the areas have changed somewhat over the years, you can't say that Jesus looked black/arabic/egyptian/etc... You have to look at the archealogical evidence and find out who lived there at the time. Therefore, they've basically determined that Jesus looked like an avarage First Century Aramaic Jew, with a big nose, fairly dark skin, dark eyes, dark curly hair and such. He was also probably fairly short, like about 5' or such.

I'll see if I can find that one picture researchers came up with as how Jesus might have looked.

Posted: 2003-05-16 03:35pm
by Spanky The Dolphin
Found it.

According to recent research, this is what some experts believe Joshua Bar Joseph might have looked like:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/12/25/face.jesus/

Posted: 2003-05-16 03:38pm
by Joe
brothersinarm wrote:Well since Jesus was born in the Middle east I would say he's a mix of white,black and asian. Unlike most traditional European drawings and African drawings which portay Jesus as fully white with blond hair or black with curly hair, Jesus probably have black hair, tan skin. I think TLC had a show on Jesus a few months back, worth watching :)
I have never, ever, ever seen a white-skinned, blond-haired Jesus.

Posted: 2003-05-16 05:32pm
by Coyote
Almost all the pictures I have seen of Jesus hanging up in churches portray a very white, Euripean man with long, straight locks of brown-blonde hair. The Eastern Orthodox portray him as dark and swarthy, though....

He probably looked a lot like the Middle Eastern guy portrayed in Korr's link. He would be a mixture of Egyptian, Canaanite, Phoenician, Assyrian, Babylonian blood probably....very middle eastern, not a honky at all.

Posted: 2003-05-16 05:57pm
by Spanky The Dolphin
Um, that's my link.

And why would he be a mix of all that when he was an Aramaic Jew from a specific area?