By Jennifer Popplewell • Published: 22 Dec 2023 • 11:48
19th Century image of Jesus Credit: Shutterstock/186707744
IT’s nearly here! The birthday of the selfless one himself. The man, the myth, the legend, saviour of all humanity, Jesus Christ.
However, it is actually widely debated that, if he did exist in flesh and blood, his birthday was actually on December 25. One theory suggests that the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ may have been Venus and Jupiter coming together to form a bright light in the sky, a rare event that occurred in June of 2 B.C. Another possibility is that it could have been a similar conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter, which was in October of 7 B.C. So nobody really knows.
Anyway, whenever that famous night was when there was ‘no room at the inn’, the birth is agreed to have taken place in Bethlehem, which was just south of Jerusalem, in the Middle East. If this is something that is not debated by scholars, then isn’t it a little strange that most modern depictions of Jesus Christ in the western world show him to have fair skin and light hair? Whilst not impossible, if we take a look at people native to the Middle East, typically they have dark hair, and olive to dark brown skin. So why would we assume that Jesus looks any different to the average person of that area? The Bible does not mention anything about the appearance of Jesus, apart from stating that he did not stand out in any particular way. Even more reason to assume that he was not a pale, white man roaming around!
In their book, ‘Legacies of likeness’, Scholar Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey argue that in ‘the centuries after European colonisation of the Americas, the image of a white Christ associated him with the logic of empire and could be used to justify the oppression of Native and African Americans’. Another theory of this possibly inaccurate image is that it is mostly white people who have painted these depictions.
Whatever he looked like, he is a symbol of selflessness, forgiveness, and an inspiration to how man can embody his goodness and true human nature. However, representation matters, and viewers of his image should ponder and understand the complicated history of these portraits of Christ that they consume.
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Jennifer is a proud northerner from Sheffield, England, who is currently living in Spain. She loves swimming in rivers, talking to the stars and eating luxurious chocolate.
Christ Was Not a J_w: An Epistle to the Gentiles, by Jacob Elon Connor, PhD, (1935) former US ambassador to Vietnam.
The reality is that most ethnicities/races inhabiting North Africa and the Middle East today, are not the same ethnicities/races that inhabited North Africa, Palestine, around the time of Jesus Christ, the days of Moses, etc.
Coffin of Tutankhamun’s great-grandmother opened to show preserved body with blonde hair. https://twitter.com/dailystar/status/1139504110451986432?lang=en
70 percent of British men and 50% of Western European men belong to the genetic profile group known as haplogroup R1b1a2, which Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, belonged to according to geneticists at Zurich-based DNA genealogy centre, iGENEA. Among modern-day Egyptians this haplogroup contingent (R1b1a2) is below 1 percent. https://www.reuters.com/article/oukoe-uk-britain-tutankhamun-dna-idAFTRE7704OR20110801
Scientists who managed to obtain full genome sequences of Ancient Egyptians for the first time have concluded the people of the pharaohs were more closely related to modern Europeans and inhabitants of the Near East rather than present-day Egyptians. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/ancient-egyptians-europeans-related-claims-a7763866.html
Blue-eyed, fair-skinned settlers inhabited the Levant some 6,500 years ago, according to an international interdisciplinary team of scientists. https://www.timesofisrael.com/anomalous-blue-eyed-people-came-to-israel-6500-years-ago-from-iran-dna-shows/
The article titled “The only Jewish male hair ever found” discusses DNA tests that were conducted on ancient Israelite skeletons, dated to the 1st century BC, found in stone ossuaries next to the tomb of Annas, the high priest, father in law of Caiaphas, the high priest who betrayed Jesus Christ to the Romans. Hence it is thought that this shrouded man was either a priest or a member of the aristocracy. One of the more fascinating finds in this tomb, was the preservation of a sample of Jewish male hair. The length of the hair was medium to short, averaging 3-4 inches. The color was REDDISH. [Red hair is most commonly found among people of white European heritage, it’s rare for non-whites to have red hair]. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/the-only-ancient-jewish-hair-ever-found/
The “Letter of Lentulus,” is an alleged eyewitness account of Jesus Christ, it describes Jesus CHRIST’S FACE as being A COMELY RED and HIS EYES GRAY, clear and quick.” https://commons.orthodoxwiki.org/images/c/cf/Anon-Publius_Lentulus.jpg
Below is an excerpt from a letter written by Pontius Pilate to Tiberius Caeser describing the physical appearance of Jesus. Copies are in the Congressional Library in Washington, D.C.
“His GOLDEN COLORED HAIR AND BEARD gave to his appearance a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about 30 years of age. Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance. What a contrast between Him and His bearers with their black beards and tawny complexions!”
A description of Jesus Himself is found in “The Archko Volume” (The Archko Volume, translated by Drs. McIntosh and Twyman of the Antiquarian Lodge, Genoa, Italy, from manuscripts in Constantinople and the records of the Senatorial Docket taken from the Vatican of Rome (1896) 92-93) which contains official court documents from the days of the Messiah. What follows is a description of Jesus Christ from the Archko volume.
“He is the picture of his mother, only he has not her smooth, round face. His hair is a little more golden than hers, though it is as much from sunburn as anything else. He is tall, and his shoulders are a little drooped; his visage is thin and of a swarthy complexion, though this is from exposure. HIS EYES ARE LARGE AND A SOFT BLUE, and rather dull and heavy….”
What did Jesus Christ really look like? – A White Caucasian! https://youtu.be/y8xmiCF4uuE?feature=shared
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