Does anyone know? When You walk into a Christian church, somewhere there will be a "picture" of Jesus! Usually depicted looking very much like a hippy with a great tan. I just wondered where and who decided this image was going to be the worldwide image of what Jesus is supposed to look like.
The reality is, his skin would have been much darker in color, as to what he looked like, to me is anyone's guess? Perhaps he had a weak jawbone, and a big nose!
Is it a good idea to create an image like this? I remember as a child also seeing images of GOD! Big Man White, Long white hair, long white Beard, long flowing white robes, usually pointing a finger at something.
Perhaps this was ment to comfort the white folks in america? I mean how many people in America would have joined the church in the late 1800's to about 1963 if they actually realized that Jesus' skin was dark?
I think it wrong to give a Color to god, especially if you slant it that he was white!

If I remember correctly,in the early days of the church there weren't any depictions of Jesus.That changed some time after the Shroud of Turin was found,since you can apparently make out the form on the shroud just enough to get an idea from it.The form on the Shroud matches the depictions found in the churches now.

I am not a Christian, but my family is. As a child I did read the bible and read many other documentary things on it. In none of the gospels does it say of his physical appearance. Nor does it say in the bible. Historians seem to believe now that he was probably either black or middle eastern colored. I think I heard something not too long ago that the area he grew up in was actually a neighborhood of black people. Not sure how true that is though.

Actually the earliest depictions of Jesus looked like Apollo... it wasn't till the church got ahold of the northern european areas did he began to look like them.

The jesus that is basicaly seen now is EuroJesus. XD

Basically, I would have to say that the Renaissance artists who painted him were the ones who along with whoever commissioned the paintings decided what Jesus would look like in their renditions.

Given that Mary was Jewish, that Pontius Pilate placed a sign on His cross saying "King of the Jews" I would venture to say He probably looked Middle Eastern, but no one knows for sure.

If the Shroud of Turin really is His death shroud that seems to support a Middle Eastern appearance although the face depicted in the Shroud is very damaged so it's really difficult to determine the nationality of the man.

So it's just for the benifit of western churches to have an image for people to think of to sway them in the direction of putting a offering in the passed plate? Not to be rude or anything, but I fail to see the point of trying to fake people out as to what God and Jesus looks like unless it had something to do with the psycological make up of the viewer. Like I said, we certainly wouldn't have had a Black or Brown Jesus at my parents church.

Hehe. If you want the answer to that do some research on the history of the church .

Iconography arose in the church sometime before the 6th century.


Up until the Protestant Reformation, icons were used throughout Christendom. Very useful as teaching tools I am told.

Well, I'm not sure you can actually say that. Could it be that since these painters were in Europe, they used European models, so then Jesus would look European? I'm not sure there has to be some sinister mind control or racist reason for the way He was depicted.

Well obviously that's what I am trying to get at. I've done a certain amount of homework, and I just remember when I was a young impressionable kid, that the way these pictures were drawn, and the way God was depicted was to put fear into you, Because I don't remember them as being artwork or drawings, I remember them as being true dipictions of what God looked like, and if I "was bad" that's what I would have to deal with! And of course pictures of the devil were just the stuff of many a childhood nightmare!

Many sects of the church used to be very corrupt. They were more about profit than religion. Many sects are still like that. Not trying to downsize all of Christianity here, but in some cases it is the truth. Like those TV evangelists asking for donations. Despicable.

I agree. Well I'm saying it.
I would have to think most painters are pretty good with colors, that's their job, so i would lean more towards they were told just what color to paint the skin.
As far a s the sinister mind control reason.....Yes I do believe that is exactly why God is dipicted as a Huge white hair, white beard, long flowing white robe, usually pointing at something.....He's pointing at what you did wrong! Yes He knows! Gasp! It's called FEAR!

My earliest memories of a jesus image was on the wall at my grandfolks house. He had dark brown skin and wavy coper colored long hair and beard. I thought he was so beautiful and it never seemed to occur to my racist grandfolks that he wasn't white.

How could he be anyway!? Coming from that part of the world, so the story goes!?

As a child I was very very afraid of Hell. Besides faith, the fear of infernal damnation is a good reason to stay Christian and give your money to the church. Luckily now I have gotten rid of that restricting phobia.

But sadly many have not. They are still being controled by that fear. I know because I was one as well.

Fear!? Really? of what?

Going to hell forever if you don't follow the churches/bibles teachings.

Were you always in fear of this?

What kind of church did you go to? I'm sorry, but I'm always sort of shocked at what some churches apparently teach and/or allow their congregations to believe.

Ya know, in my life as a Christian, I've never been inside a church that had a picture of Jesus on the wall. I guess it's just not a big deal around here. But I think it's pretty much accepted (at least where I am) taht Jesus is not white. Where the long-hair, fair skin idea origianlly came from - that's an interesting question. I'm inclined to agree with Iams, that it was probably chosen by the Europeans who commissioned artists to depict him as such. I'm not certain it'd primarily be an American thing.

Regards, PA

The peope who live in the Mid east look very much as they did 2000 years ago. I saw a good program that did a computer generated image of what Jesus may have looked like. His hair would have been dark and much shorter than what European art and holly wood gave us. His skin was darker olive colored. Remember that the Jews and Arabs have a common lineage dating way back.

As a child yes ALWAYS in fear of hell, and it was reenforced by my parents.
What church? First Presbyterian church of Hollywood, CA. The pastor at the time was Lloyd John Ogilvie who later on became Chaplain of the United States Senate, Washington D.C. (1995-2003)

What were you doing ALL of the time that you were taught could send you to hell?

whomever needs to usurp and use jesus's "infallible authority" recreate him in their own image just like they do with god.

The Turin Shroud was recently carbon dated to the 15th century!

Innocent stuff as I look back on it....but you know chasing girls, and being a young boy.
But what was taught was if you think bad thoughts, if you talk back to adults, if you don't get good grades, drinking, smoking, and all the fun stuff you do when you are a kid.

Well, I guess you must have been very sensitive to that, because I remember adults saying stuff like that to me too, but i really did not live in fear because of it, and since I was saved that is not even on my list of minor worries. We have raised our kids a bit different from that. I don't think we have ever done it or allowed anyone else to try to scare our kids straight with the idea of hell. I guess knowing that they would sin, because they are human, we have always concentrated more on helping them understand how God loves them no matter what and how He wants to have a personal relationship with them. After reading you post last night I asked my 10 year old daughter if she had ever been scared of going to hell and she said no, she had never been really scared about that.

Well let me say you sound like a good parent. I think perhaps things have changed since I was a kid. I was just remembering too that we had bomb drills once a week at school too, looking back it's kind of funny really to think they wanted you to drop and cover under a little wooden desk, back to the windows mind you, as if we would have been protected from a nuclear blast!
Perhaps it was just the parents at that time trying to control their kids, and using the "fear" of hell was just one way my parents used in their parenting methods.

Wow, wu, how old are you!? Even I don't remember doing the bomb drills!

I am 43 years young.

really the only thing i have against what most people say about what Jesus looked like, is that if he was born in the middle east, wouldnt he be arabian looking? like brown or black? I know thats not really a big deal, but just something i always thought of.

Agree

That's my whole point. But given the prejudice of the day, I see now that it was most likely that most white americans would not have accepted a black Jesus, and so it was decided somewhere along the way, to make him a white guy with a really good golden tan.

If anyone hear watches the Boondocks, Jesus was black

Why blame Americans?

The paintings of Jesus go back to the Renaissance, which was HUNDREDS of years before the U.S. was established.

Personally i've always liked the idea of god looking like morgan freeman

Or after dropping some acid