Why Must Jesus Be Painted White?

[The Nehor]

So what color ARE beings from Kolob? 

Well, when the Enterprise hied to Kolob we learned they are in fact green and quite hot. Wait, was that Kolob or Orion? Meh....same principle.

[Freedom]

Jesus should look what a typical jew would look like from that region at that time. I think many of the more contemporary images are more accurate. I wonder how members would react if the temple presentation were made with non-white actors. 

[The Nehor]

I wonder how members would react if the temple presentation were made with non-white actors. 

 

I really doubt most people would care.

[Calm]

Forgot to mention that Hebrews 1:3 states that Jesus is "the express image of His (i.e. the Father's) person." In other words, he looked like his father, who was not from this earth, rather than his mother, who was from Palestine.

The scriptures also state there was nothing remarable in his appearance, iirc, to make him stand out from those around him. It never describes him as being physical attractive that I can remember.

[mormonnewb]

The scriptures also state there was nothing remarable in his appearance, iirc, to make him stand out from those around him. It never describes him as being physical attractive that I can remember.

Absolutely! And we know that Jesus didn't stand out in appearance because Judas had to kiss Him to identify Him to the guards who came to arrest Him. If Jesus was white, Judas wouldn't have had to even be there. He could have simply said, "Just go the garden and you'll find 10 Palestians and a white guy. Arrest the one who doesn't look like the others."

[teddyaware]

I really doubt most people would care.

And I seriously doubt if a even a single spiritually mature member could be found who would care. Doesn't something like this already happen when a black witness couple comes to the altar?

Edited January 22, 2014 by teddyaware

[mormonnewb]

And I seriously doubt if a even a single spiritually mature member could be found who would care. Doesn't something like this already happen when a black witness couple comes to the altar?

Huh? Please elaborate.

[thesometimesaint]

Unless we are physically blind we see color. It is the spiritual values we put to that color that can get us into trouble.

[The Nehor]

Unless we are physically blind we see color. It is the spiritual values we put to that color that can get us into trouble.

I dodge this problem by finding all flesh tones equally repulsive.

[BlueDreams]

That is beautiful, on my phone it looked like sheep surrounding Him.  But now that I'm on my computer I see it is people!  What a wonderful surprise!!  I wish I had this.  Love it!

You can if you want. He's fairly well established as an artist. Just look up J Kirk Richards "every knee shall bow" 

 

Mormonnewb, you mention that Jesus was from Palestine, but you are apparently forgetting that his father was not. The 1844 First Vision account from Alexander Neibaur's journal contains this:

"saw a person in the fire, light complexion, blue eyes, a piece of white cloth drawn over his shoulder"

 

Dude, he was looking at them in a pillar fire/light brighter than a noon-day sun. Most people are bleached out in bright, direct lighting. It he was lighter than a medium brown, he would have looked a lot lighter still than he would without some celestial glowing glory surrounding him.

 

 

With luv,

BD

[SeekingUnderstanding]

The scriptures also state there was nothing remarable in his appearance, iirc, to make him stand out from those around him. It never describes him as being physical attractive that I can remember.

 

Isaiah 53?

Who has believed our message

    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

    and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

[Calm]

Sounds good...don't make me actually think today please.

[Freedom]

I really doubt most people would care.

 

Apparently you have never been to Southern Alberta. 

[mfbukowski]

Apparently you have never been to Southern Alberta. 

Oh yeah, well you know how it is in the south.

[katherine the great]

This thread made me think of this song:

 

Some children see Him lily white,
The baby Jesus born this night.
Some children see Him lily white,
With tresses soft and fair.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
The Lord of heav'n to earth come down.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
With dark and heavy hair.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,
This Savior whom we kneel beside.
Some children see Him almond-eyed,
With skin of yellow hue.
Some children see Him dark as they,
Sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray.
Some children see him dark as they,
And, ah! they love Him, too!

The children in each different place
Will see the baby Jesus' face
Like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace,
And filled with holy light.
O lay aside each earthly thing
And with thy heart as offering,
Come worship now the infant King.
'Tis love that's born tonight!

[mormonnewb]

Unless we are physically blind we see color. It is the spiritual values we put to that color that can get us into trouble.

Very well said (written)! However, it's very difficult to not assign value to color. It's part of the pattern-seeking thought process that is the cornerstone of human intelligence.

On Sunday, my 9-yo told me that he wanted a new daddy. I took this as a badge of honor that I was doing my job as a parent. That is, until he added, "And, this time, I want a WHITE daddy!"

And he should ...

I'm the only black man that he knows well. We don't have family nearby and there aren't many black people in our neighborhood. His teacher, scout leader, bishop, primary and home teachers are all white. So when he became convinced that I was a bad daddy, he concluded that it was because I'm black. After all, certainly none of the white men in his life would be "so mean" as to take away his xBox.

And he's partly right. His bishop and home teachers would not take away his xBox. Of course, it's not because they're white, but because they're too busy disciplining their own children. However, as a 9 yo, it's easy to make the wrong connection.

I imagine that this is not limited to my son or just 9 yos. I imagine that even an adult who has been raised looking at pictures of a white Jesus and heeding the words of white apostles might come to the conclusion that there is something special about the spirituality of white men.

That's why I think it does matter how we depict Jesus. And no, I'm not suggesting that we alternate between white, black, Asian and Latino Jesuses in an effort to be PC. But on the other hand, I don't see any reason for us to be FI - factually incorrect -- in our depictions of the Savior. We don't inaccurately depict JS as being black for the benefit of the saints in Uganda, so why are we inaccurately depicting Jesus as being white?

I must be missing something. Is there a reason why Jesus must be white? Does it ruin the "whitesome and delightsome" narrative in the BOM? Would it contradict a prior revelation that Jesus was white? Would our friends in the South (Alberta) not be able to handle it?

[strappinglad]

Let's assume for the sake of logic that Christ was neither Swedish nor Ugandan ,then where do we put Him on the " beige scale" if we insist on accurate depictions? We have no contemporary descriptions that I know of. We must rely on assumptions about the racial make up of people 2000 years ago in Palestine. Albinos exist in all races, even black ones , but setting that aside as highly unlikely , what level of brownness would be satisfactory? On a melatonin scale of 0 to 20 ,pick number and defend it.

On general principle , I can agree that artists today would do well to present Christ with accuracy. That said, I had no problem when I saw the depiction on my mission of a Black Christ on the Cross in a Catholic church as it resonated with the local ethnic makeup.

Just for fun I typed in " faces of Israel " on Google. It was enlightening .

Edited January 23, 2014 by strappinglad

[The Nehor]

Apparently you have never been to Southern Alberta.

To be fair has anyone ever voluntarily gone to Alberta?

[Calm]

To be fair has anyone ever voluntarily gone to Alberta?

Me...eagerly when I found out they were complaining about the heat wave (high 80s iirc) and we had just come from a month with 12 days straight of 110 degrees with 90% humidity...and I was 8 1/2 months pregnant or so i remember....loved it there...would be happy to go back in a heartbeat if I could take friends and family with me.

[mfbukowski]

Me...eagerly when I found out they were complaining about the heat wave (high 80s iirc) and we had just come from a month with 12 days straight of 110 degrees with 90% humidity...and I was 8 1/2 months pregnant or so i remember....loved it there...would be happy to go back in a heartbeat if I could take friends and family with me.

Pretty chilly in LA today- I don't think it got over 70 all day. 

[mfbukowski]

Let's assume for the sake of logic that Christ was neither Swedish nor Ugandan ,then where do we put Him on the " beige scale" if we insist on accurate depictions? We have no contemporary descriptions that I know of. We must rely on assumptions about the racial make up of people 2000 years ago in Palestine. Albinos exist in all races, even black ones , but setting that aside as highly unlikely , what level of brownness would be satisfactory? On a melatonin scale of 0 to 20 ,pick number and defend it.

On general principle , I can agree that artists today would do well to present Christ with accuracy. That said, I had no problem when I saw the depiction on my mission of a Black Christ on the Cross in a Catholic church as it resonated with the local ethnic makeup.

Just for fun I typed in " faces of Israel " on Google. It was enlightening .

Probably most have seen this, but it is an attempted scientific reconstruction of how Jesus might have actually looked.

 

See, what we do, is take all those other pictures, get out the good old photoshop, and..... 

 

http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/faces_of_jesus/P9/

[nebula]

Several verses describe Jesus' skin as "burnished bronze," his hair like "white wool," and his eyes "darker than wine." The popular artistic representation of Jesus doesn't match the description well, and I do believe that's a cultural issue informed by racism, but I also believe that it's changing. When I was a kid, I remember all the portraits of Jesus portraying him as pale, blond, and blue-eyed. You see much more variation these days.

But for any kids reading this, don't worry-- Santa IS white!

[rodheadlee]

Perhaps, someone can help me understand why we continue with our historically inaccurate depictions of a white Jesus. Certainly, the church officials who commission this art must know that Jesus was from PALESTINE and therefore, must have looked like his Middle Eastern kinsfolk. So why do they allow this discrepancy? They certainly wouldn't allow for a scene in which Jesus was depicted as being Chinese or say, wearing blue jeans or listening to an iPod?

Therefore, I assume that there is a reason for this "artistic license." There must be something about our doctrine/policies/folklore that requires us to pretend that Jesus was from Belgium.

What is it?

If you want to celebrate a black Jesus you only need to go to Portobelo Panama.

Edited January 24, 2014 by rodheadlee

[volgadon]

To make sure that we are on the same page, Newb, do you consider this Jesus white?

 

[mormonnewb]

To make sure that we are on the same page, Newb, do you consider this Jesus white?

 

 

Yes, I would consider this young man, who I believe was a Sephardic Jew, to be white.  Or more accurately, I should state that he LOOKS white.

 

According to the source of "all light and knowledge" -- Wikipedia -- the Sephardic Jews lived in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and modern Spain) before their expulsion in the late 15th century.  Wikipedia also tells us that the migration of these Jews from Palestine to the Iberian Peninsula may have preceded Roman times but certainly, at the latest, occurred during the Roman era.

 

Interestingly, as I understand it, Rembrandt was making a good faith effort to use a more accurate model for a Jewish Jesus.  However, rather than traveling to the Middle East, he used this young man who happened to live in Rembrandt's neighborhood in Holland.  And while this was an improvement over the Scandinavian Jesus that most of his counterparts were painting, Rembrandt didn't seem to take into account what 1,500 years of (even occasional) intermingling with western Europeans might do to one's appearance.

 

For example, more than likely, my ancestors were West Africans who came to America in the slave trade.  However, I don't look like a West African.  The last 400 years of my ancestors intermingling with white Americans has produced a lighter skin tone, a finer grade of hair, a thinner nose, etc.  The same appears true in the case of this man.  He doesn't look like his ancestors from more than a millennium before and certainly, almost nothing like the scientific estimation of Christ's appearance from earlier in this thread.

 

So, to be more precise in answering your inquiry, this is a representation of the Savior that I would categorize as factually inaccurate.  It's better than some of the others but it still misses the mark by quite a bit.