Jesus was an Oriental in west Asia

[Arthur81]

The magazine Christianity Today has stirred up the social media with their article about photos depicting Jesus looking like an Oriental. Well, Jesus was from west Asia, the Orient. Why was it more offensive to portray Jesus as looking like a Chinese than depict him looking like white European?

1828 Webster's English Dictioanry -
"ORIENT'AL, n. A native or inhabitant of some eastern part of the world. We give the appellation to the inhabitants of Asia from the Hellespont[Dardanelles] and Mediterranean to Japan."

Encyclopedia Britannica
"Near East, usually the lands around the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, including northeastern Africa, southwestern Asia, and, occasionally, the Balkan Peninsula. The term Near East was used by the first modern Western geographers to refer to the nearer part of the Orient, a region roughly coextensive with the Ottoman Empire. Since World War II, the name has been largely supplanted by Middle East (q.v.), though frequently they are used interchangeably."

Bible commentaries often refer to Israel as an Oriental nation. I suppose Jesus looked like most men in Palestine today, adjusted for typical clothing, beard and hair styles of the 1st century. Maybe it is good the Bible did not give us a description of Jesus so we can picture him exactly.

 

[Ronald Nolette]

The magazine Christianity Today has stirred up the social media with their article about photos depicting Jesus looking like an Oriental. Well, Jesus was from west Asia, the Orient. Why was it more offensive to portray Jesus as looking like a Chinese than depict him looking like white European?

1828 Webster's English Dictioanry -
"ORIENT'AL, n. A native or inhabitant of some eastern part of the world. We give the appellation to the inhabitants of Asia from the Hellespont[Dardanelles] and Mediterranean to Japan."

Encyclopedia Britannica
"Near East, usually the lands around the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, including northeastern Africa, southwestern Asia, and, occasionally, the Balkan Peninsula. The term Near East was used by the first modern Western geographers to refer to the nearer part of the Orient, a region roughly coextensive with the Ottoman Empire. Since World War II, the name has been largely supplanted by Middle East (q.v.), though frequently they are used interchangeably."

Bible commentaries often refer to Israel as an Oriental nation. I suppose Jesus looked like most men in Palestine today, adjusted for typical clothing, beard and hair styles of the 1st century. Maybe it is good the Bible did not give us a description of Jesus so we can picture him exactly.

Well as He was born from very Jewish parents, he did not have the slanted eyes of rough hair of most Orientals. He was a middle eastern looking Asian.

 

[Pierac]

I found his picture....

Jackie Jesus....

 

[Windmillcharge]

It comes as a shock to the uneducated that Jesus didn't speak English, wasn't blond with blue eyes, that he lived, yes he is a real historical character, in what we call Israel.

Watching the news and seeing Palestinians on TV, many look very similar to the average westerner.
I wonder just how different would ne have appeared?

 

[Lambano]

It comes as a shock to the uneducated that Jesus didn't speak English, wasn't blond with blue eyes, that he lived, yes he is a real historical character, in what we call Israel.

Watching the news and seeing Palestinians on TV, many look very similar to the average westerner.
I wonder just how different would ne have appeared?

I read in National Geographic that some computer whiz kids took a program that analyzed the facial attributes of men of Jesus's age (~30 when He began his ministry) who live in that part of the world and had it generate a generic picture of what Jesus may have looked like:

He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him
(Isaiah 53:2b, NKJV)

 

[Pearl]

I read in National Geographic that some computer whiz kids took a program that analyzes the facial attributes of the men of Jesus's age (~30 when He began his ministry) who live in that part of the world and had it generate a generic picture of what Jesus may have looked like:

He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him
(Isaiah 53:2b, NKJV)

Great minds think alike. I came on to post this pic and you had already posted it. I remember somebody came up with this image based on His Jewish ethnicity and age.