Stained glass window shows Jesus Christ with dark skin, stirring questions about race in New England

Associated Press ^ | May 14, 2023 | Mark Pratt

[Dalberg-Acton]

“Jesus probably looked like an Arab”

Probably looked Jewish.

[markman46]

Because some dumb ass academic says so

[M Kehoe]

Who would have guessed a Jew living out in the Judean desert would be dark skinned?

They didn’t have Coppertone back then.

5.56mm

[Songcraft]

Yeah, but you don't know what 33-year-old men really looked like back then, any more than you know what 969-year-old men looked like in Old Testament times.

[SauronOfMordor]

Madonna and child are depicted with tan complexions, which is what would be expected for people living in the Middle East, rather than as sub-Saharan Africans.

[Olog-hai]

They were fit enough to spend whole days net-fishing, so I doubt they looked wizened. Might have looked healthier than the Romans too.

[ConservativeInPA]

C’mon, everyone knows Christ was Nordic. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and perpetually red skin from sunburn. /s

[Songcraft]

Maybe.   We just don't know.

[Dr. Sivana]

This line caught my eye:

The [ . . . ] window depicts two biblical passages in which women, also painted with dark skin, appear as equals to Christ.

The one pictured does no such thing. For starters, Our Lord has a serious halo. The Samaritan woman does not.

[Openurmind]

Tolkien fan myself... And how I caught it. :)

[SauronOfMordor]

Cleopatra was Greek. Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great, and the ruling class thereafter was of Macedonian/Greek descent.

[jocon307]

That is SO FAMOUS. Isn’t it sometimes called the Black Madonna, or something like that? I’m aware of it from my years in Hudson County, NJ. Many, many Polish folks there.

[Openurmind]

“C’mon, everyone knows Christ was Nordic. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and perpetually red skin from sunburn.”

And runs his operation from Southern Georgia...

[Songcraft]

It just dawned on me why you were saying what you did in response to my post #57.   I wasn't saying Jesus probably looked really old like Biden.   I was saying only a really, really old guy like Biden might know what Jesus looked like in person.   (I was, of course, being facetious.   Biden isn't over 2,000 years old, so he wouldn't really have been there to see Jesus in person either -- I don't think.)

[Nervous Tick]

ROFL! Good post.

[ConservativeMind]

Luke was not a Mary idolator, was not a painter, nor was he going to fashion or make something in the image of Christ, nor would he have had paints and canvass that would have survived 2,000 years and have painted in a medieval form.

It's like the esteemed holy toenails of the Apostle John, which every other Catholic church in parts of the world may claim, except, John never had 2,000 toenails to have stolen from his grave, to be traded amongst a tribe of Catholic, to venerate.

Does that help?

[himno hero]

Hahaha
Fact says Christ was an Israeli.
Logic says most Israelis are Caucasian.

Unless they’re Ethiopian.

[himno hero]

Hahaha
Fact says Christ was an Israeli.
Logic says most Israelis are Caucasian.

Unless they’re Ethiopian.

Ever think the artisan was low on materials and substituted what he had on hand?

[Dutch Boy]

I did not know that. Interesting. I may need to revise my opinion.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Rhode Island needs to realize the only reason it exists is for unflattering size comparisons to other places.