Why Jesus’ Skin Color Doesn’t Matter
The color of Jesus’ skin doesn’t affect your ability to have a spiritual relationship with him.
In recent weeks there has been a lot of debate over whether the depiction of Jesus Christ as a white-skinned man is indicative of white supremacy, and, ultimately, racism. Shaun King, a writer-in-residence at Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project, tweeted a suggestion on June 22 that statues of the “white European they claim is Jesus” should be taken down from houses of worship, adding in a later tweet that “All murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down.” These two tweets have received a combined 16,100 likes, showing that King’s beliefs touch on current public sentiment and that, as a Christian myself, I need to consider his views seriously and not just disregard them as the outlandish claims of a renowned media provocateur.
It is widely accepted that, as a native of Palestine, Jesus was not white-skinned, however exactly what hue of brown, or perhaps tanned olive, Jesus' skin was is up for speculation, it is something that historians, anthropologists, and academics have debated for decades. However, it is clear that Jesus’ skin was not the pale white of which many of his western depictions would lead us to believe.
