Jon,
As far as treating Jesus as an historical figure, I must qualify that with only in the sense of Jesus the earthly man, because to me, He is not just a piece of history, but The Way of Life, ok? (Which may be what you were saying about "not in heart but in fact" .)
It could very well be that his "physical appearance" may have been misrepresented over the years, but I am not sure this would cause any facts to be ignored. In just that misrepresentation of appearance, how could that,in your mind, cause facts to be ignored?
If during the holiday season, local institutions that display Christian icons, chruch and such, if they displayed the Jesus that they imagined, which could be a race other than white, would this matter to you?
It does not offend me, but I often wonder why any would choose to show Jesus as a slender, white, long haired man, with not much character. If we look at the bible, it says that Jesus was raised in a carpenters house, and I fully believe that he worked as a carpenter for a number of years. You know many men that work with wood all day that have nice soft hands? Or smooth faces? The ones in my family had course hands, smashed fingers, knots on the head from getting banged by a 4X4 post...etc etc.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The preceding verses spoken by Jesus, tells me he probably built some of the finest yokes in the country, cause anyone can build an oxen yoke but to build one that is "easy" on the oxen? (am I just rambling on speculation now?)
I do not suspect that Jesus (as a man) was "white" if you mean Caucasian. I suspect He was of the same stock as the Jewish nation was at the time. What do you think?
dan
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