Thursday, December 21, 2023

Was Jesus Black? Yes, says white scholar

Michael Eli Dokosi, Keep The Faith ®, 9/1.20; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
This is Africa? - Of course, where'd you think we were? - In the future it's called the Middle East
Great savior figure, if we could just lighten him up, more Ashkenazi, less Middle Eastern.
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Was Jesus Christ black? Christian scholar: Yes
Scholar of Christianity/Judaism Prof. Taylor, 61
What imagery do we hold of Jesus the Christ [originally Roman Serapis Christus not the Greek "Annointed One" Yeshua Kristos] said to have come from Nazareth, North Africa (aka Palestine/Israel)?

Given that he is the [Middle Eastern (not Germanic-AshkeNazi) Jewish] central figure of Christianity and most Christians believe he is the incarnation or son of God and the awaited Messiah [Maitreya] prophesied in the Old Testament [and in Mahayana Buddhist texts], observers hold that representations of him could be in the neighborhood of truth rather than technically accurate.
  • Hi, I'm Maitreya of Central Asia
    The "Messiah's second coming" of Jesus is predicted in Buddhist texts? No. The Buddha spoke of a future Buddha, an enlightened loving "Friend," he called "Maitreya" (in Mahayana Buddhist texts) if it's true that he said such a thing at all rather than it being inserted later, who will again reveal the "timeless truth" (the sanatana dharma, as Vedic Hindus call it). He is mentioned briefly in a Theravada Buddhist text in the Pali canon as Metteyya (the Pali word for the Sanskrit Maitreya). It is a mistake to think it is the same buddha returning again as a "second coming" of a savior. The historical is completely liberated and is not reborn, but other buddhas in the distant future will arise, just as supremely awakened teachers arose prior to the historical Buddha.
Truer depiction of Jesus according to scholar Prof. Joan Taylor (face2faceafrica.com)
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Thus, while for thousands of years fantasy Jesus Christ [as scholar Dr. Reza Azlan distinguishes him from Jesus of Nazareth, a possible historical figure] has been imagined as a fair skinned man [Severus Christus] with blue eyes ["Jesus Son of Zeus," a Nordic Thor figure], long dark hair and a beard, an expert in Christianity reckons that the depiction was FORGED to serve the interests of Westerners who had [come to power and] assumed ascendancy in world affairs.

Moses on synagogue wall (Dura-Europos Synagogue, Syria)

Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King’s College London Joan Taylor reckons Jesus could have had short hair and darker skin as well as a short beard [being a rabbi, he would also have to have been married, as reported by the Discovery Channel].

Michael, make them all white, Angel Baby! Think marble, alabaster, forget the mud and bronze
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But the West prefers a bleached figure
In an article for American Schools of Oriental Research, Prof. Taylor opens by saying, “Everyone knows what Jesus looks like: he is the most painted figure in all of western art, recognized everywhere as having long hair and a beard, a long robe with sleeves (often white) and a mantle (often blue).

“But what did he really look like, as a man living in Judaea in the 1st century? This subject has long been of interest. I have already written on John the Baptist and his clothing, but not about Jesus. 

“Nevertheless, over the years, numerous television documentaries have asked me for guidance on dramatising aspects of ancient life.

“In order to give them clear directions, I gathered information about what Jesus looked like, or rather, what he is said to have worn. I would like to share this here.

“It is worth emphasising that images of Jesus over time give us clues on how Jesus was imagined in different environments but say absolutely nothing about what he really looked like.

We have to jazz up this dark-skinned Jew for European consumption. Think Michelangelo.
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Moses used to be a Black African Jewish Israelite
Our images of Jesus were largely created in the Byzantine era (4th-6th centuries). Byzantine images of Jesus were based on the image of a Graeco-Roman deity, for example the famous statue of Olympian Zeus by Phidias in the 4th century BCE.”

In her scholarly article Prof. Taylor describes Jesus as having a beard, saying: “I think he would have had one, simply because he did not go to barbers.”

She continues: “And what about Jesus’s face? In the mummy portraits, the people were Greek-Egyptian, but there was a large Jewish population also in Egypt and some ethnic mixing.

“Their faces, so realistic, are the closest we have to photographs of the people of Jesus’s own time and place.

“If we are to imagine Jesus then, as a Jew of his time, the mummy paintings provide a good clue to his appearance.

“However, there is one other place to look: to the synagogue Dura-Europos, dating from the early 3rd century.

The depiction of Moses on the walls of the synagogue of Dura-Europos is probably the closest fit, I think, since it shows how a Jewish sage was imagined in the Graeco-Roman world.

“Moses is shown in undyed clothing, appropriate to tastes of ascetic masculinity (eschewing color), and his one mantle is a tallith, since one can see tassels (tzitzith).

This image is a far more correct as a basis for imagining the historical Jesus than the adaptations of the Byzantine Jesus that have become standard.”

Trust Bible history? (Ehrman)
Jesus is said to have been a Galilean Jew if he indeed lived. Christian doctrine includes the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary (actually Miriam), performed [healing] miracles, founded the Christian church, died by crucifixion
  • [which never kills quickly as it is a means of torturing meant to bring about slow and painful drowning, serving to all looking on not to commit political crimes against the Holy Roman Empire, adding to near certainty that Jesus did not die on the cross but was taken down after guards were bribed and a Roman sentry placed a spear in his side to save his life by draining the fluid filling his lungs as crucifixion is expected to do then whisked back to Tibet/India, where he lived to the age of 80 and is now buried in a marked grave under a Muslim figure, preventing excavation]
as a sacrifice to achieve atonement for sin, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, from where he will return.
  • [But this astrotheological story accords with other universalist religious figures spoken of throughout the ages, including the Mahayana Buddhist version of the Buddha and the Future-Buddha Maitreya (Messiah), which the world awaits, the "Friend" to us all with his good teaching of friendliness and loving-kindness (maitri or metta)].
Are you the Madonna/Holy Mother? - Yes, I'm Kwan Yin
ABOUT: Professor Taylor is a British historian of Jesus, the Bible, early Christianity, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Second Temple Judaism, with special expertise in archeology, women and gender, and the work of Philo of Alexandria. She is also a novelist. 

As Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King’s College, London, Dr. Taylor, PhD, identifies as a Quaker (Protestant Christian).

Prof. Taylor’s approach is multi-disciplinary; she works in literature, language, history, and archeology. She has written numerous books and articles in these fields. Source
The evidence for Jesus is worse than you think

(Holy Koolaid) Aug. 17, 2021: Just how good is the evidence for Jesus? Did Jesus actually exist, and if so, did he do the things written about him? What do history and archeology show about Jesus and the early church?

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