Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!aplcen!haven!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: cvl!cvl!umabco!mmcdanie@uunet.uu.net (Molly McDaniel) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The physical appearance of Jesus Message-ID: Date: 27 Oct 89 07:07:05 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Maryland, IRMD, Baltimore, MD 21201 Lines: 38 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , hans@lfcs.edinburgh.ac.uk (Hans Huttel) writes: > Personally, I think one of the reasons why the `Scandinavian' > stereotype has been so widely accepted is that that people often > forget (want to forget ?) that Christianity began in the Middle East > among poor (probably illiterate) people. I think that Jesus is thought of as Scandinavian-like by those of us in the Western Hemisphere because we simply like to think of God and Christ in our own image. This is true not only in terms of physical attributes but more subtley in how we anthropomorphise God (far beyond the Bible's anthropomorphising). And if people want to forget that Christ was not of the poor, Middle Eastern or otherwise, then my guess is that they want to forget most of what Christ is all about, most of what Christianity is all about. If you're right in your speculation about this, then I'd say we're committing a grave error: to believe that money and education make one group of people superior to another group. This is contrary to Biblical teaching and to who I think God is. We may be surprised to find one day just who constitutes the people of God. I was appalled too by the comments of the people against Ali's claim of a black Christ. The comments strike me as very defensive and parochial, and they themselves showed a lack of education and knowledge in making such responses. It would not affect my beliefs or feelings about Christ in any way to learn anything about Christ's physical appearance. He had a body of one sort or another and that's about all that matters, as far as physical attributes go, IMHO. -- Molly McDaniel UUCP: ...cvl!umabco!mmcdanie Internet: umabco!mmcdanie@cvl.umd.edu Snail Mail: UMAB, 511 West Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD. 21201