Thats not Jesus you are praying too its Cesare Borgia
By EvanHunter
@EvanHunter (4026)
United States
June 15, 2010 10:20pm CST
That's right the most popular idolatry image ever made that people have been praying to actually belongs to a violent man who was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI. Some argue that there are depictions that predate this time period but even so it was widely known that after this time period his face became even more like Cesare Borgia.
The few description of Jesus in the bible say “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” He seemed common in appearance he had to be pointed out in the garden by Judas.
He did outside hard physical labor most of his life making him dark in appearance; "His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters."
All and all the image you get from the bible is not what people have been led to believe what Jesus looked like in today's modern terms. Do you think people would still pray to pictures of Jesus if he was depicted as African or middle eastern?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@uath13 (8192)
• United States
16 Jun 10
Now why would the church ever allow them to even think about Jesus looking differently than the caucasian white man they depict? Odviously you haven't been properly brainwashed.
Now where's my soap & washcloth? We're going to have to scrub out your cranium good.
Now where's my soap & washcloth? We're going to have to scrub out your cranium good.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
16 Jun 10
My biggest heretic beliefs to most Christians is that Jesus and God are not the same. There is a lot of opinions on that one (water & flood) but I myself prefer expanding earth theory over super continent. But there is a lot of different possibilities that might explain the story of Noah, a great local flood, collapse of the Van Allen belts or drain off of water from last ice age after all most of north America was covered in water as little as 10 thousand years ago. Lets hope it wasn't magnetic field reversal as it looks like we might just be facing another one (according to some scientist) from the discovery they made of the one in Africa.
1 person likes this
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
16 Jun 10
As I said just a moment ago on another topic it just goes to show that people have valued looks over character for a very long time. Yeah what can I say I am one of those heretic Christians who actually reads the bible and knows what it says instead of having someone tell me what it says.
1 person likes this
@abitcurious (1422)
• Philippines
16 Jun 10
Well, it's religious marketing so no one would really try to conjure images of grandeur for the sake of keeping the faith.
Jesus' manly desires for Mary Magdalene is scandalous (he was human after all, right). But to say he wasn't pretty and just plain, much more of color would probably more blasphemous. Where's the ethereal quality in that?
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
16 Jun 10
I read a news article once about the man who painted Jesus black during the "race riots" in Detroit (which some say were more of a poor riot) and he said when he had done it some people who were there praying at the time (black and white) got up and left while the majority prayed on. How is it that they could be offended over that but the scriptures themselves say he was dark skinned?
1 person likes this
@abitcurious (1422)
• Philippines
16 Jun 10
Well it's hard to have your beliefs crushed. I think most pious people have read the bible over and over but skipped the parts they find unbelievable. IT's like having selective comprehension issues or something.
I'm a lapsed catholic so we have bibles in the house but never tried to lift a page. I believe in being good to people though.
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
18 Jun 10
Depends on what you really mean by ‘people’…Christianity as we know today is distinctly a western import and accordingly, all religious images are westernized with fair skin, blue eyes, pink cheeks etc. Its almost impossible today to imagine Jesus as an Arab Jew which he actually was! However, if you probe a little deeper, you’ll find in many areas, Christ has been localized with local skin colour, features, clothes..even the rites and rituals are distinctly localized with influences of the previous religion of the converted locals. In fact I’d seen a BBC program on the Christians of South India and in quite a few churches, there are localized depiction of Jesus and St. Thomas hidden behind the alters as the colonial people replaced them with more western version.
In fact the Church of India I think is bringing out an Indian version of the Bible with all the characters in distinct Indian clothes and looks to make the Christians feel more at home with indigenous Indian culture…this would not have happened if most Indian Christians had not wanted an amalgamation of their foreign religion with their traditional way of life. So I think people who worship Jesus would have still worshiped Him in their own way, irrespective of His colour and origin.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
18 Jun 10
I have never seen any pictures depicted by localized skin color. All the ones I have seen including ones in Asia are based off of the blue eyed light brown hair that were modeled after Borgia. As the first person who replied said I guess its just a marketing tool so people will be more willing to accept Christ if he appears familiar. I have heard that India's Christian population has never exceeded 3%. I wonder if their new tactic of Jesus appearing in Indian clothes is an attempt to change it.
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
18 Jul 10
i know they do.a friend of mine had a painting of an african jesus,mary and joseph.
i thought it was pretty cool to see another perspective.
@redhotpogo (4398)
• United States
18 Jun 10
I hope no one is praying to pictures, or statues of Jesus. It is forbidden.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
18 Jun 10
True but I have seen people talk to crucifixes and paintings of Jesus the same as if it were really him. But like you said we shouldn't be praying to a painting.
1 person likes this
@moneylots87 (521)
• Indonesia
4 Jan 12
Worshipping to any kind of images is strictly forbidden, and it is idolatry! So if someone pray to image of jesus even in anyways, its idolatry! Because its whorshipping or praying to an idol (human, image, form)
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
5 Jan 12
That's what I said: "the most popular idolatry image ever made"
