The Whiteness of Jesus, The Dead Sea Scrolls Go Digital, and More

Countless depictions of a fair-skinned Jesus have linked whiteness with Godliness – and complicated race relations for generations of Americans.

Credit: University of North Carolina Press
Jesus, Whiteness and Power January 15, 2013
Most Americans imagine Jesus as a pale-skinned man with delicate features and long, flowing hair. That image, which many people have come to think of as a timeless classic, was actually painted in 1941 by Warner Sallman. Edward Blum explains how this and other depictions of a white Christ have long been entangled in America’s race relations.Edward Blum, co-author with Paul Harvey of The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America

Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority
A Very Modern Home for Some Very Old Manuscripts

The legend goes something like this: in 1946, a Bedouin boy went searching for a lost goat and stumbled into a cave, where he found ancient, tattered pieces of parchment. It turns out they were part of a treasure trove of manuscripts containing the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish documents, all penned some 2000 years ago.

For the last several decades, the Dead Sea Scrolls have lived very sheltered lives, but now anyone with an Internet connection can view them in stunning, hi-resolution detail.

Risa Levitt Kohn, professor at San Diego State University
Jodi Magness, professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Check out the Dead Sea Scrolls online for yourself! Zoom in close enough to see the texture of the parchment or even the brush strokes of a single letter.  

 


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