Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, Eastern?

[cricket]

Recently discussed in our home is the location of the birth of our Lord.

[cricket]

This conversation was started as a debate between my husband and some of his on-line contacts. The majority of his Jewish friends were extremely angered and upset that he (my husband) insisted that our Lord was born in the Middle-East. They laughed at him and questioned his level of education.

Admittedly, the Mediterranean Sea is awfully close to the place of His birth, the area is generally considered to be Middle-Eastern.

Next question: When our Lord filled out His tax forms, what did He write in the space for "ethnicity"?

[cricket]

To you, maybe, but obviously, to some, it is very important.

[Parade Orange]

Lady Wall.

hello 8:O)

Its my understanding that Israel is in the Middle East.

more exactly- Bethlehem.

will they laugh at me too? Good natured group or derisive?

God bless

always nice to see u!

Gay4JESUS

[Parade Orange]

BTW

its how many faries can dance on the head of a pin not angels.

Dancing fairies on the head of the pin?

only if someone puts Madonna in the jukebox.

[Paul Beach]

Margaret Gray responds:

This is an important issue. After all, if we do not know the answer to this, we need to take more geography lessons. It is obviously very important.

[Bravus]

These terms are all relative: where I come from California, or possibly Peru, is the 'Middle East'! So for most people from England, which is where these terms arose, Israel would be considered part of the Middle East. Asia would be the East. Your Jewish friends may well be using a different reference point...

[cricket]

Good point, Bravus. I'm using the North America definition--as his friends were using the same North American server as my husband.

As to whether or not his Jewish friends worship Jesus, I do not know. They do agree, however, that there might have been a man named Jesus who lived close to 2000 years ago. More specifically, they were arguing as to where the city of Bethlehem is/was located, i.e. what part of the world Bethlehem is considered: Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, etc.

Quote:

---

From Answers.com (the site Google sends the searcher to for definitions):

Middle East

Region in western Asia and northeast Africa that includes the nations on the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey.

As the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia, Babylon, and Egypt, and the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the Middle East is known as the cradle of Western civilization. The Greek Empire, Roman Empire, Persian Empire, and Ottoman Empire are among the great civilizations that developed and prospered in the

Middle East.

A hotbed of religious and political strife (see Arab-Israeli conflict and Persian Gulf War), the Middle East attracted the attention of such powerful nations as Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union eager to protect their strategic interests at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and their access to precious oil reserves.

---

[cricket]

My husband would like me to clarify something here.

The Jewish people are the only ones who disagreed with my husband on the location of Bethlehem. They were the ones that were adamant that Bethlehem was NOT in the Middle-East. They were also the group of people who insisted that whites would not worship Jesus if he were "black".

My husband was defending his faith. He was trying to show that caucasians would worship Jesus no matter what race he was and that "white-ness" had nothing to do with it.

Note: The quotation marks are around the terms black and white-ness because these are the terms used by those disagreeing with my husband.

[Stan]

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Schmidt said:

To be honest, I am not comfortable trying to shoehorn the Lord into our meager imaginations. This question, no offense intended, is much like asking how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It is useless and idle.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Loid Smith

You need to get back into your foxhole..

[Stan]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />

They were also the group of people who insisted that whites would not worship Jesus if he were "black".

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

he was part black, if he was in the US today we would classify him as a african-american.... Hit grandmonth? or great grandmother was an ethopian.

Keep in mind Ethiopians do not call them selfs Black, but rather Brown...

hmmm ethiopans food..... hmmmmmmm hungry.... LYNNDEL now look what you did...

[cricket]

Stan,

How do you know his grandmother (or great grandmother) was Ethiopian? Is there a Biblical reference to this somewhere? Am I missing something?

Chrys

[Naomi]

Christine,

This is very interesting. My mother's family were Jewish and I have a lot of friends who are Jews, some Rabbis. While they recognize Jesus as having lived and taught while on this earth I have never anyone say anything to indicate they believe he was not from the Middle-east. OTOH, most would not consider this an issue of importance.

As for the ethnic issue, I believe Stan is correct. Furthermore, would it make any difference in our eternal life if Jesus was black, brown, white or purple spotted?

LOL Sounds like a lot of bored Jews, who love to debate.

Naomi

[cricket]

Right! It wouldn't make any difference at all whether He was black, white, blue, green or whatever! Our God is an awesome God and I'll worship Him forever!

The only reason I asked about the Ethiopian background is because I've never seen anywhere in the Bible that really shows where Jesus' heritage comes from. The only thing I've ever read is where Joseph comes from, and Joseph is not the father of Jesus.

It's out of curiosity that I ask.

[Amelia]

The geneology would have to be through Mary.

[cricket]

...that's what I'm thinkin', and I don't know where in the Bible it talks about Mary's family heritage.

[Guest]

Shalom!

It appears to me, a Jewish Rabbi, that your husband's "friends" are indeed practicing the Jewish proverb: "2 Jews + 1 Topic = 3 Opinions."

I would however, like to add MY opinion. I believe Jesus would've used the word: "Judean", had His father Yosef needed to put it in His family's geneologies.

True, it doesn't matter to Christians whether or not Jesus was Middle Eastern or not, it DOES maater to those who are observant Jews if Jesus was in fact "Jewish".

UltraOrthodox and Orthodox Jews consider a child is "Jewish" IF the mother is a Jewess.

However, I DON'T believe ALL Jews are "Jewish" (Torah Observant), I DO believe ALL TORAH OBSERVANT Jews "Jewish".

I personally think your husband's "friends" should be more concerned about Jesus being Torah observant "Jewish" rathan than focusing on "whether or not Jesus was Middle Eastern."

For the record, I, as a Jewish Rabbi, DO believe Jesus WAS Torah observant, "Jewish" AND He was a JUDEAN raised in Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel).

[Amelia]

Thank you Rabbi for responding. I was hoping you would come out of the woodwork at some point. <img src="/ubbtreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

[Naomi]

Thank you Rabbi Cohen,

It is good to see you back on club Adventist.

Shalmon,

Naomi