Is it time to cancel white Jesus?
I grew up in a Catholic family (a religion which I still identify myself with to some extent) and I was always intrigued by the appearance of Jesus. When I prayed in church and even now when I pray, I have a picture in my mind of whom I am praying to. Each time this picture of Jesus is that of a white man. An image which I have came to realise has been indoctrinated by white supremacy. In our western culture, the most common image of Jesus is that of a bearded, fair-skinned man with long, wavy and light brown hair. I have visited churches throughout Europe and all I see are sculptures of a white man above the altar. Yet, is this really what Jesus looked like?
The reality is that the Bible offers few clues about his physical appearance. The main facts about Jesus originate from the first four books of the New Testament, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. According to the Gospels, Jesus was a Jewish man born in Bethlehem and raised in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee during the first century A.D. From the Bible, we know that Jesus was 30 years old when he began his ministry. (Luke 3:23). However, the Bible tells us virtually nothing about what he looked like, except that his physical appearance did not stand out in his community. This was apparent when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane before the crucifixion (Matthew 26: 47-56) and Judas had to point Jesus out to his soldiers among the disciples. Presumably because they all appeared similar to each other. The closest we have of a clue towards the appearance of Jesus is in the Book of Revelation (1:14-15) that suggests Jesus' skin was a darker hue and that his hair was wooly in texture. It states that his hairs of his head, "were white as white wool, white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace." We have adapted the appearance of Jesus to our own culture throughout the years.
The traditional image of a long-haired, bearded image of Jesus emerged in the beginning of the fourth century A.D, with it being influenced heavily by representations of Greek and Roman gods, particularly the all-powerful Greek god Zeus. At that time, Jesus appeared in a robe and seated on a throne. As a result of colonisation throughout the centuries, the image of Jesus being white has came to dominate. This image of Jesus as white has been used to promote the idea that white is best. In some representations of Jesus, he is not only white but the purest white.
Some people may ask if it matters that Jesus is white? But think about it. As a society, we are aware of the power of representation and importance of diverse role models. After winning the 2013 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 12 Years a Slave, Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o became famous. She has repeatedly articulated her feelings of inferiority as a young woman because all the images of beauty she saw around her were of lighter-skinned women. If we can recognise the importance of diverse role models in our media, why can't we do the same for faith? Why do we allow images of a white Jesus to dominate and not question it?
The idea of God and Jesus being white subconsciously defaults our mind that the human race is white and underscores racism. I wonder how our attitudes would change if God and Jesus were brown. Would we have the same attitude? Perhaps it would demonstrate to us that the execution of the historical Jesus has a lot in common with the experience of Indigenous Australians or asylum seekers than it does with those who hold power in the church and usually represent Christ.
The reality is that the Bible offers few clues about his physical appearance. The main facts about Jesus originate from the first four books of the New Testament, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. According to the Gospels, Jesus was a Jewish man born in Bethlehem and raised in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee during the first century A.D. From the Bible, we know that Jesus was 30 years old when he began his ministry. (Luke 3:23). However, the Bible tells us virtually nothing about what he looked like, except that his physical appearance did not stand out in his community. This was apparent when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane before the crucifixion (Matthew 26: 47-56) and Judas had to point Jesus out to his soldiers among the disciples. Presumably because they all appeared similar to each other. The closest we have of a clue towards the appearance of Jesus is in the Book of Revelation (1:14-15) that suggests Jesus' skin was a darker hue and that his hair was wooly in texture. It states that his hairs of his head, "were white as white wool, white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace." We have adapted the appearance of Jesus to our own culture throughout the years.
The traditional image of a long-haired, bearded image of Jesus emerged in the beginning of the fourth century A.D, with it being influenced heavily by representations of Greek and Roman gods, particularly the all-powerful Greek god Zeus. At that time, Jesus appeared in a robe and seated on a throne. As a result of colonisation throughout the centuries, the image of Jesus being white has came to dominate. This image of Jesus as white has been used to promote the idea that white is best. In some representations of Jesus, he is not only white but the purest white.
Some people may ask if it matters that Jesus is white? But think about it. As a society, we are aware of the power of representation and importance of diverse role models. After winning the 2013 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 12 Years a Slave, Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o became famous. She has repeatedly articulated her feelings of inferiority as a young woman because all the images of beauty she saw around her were of lighter-skinned women. If we can recognise the importance of diverse role models in our media, why can't we do the same for faith? Why do we allow images of a white Jesus to dominate and not question it?
The idea of God and Jesus being white subconsciously defaults our mind that the human race is white and underscores racism. I wonder how our attitudes would change if God and Jesus were brown. Would we have the same attitude? Perhaps it would demonstrate to us that the execution of the historical Jesus has a lot in common with the experience of Indigenous Australians or asylum seekers than it does with those who hold power in the church and usually represent Christ.
So what did Jesus look like?
The real question is how can we imagine Jesus if he is not white? There has been studies conducted to research more on this matter. In 2001, the retired medical artists Richard Neave led a team of Israeli and British forensic anthropologists and computer programmers in creating a new image of Jesus. This was based on an Israeli skull dating back to the first century A.D, computer modeling and their knowledge of what Jewish people looked like at the time. Though it may not be considered a perfect reconstruction of Jesus, the image below is what scholars consider Jesus to have looked like.
This image of Jesus is drastically different to our stereotype that we have been conditioned to believing. He has a broad peasant's face, dark olive skin, short curly hair and a prominent nose. As the Reverend John Meier said in his series of books, A Marginal Jew, were we to see Jesus today we might be shocked given the European images that we are used to. The continued popularity of this image of a white Jesus shows us how far we have to go to tackle white supremacy and how in some respects, western countries have not moved in their approach. A white Jesus denigrates the image of God in black people and people of colour. We have to resist this image of Jesus as the message of Catholicism is that God became a human being in itself as a way of identifying with all people everywhere. By accepting the image of a white Jesus, we contradict the true message of our faith that we want to spread.
There is already hope that our faith community is working towards rejecting this white supremist depiction of Jesus. A picture of the Last Supper showing a black Jesus has been installed in St Albans cathedral in what campaigners have described as a bold statement. It was painted by Lorna May Wadsworth in 2010 and the church said it was placed "in support of the Black Lives Matter movement." The artist used a Jamaican-born model for the basis of her interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's 15th century work, and said she wanted to "make people question the Western myth that Jesus Christ had fair hair and blue eyes." In a statement, the cathedral said: "We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement to be allies for change, building a strong, just and fair community where the dignity of every human being is honoured and celebrated, where black voices are heard, and where black lives matter." The St Albans for BLM groups said the picture "was not about accurate portrayal of Jesus' appearance but about promoting conversation about how history is often whitewashed." It provokes faith communities to embrace the many representations of Jesus regardless of his depicted ethnicity.
As a Catholic, I feel this issue needs to be discussed within my own faith community. A white Jesus is a result of centuries of European colonisation. Now more than ever in the current climate where protesters around the world are tearing down statues of Confederate heroes and rightly demanding their own country's accountability for the long legacy of racism. The time has come for the church community to ask themselves if it is time to cancel white Jesus? The white Jesus has crowded out other depictions of Jesus to the point now that people think the only possible representation of Jesus is a white man. If Jesus is white and God is white then authority is white. This is problematic in the same way that government, business and education sectors are dominated by white people as a white Jesus also represents white supremacy.
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