How did we get a white Jesus?
His hair is the colour of wine [probably meaning yellow' and golden at the root -- straight and without lustre -- but from the level of the ears curling and glossy, and divided down the centre after the fashion of the Nazarenes [Nazarites] . . . His beard is full, of the same colour as his hair, and forked in form: His eyes blue extremely brilliant. (Coming Together in the 21st CenturyDeYoung writes that the European portrayal of Jesus was culturally appropriate. The problem is, over time this depiction became dominant, and as such became useful in European colonial actions., p. 55)
He writes:
A white Jesus served the purpose of being God's stamp of approval on the actions of white people. Such an image was also useful for demonstrating that white people were superior to people of color by virtue of of the whiteness of Jesus. The propagation of white images of Jesus continues even into our own time through media portrayals in movies and television, as well as in the pictures of nearly every Bible produced for use around the world. (p. 55).Yes, there are some representations emerging, especially from the Global South, that are challenging this picture. But it still has a strong influence in how the Christian faith is perceived and understood. I invite your thoughts, and will add further posts over the next few days.
Comments
- Richard Pryor - Here No Evil, See No Evil
Sorry, your post reminded me of that quote and I always laugh. Yes, Jesus gets made in our "own image" in many many different ways. We try to make him related to ourselves, whether is mental picture, political views, tone of voice, etc. You can't stop at white Jesus, remember the recent push for the black Jesus.
I do agree though.. we need to be VERY careful to cast off traditonal stereotypes of what he looked like vs the actual.
Chuck
Some children see Him lily white,
the baby Jesus born this night.
Some children see Him lily white,
with tresses soft and fair.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
The Lord of heav'n to earth come down.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
with dark and heavy hair.
Some children see Him almond-eyed,
this Savior whom we kneel beside.
some children see Him almond-eyed,
with skin of yellow hue.
Some children see Him dark as they,
sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray.
Some children see him dark as they,
and, ah! they love Him, too!
The children in each different place
will see the baby Jesus' face
like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace,
and filled with holy light.
O lay aside each earthly thing
and with thy heart as offering,
come worship now the infant King.
'Tis love that's born tonight!
See if you can find Stacy Sullivan's version off her CD "Cold Enough to Snow" She does a wonderful job with it.
The message of the Incarnation is that we must set aside our ethno-centric and cultural-centric filters and attempt to see and hear the truths which God has set before us to see and to hear - truths which transcend the often tragic and sometimes idyllic realities which define our lives and our times.
Perhaps stepping outside our northern European visualizations can be a first step in our journey to apprehend the truths of Jesus of Nazareth.
John
There are sites like stormfront where the racist whites gather together and actually have enough to form communities. I've also seen arguments about this everywhere else I've gone, where someone will post that Jesus was white and so was just about everyone else in major history and in the Bible. It's absurd but people really think this and get angry about anyone that thinks otherwise.