Who and why today proposes to reconsider the opinion that Jesus Christ was white

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is no secret that tolerance has been spreading in the sphere of culture for several years now. We are already accustomed to the unusual images of famous movie characters created under her influence. But how to react to the fact that such fashion trends have reached the seemingly inviolable sphere - religion? Religious leaders also want to be in trend: recently the Bishop of Canterbury said that "the whiteness of Jesus needs to be rethought."

"We live in a time of not only the coronavirus pandemic, but also during an epidemic of political correctness, when we do not know what to say and what cannot be said." (Americanist Lima Syed)

Religious symbols may also be harmed in the campaign to demolish monuments to controversial historical figures, sparked by recent racial protests in the United States. The widow of Nelson Mandela, a former prisoner-turned-president of South Africa, Graça Machel, said: “There is no need to demolish the statues. This is part of the story. We must remember where it all began and what it led to. " These words led her to a quarrel with the Bishop of Canterbury, who said that the statues in Canterbury Cathedral would be examined very carefully by him personally. After that, a decision will be made as to whether "they should all be there." He also called on the West to reconsider its prevailing view that Jesus was white. At the same time, the bishop pointed to various images of Christ in different countries.

The head of the Anglican Church believes that the churches should reconsider the way they portray Jesus. He said: "Yes, of course, this feeling that God was white … You go to different churches around the world and … you do not see the white Jesus. You see the African Jesus, the Chinese Jesus, the Middle Eastern Jesus!" Reverend Welby emphasized that his vision for solving this delicate issue is not to "throw away" the past, but instead to offer the world a holistic view of the "universality" of Christ. Jesus is portrayed in different ways in different cultures. After all, we are all different - we look, talk, think differently. But we are all human and God, who became human for our sake, looks like us.

At the same time, the Reverend Welby also noted that although the statues in Canterbury Cathedral will be considered during the Black Lives Matter nationwide campaign to demolish monuments to controversial figures, he does not approve of the demolition of all the monuments in a row. “We can only do this for the sake of restoring justice. We will carefully study each statue and some will have to be removed."

Of course, the decision will not be made by the bishop alone; he has no right to do so. The church will make a joint decision. Canterbury Cathedral is decorated with dozens of sculptures from William, Duke of Normandy, to Queen Elizabeth II. The Archbishop said that forgiveness and justice must go hand in hand and added: “We have recently witnessed some of the crises we have faced over the past few months, not only Covid-19, but Black Lives Matter and the economic downturn. In addition, we had to admit that there is a much greater injustice. And we all need to turn away from it, which means repentance, but we also need to learn to forgive."

A spokesman for Canterbury Cathedral said: “All items in the cathedral are reviewed to ensure that anything related to slavery, colonialism or controversial figures from other historical periods is displayed with clear objective interpretation and contextual information, and presented in such a way as to avoid any feeling elevations. We hope that by recognizing any oppression, exploitation, injustice and suffering associated with these sites, all visitors can leave with a greater understanding of our shared history and be inspired to further explore and discuss.”

Recognizing a nationwide approach to these issues, Church and Cathedral Director of the Church of England, Becky Clarke, said: "Our churches and cathedrals have memorials to individuals and events whose devastating impact is still felt by the people living in the UK today."

There is no physical description of Jesus in the Bible, with the exception of one passage that says he wears a tzitzit. As a result, in different countries, different races have usually imprinted their appearance in the image of Christ. In Western paintings, Jesus is depicted as a Caucasian. The earliest images depicted Christ as a typical Roman, with short hair and no beard, wearing a tunic. Only in 400 AD. Jesus appears with a beard. Perhaps this should personify wisdom, because philosophers of that time were usually depicted with facial hair. The generally accepted image of a fully bearded Jesus with long hair was established until the 6th century in Eastern Christianity, and later in the West.

Medieval art in Europe usually depicted him with brown hair and pale skin. This image was strengthened many times during the Italian Renaissance with the appearance of such famous paintings as "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci, which depicts Christ with his disciples.

Modern portrayals of Jesus in films tend to support the stereotype of the long-haired and bearded Messiah, while in some abstract works he is depicted as spirit or light.

But churches around the world have portrayed Jesus in a different way. In Ethiopia, Christ is depicted as black. And in a 9th century Chinese painting depicting Jesus, he is depicted as a Chinese.

In 2015, retired medical artist Richard Neave recreated the "face of Jesus" by examining Semitic skulls using modern forensic techniques. His portrait shows that the Son of God could have a wide face, dark eyes, a thick beard and short curly hair, as well as a tanned complexion. These traits were probably typical of the Jews of the Middle East in the Galilee region of northern Israel.

Dr. Neave emphasized that this is a portrait of an adult living at the same time and place as Jesus, but some experts say that his image is probably much more accurate than the paintings of the great masters. With no skeleton or remains, no description of Christ's appearance in the New Testament, all of his images were based either on how people looked in the society in which the artist or sculptor lived, or on hearsay.

This method uses cultural and archaeological data, as well as methods similar to those used to solve crimes, to study different groups of people. Experts have suggested that Jesus had facial features typical of the Galilean Semites of his era, based on the description of the events in the Garden of Gethsemane in the Gospel of Matthew. The evangelist wrote that Jesus is very similar to his disciples. Dr. Neave and his team x-rayed three Semitic skulls from the time, previously found by Israeli archaeologists.

In fact, all this hype is not that important - it's a tribute to the times and fashion. Much more important is our relationship with Christ if we call ourselves "Christians." Read more about Christian traditions and the true meaning of Christ's role in our article. what is Easter: pagan tradition or Christian holiday.