White Jesus

In the 21st Century, I’m hoping we’re all familiar with the ludicrosity of a White Jesus. A pale, flowy chestnut-haired, linky-limbed profile is not one I would ascribe to a Levantine carpenter of the first century. But here we are. While this is a silly little example, there are some serious insights that can be gleaned from it. This depiction of Jesus is really a reflection of those who founded and propagated such a myth.

Backfilling

Let’s crack open the good ol’book:

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of 
anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath"
- Exodus 20:4

This verse effectively outlaws any depiction of Jesus. One that will be followed. Until, at some point the verse becomes irrelevant? I always loved watching a pastor preach against praising false idols, while White Jesus chills on a cross in the background.

Anyways, this isn’t the only area where we’re backfilling for a great deal of time when it comes to Jesus. The 4 gospels themselves were likely not written until about 70 AD (40 years after Jesus died). From two millenium away, this may not seem like a big deal. But remember: these gospels are supposed to be the first credible cohesive written records on Jesus. So prior to them, most of his life story is transmitted orally for decades. To any historian, I imagine this raises some serious alarm bells to the credibility of anything in the gospels. As a matter of fact, it’s been determined that nearly 80% of what Jesus is claimed to say, was likely fabricated by the authors.

I would argue that Jesus’s life story and depiction are better thought as vessels of other’s ideas and opinions rather than any accurate description of reality. Jesus’s story appears to me more like a coping mechanism in the face of aggressive Roman persecution towards the Jews. As for the visual depiction, that describes a people much later in time.

Imperial Inspirations

In Isaiah it was said that Jesus had no remarkable form; that he was rather plain and boring looking. But Celsus-a second century philosopher-remarked that Jesus was “ugly and small” (peak philosophy). To emphasize: this is tantamount to calling GOD himself ugly.

Then the Romans pick up christianity. Once again, the bible becomes “outdated,” and it turns out that Jesus was actually beautiful! Yay! As a matter of fact, he actually looked quite similar in appearance to Zeus and Jupiter (Roman counterpart to Zeus). Both gods having long locks and majestic beards. This speaks to the attitudes of the Romans. Such an empire could have never tolerated such a frail, plain-looking son of God. As previously evidenced by that one thing that happened…

Medieval Ages

This is the era that is most revealing. When you look at medieval depictions of biblical scenes, it will take you a moment to recognize them as such. This is because such scenes are depicted as if they happened in the middle ages themselves. This anachronistic angle wasn’t intentional, so much as a reflection of the society at large. A glaring insight into the utter absence of Historical Consciousness. They generally didn’t recognize the development that has taken place between the biblical figures and the modern-day: technologically, culturally, intellectually or morally. The people of this time and nearly everyone prior to it, lack the elementary concept of history.

By this, I mean the ability to understand the past as distinct from the present as well as it’s causal influence. This is something only knowledge can provide. Hell, a lot of christians didn’t even know much about the contents of the bible itself. It wasn’t until halfway through the middle ages that sermons started to become popular within the church. It was considered revolutionary for the congregation to actually understand what’s in the bible as opposed to watching clergymen do rituals in incomprehensible Latin. Starved of knowledge, there was no way for people of the time to understand the chasm between their culture and that occupied by Jesus or any other historical figure.

White Jesus

In my eyes, White Jesus serves as a symbol of inherited ignorance. So many ideas carried in the modern-day are based in utter perversions of the truth that have been ingrained into our cultures. Yet, unlike our forefathers, we possess knowledge. So what does it reflect about us when we still choose to believe such things?

If it wasn’t clear prior, I’m a staunch disbeliever of christianity. Anyone who looks will find mountains of evidence disproving the religion at every nook and cranny. While you can’t disprove god’s existence, you can disprove a religion. We can laugh at our ancestors for inventing White Jesus, but we who possess knowledge and choose to maintain our ignorancy are the true fools.