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This production in Trafalgar Square should be an opportunity to break taboos and convey a message which is consistent with the radical content of the gospel.

Is this production merely an exercise in historical education? Of course not.

But if it were, then it should be historically accurate as far as is humanly possible, and therefore Jesus should be played by an actor with a racial profile as close to that of a Jewish male of first century Palestine as possible.

We know, however, that this is not merely an exercise in historical reenactment. This is a form of art intended to convey a message to our contemporary society. This means, therefore, that we are in the realms of spiritual and / or psychological interpretation.

In this context "Jesus" becomes almost an archetypal figure who can be seen as representing all manner of social, racial and ideological positions. In this way "Jesus" as the "symbol of my cause" becomes a divisive figure - just the kind of religious message that undermines the gospel. At times I can understand (though I don't altogether agree with) the Brethren denomination not wanting to portray Jesus in Bible illustrations.

Biblically speaking, the Church is actually "the body of Christ", and therefore has been called to "reenact" Christ in our society. The Church, of course, includes all races and both genders. One of the key spiritual messages of "Christ" working through "His Body" is described here:

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

The spiritual message of Christ is that racial, social and gender distinctions are done away with in the grace of God. So an authentic portrayal of "Christ" in this sense should have the courage to embrace the reality that we know is (or should be) the reality in the Church - there should be nothing in that portrayal which would encourage any race, social group or gender to claim Christ as their special spokesman. Of course this is impossible, as the actor will inevitably have, at least, a racial and gender profile.

I am not suggesting that they should employ a woman to play Jesus, but part of me whispers: "why not?"

Would this, in fact, be any more misleading than casting a white "northern European" male in the role? It would certainly get people thinking about the meaning of Galatians 3:28 and the gospel in general.

#1;

""There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)"

This may be a metaphor for the followers of Christ but there is no doubt that Jesus Christ himself was a Jew. A Palestinain Jew which sounds so incongruous today in light of current politics. To a remarkable degree Jews have always seemed to marry and breed among themselves. For religious Jews, one of their own marrying outside their religion is as as though that person had died. Therefore, despite what is politically correct today meaning multiculturalism and all that implies, the evidence is fairly conclusive that Jesus Christ was Caucausain but did not have blond hear or blue eyes.

#2:
My Sephardi and Yemenite Jewish friends would certainly not call themselves caucasian. There are Jewish people of many ethnicities and cultures, even among those who are observant. We will probably never know exactly what "colour" Jesus was.

In spite of that, the Social Darwinist, Colonialist image of the blond-blue Jesus is definitely not plausible, yet is still prevelant among many Christians and should be challenged.

"Social Darwinist"?!?! That's a good one :-)

# 3 "blond-blue Jesus" - bit of an avatar then? ;-)

I should note that, just as I would have no objection to a black Jesus or a female Jesus or a gay Jesus, so also I would have no objection to a straight white male Jesus.

Sanders of the River. It has been years since I saw let alone heard those words. Thank you for the memory, of sitting with my father Abraham Warner, watching, listening to the immortal Paul Robeson and that song he sang on the river.
I am an Aussie...I believe my father was telling me one can and should appreciate all people no matter their race...and he appreciated a great singer.
AY EE AI OH, AY EE AI OH...it still inspires.
I believe Robeson hated the type casting : )
I also believe it was the Italian masters of the Renaissance who began to paint Jesus Christ as a fair haired white man.
And I love Gaugan's YELLOW CHRIST.
Why not a Mongolian?
Why not an Eskimo or Amazonian tribesman?
Why not Christ in a wheelchair?
Of course Jesus Christ was Palestinian...or Judean, in the Roman context... probably with long, oily locks of black hair, olive skin and a hooked nose...this is NOT a racial stereotype.
But then again, if an entrepreneur wishes to cast HIS/HER production, HIS/HER way so be it.
Remember, Jesus Christ was a Jew.
Perhaps if the casting call is for white men, at least for one touch of authenticity the actor should be a Jew.
Forgive me if I am unfamiliar with UK Anti-Dicrimination Law.

This brings us to the question that is implicit even if unconsciously in the title of this blog that nobody wants to be mentioned, let alone discussed. Therefore it must be asked, if by nobody else then by me. If Jesus Christ was white as I think I pointed out he most likely was and if Jesus Christ is the son of god, is god also white?

"Man was made in the image of god" (or was it the other way around?) So for all those not to frightened by the question to at least think about it, what do you say about it? How about you Pastorphilip, is god white if not in fact then in our imaginations?

Well, he was a "brown" JEW. from JUDEA - ISRAEL!

#7 - MA2 -

"Therefore it must be asked, if by nobody else then by me. If Jesus Christ was white as I think I pointed out he most likely was and if Jesus Christ is the son of god, is god also white? "Man was made in the image of god" "


And to think that Christians are often accused of literalism!!

I wonder if it's occurred to you that the phrase "image of God" could have other meanings?

Hmmm.

lsv

What does the word image mean? It seems pretty plain to me. BTW, what does it say in the bible about worshiping "graven images?" Looks like people who worship money are all going to hell. All the money I've ever seen or heard about has just such images on it. I think that lets art lovers out of heaven too. Do you think you can be selective about which of god's laws to obey and which ones to ignore? Do you think you can play word games with god over semantics and come out the winner? Which word didn't you understand? What makes you think you are going to heaven. I'd take bets othewise if that is your attitude.

#10 - MA2 -

Re: man being made in the image of God...

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27

The fact that both a man and a woman are "in the image of God" shows us clearly that the biblical interpretation of the phrase "image of God" cannot be limited to some particular manifestation of the human form. If you want to understand the word as denoting a particular "physical manifestation" (such as being racially 'white') then we would have to apply that kind of interpretation to Genesis 1:27, which is clearly absurd, if you think about it.

As for: "what makes you think you are going to heaven"....

Answer: the grace of God.

(By the way, mods or William, what's happened to the preview function? It's just disappeared.)

Oh, the preview function has just appeared again!

How bizarre. My computer must be playing games with me.

Who cares?

lsv

"How bizarre. My computer must be playing games with me."

I think god just sent you a message over the internet. Does god have to spell it out for you too? They are not amused :-)

I was of course alluding to the anthropomorphization of god as a white male, usually an older one not only by the popular culture and media but by the Christian and Jewish religions themselves.

Our father that art in heaven.

Our wise with age white father that art in heaven.

Blasphemy! If god is "in" heaven (i.e. the metadivine realm - thanks, Christine!), then he is not an immanent necessary foundational being, and bang goes reformed epistemology. That whitebread Jesus bloke really did come out with some heretical notions, didn't he? No wonder people like Plantinga and Craig don't like him.

Helio

Care to explain #16?

As an infant, Superman (who was about as close to god as anyone except m-a-y-b-e Jesus himslef emigrated from the planet Krypton to America. But he had no authorization to come here, no green card, no application, no anything. Of course he gave new meaning to the term "illegal alien" but he was allowed to stay anyway. "Truth, justice, and the American way." So is god also American? One nation, under god, indivisibile...." I don't think he is Irish or British.

Graham, have you not been listening to the lectures? If god is "in" heaven, then he/she is ontologically inferior to heaven; heaven becomes a meta-divine realm (as per Kaufman), and god is demoted. Therefore, to say "our father which art in heaven" is deeply heretical.

See?

Yes, of course it gets silly, but that goes with the territory :-)

There's a worm = Our Father
at the bottom of the garden = which art in heaven
And his name is Wiggly Woo = hallowed be thy name.

Clearly these are linked, in the same way the Babylonian creation myths are linked to the redacted C7BCE Hebrew creation myths of Genesis.

Helio

Are you feeling okay? Dizzy spells? I mean the Wiggly Woo/Lord's Prayer song is one thing, and getting Reformed epistemology mixed up is another.

But Christine Hayes looks *nothing* like Wilma Deering! (Sheesh...way to kill off a childhood crush.)

After an in depth debate and discussion with Mrs Veale, (in which we discovered that there is an entire site dedicated to Colonel Wilma Deering, which is kind of scary), I'm seriously concerned that you're regressing into some sort Freudian infantile psychosis.
Is *every* woman reminding you of childhood crushes? Are you seeing Princess Leia on the bus? Wonder Woman in the canteen? Is the cute technician (with a forgettable name) from Knight Rider haunting your lab?Are you trying to discover where Amy from the 'A-Team' went after the first series?
GV

Helio #19

"If I were a wiggly worm,
I'd thank you Lord that I could squirm."

Now, I'm not sure which lecture your are referring to with the in heaven out of heaven stuff so maybe there's more to it than I'm thinking, but this literalism of yours is driving me nuts!

BTW, was Jesus white, no, not literally, but perhaps white in London is a meta-phor the incarnation of the God who cannot be contained by the meta-divine realm.

If you were good at 'sword drill' you might get the reference.

:-)

Ah - sword drill - that takes me back :-) The countdown's getting lower every day...

OK OK OK, she's not *quite* like Wilma Deering. But that does at least bring me to announcing my latest greatest idea to you, the readers of this blog: Col Wilma Deering will be launching *her* lecture course on the critical appraisal of the history of Western Philosophy on Open *Harvard*.

Any takers?

[And Peter, what's the URL? ;-)]

PS. Actually, I can't quite remember where it is (sword getting rusty), but I assume you're talking about that line from "In the Bleak Midwinter"? (Which is as close as I can come to it this time around; maybe Professor Google will help).

H

Funny I wasn't thinking of Christina Rossetti, but that's a good guess! And yes, the double ya, double ya, double ya dot is useful at times, you don't think I know the whole bible off by heart, do you? That wouldn't be so much a 'sword drill' as a whole armoured multi tank division! Kaboom... and the verse is....!! :-)

Anyhow, it was one of Solomon's rhetorical questions, "But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him." Now, I've no idea if he was thinking 21st century literary criticism or if he had an appreciation of mythological genre or theology or what, but it seems he had it covered anyway! Bit of a wise guy I hear.

And here's a weird thing - we, Mrs M and I, were laughing about the countdown song just the other day, I mean, 'Somewhere in outer space....' - it's almost blasphemous!! Maybe we should put a copy in an art gallery. :-)

What's bugging me most at the moment though is my stupid printer; you can spend all night and all day printing out a myriad of unimportant and useless stuff and then, when you are working to a deadline and actually *need* something - guess what - yep... blank page, and the tank's full of ink. I dunno!

Beedeebeedeebeedee...

Peter, nice one. But Solomon did not write Ecclesiastes. You knew that! I quite like Ecclesiastes... but then there's nothing new under the sun.

www.

wilmadeering.

com/

Helio.

"But Solomon did not write Ecclesiastes.�

Well that's lucky, cos I got it from the 'chronicler'!

You could be right though, as far as I'm aware the name Solomon doesn't appear in the book, but perhaps 'qoheleth' was his sign in of choice on an early blog. :-)

Drat! Busted!

Busted over the Wilma obsession?

"Busted over the Wilma obsession? "

That's what I was wondering, Graham. Rather unlike H not to have a witty riposte.

I think he's been rumbled.

And I'm thinking...Will and Testament...Wilma Testament...

Did you end up on this blog unexpectedly Helio?
You type "Wilma" into google - you think a site looks interesting - but "google" fails in it's search, and instead of Erin Gray, you end up on a blog that discusses Religion?

Or maybe not.

GV

Erin Gray in the eighties vs Will Crawley in the noughties (and beyond)... hmmmmm...

Please guys, give me *some* credit!

Yeah. No offence to Will, but not much of a contest is it?