tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/jesus-christ-14003/articlesJesus Christ – The Conversation2024-03-27T17:05:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2249092024-03-27T17:05:53Z2024-03-27T17:05:53ZWhy is Jesus often depicted with a six-pack? The muscular messiah reflects Christian values of masculinity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581073/original/file-20240311-24-gmrsj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C2360%2C1350&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">(L-R) The Rockox Triptych by Rubens (1613–1615), Christ as the Man of Sorrows by Maerten Jacobsz van Heemskerck and The Last Judgement by Michelangelo (1541).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp/Sistine Chapel</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever wondered why so many images depicting the crucifixion show Jesus with a very defined, slender and toned body? Either slim, but with a six-pack, or displaying muscles and brawn. While these images are hardly a reflection of what little can be surmised about <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35120965">the historical Jesus</a>, they certainly reflect social and cultural ideas about masculinity and <a href="https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96438/1/Edwards%2C%20Sporting-BR1%20copy.pdf">idealised notions of manhood</a>. </p>
<p>In many images of the crucifixion, Jesus is depicted as both strong and vulnerable. Crucifixion paintings showing a muscular messiah suggest that Jesus could perhaps physically have overcome his fate, had he wanted to. This interpretation of the crucifixion story amplifies the emotional and spiritual strength of his sacrifice.</p>
<p>The Bible is full of strong men and pumped prophets. Working the land is <a href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/genesis/3-17.html#:%7E:text=Genesis%203%3A17%20In%2DContext&text=rule%20over%20you.%22-,17%20To%20Adam%20he%20said%2C%20%22Because%20you%20listened%20to%20your,the%20days%20of%20your%20life.">Adam’s punishment</a> for eating from the Tree of Knowledge. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%206%3A14-16&version=NIV">Noah builds a massive ark</a>, filling it with every bird, animal and food. Samson has <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+14%3A6&version=NIV">superhuman</a> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+14%3A19&version=NIV">strength</a> in the book of <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+15%3A14&version=NIV">Judges</a> – his only weakness is women.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201&version=NIV">opening of Matthew’s Gospel</a> details Jesus’ genealogy in detail, and it is clear that he has other hardmen in his DNA. It speaks of Abraham and David, particularly. In <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2014&version=NKJV">Genesis 14</a>, we learn how Abraham gathered an army of over 300 men and launched an attack to save his family. In <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+21%3A+1-5&version=ESV">Genesis 21</a>, he also fathers a child at the age of 100 – his son, Isaac. </p>
<p>David is also mentioned as an ancestor of Jesus. He was famous for <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2017&version=NKJV">killing Goliath</a>, whose immense stature <a href="http://www.davidacook.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/reconsidering_the_height_of_goliath.pdf">has been estimated as 9ft 9in</a>. In <a href="https://biblehub.com/1_samuel/18-27.htm">the Book of Samuel</a>, David kills 200 Philistine men and <a href="https://biblehub.com/1_samuel/18-27.htm">brings their foreskins</a> to King Saul, so that he will allow him to marry his daughter, Michal.</p>
<p>While some portrayals of Jesus have caused outrage, like those, for example, that represent him as <a href="https://theconversation.com/sexualised-jesus-causes-outrage-in-spain-but-christians-have-long-been-fascinated-by-christs-body-222343">feminine or sexualised</a>, a similar outcry does not seem to follow the muscular Jesus. </p>
<p>There is a story in the gospels of Jesus’s physical strength, when he <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021%3A12-16%2CLuke%2019%3A45-47%2CJohn%202%3A13-16&version=NASB#:%7E:text=13%20The%20Passover%20of%20the%20Jews%20was%20near%2C,My%20Father%E2%80%99s%20house%20a%20%5B%20b%5Dplace%20of%20business%21%E2%80%9D">drives out</a> those who were buying and selling in the temple, overturning tables in his anger. In the New Testament, the gospels even narrate a <a href="https://www.bible.com/bible/406/LUK.11.21-28.ERV#:%7E:text=21%2D28%20ERV-,%22When%20a%20strong%20man%20with%20many%20weapons%20guards%20his%20own,with%20the%20other%20man%27s%20things.">Parable of the Strong Man</a>. </p>
<p>The endurance of physical torture before the crucifixion has been well documented in religious iconography, such as the <a href="https://www.catholic.org/prayers/station.php">Stations of the Cross</a>, as well as in films such as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004). Jesus also has to be mentally strong to overcome Satan, so depictions of his physical strength are perhaps supposed to echo his superhuman, spiritual strength.</p>
<h2>‘Behold the man!’</h2>
<p>Paintings that depict Jesus with a six-pack have influenced factions of Christianity. In the 19th century, the idea of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/6637/chapter-abstract/150662543?redirectedFrom=fulltext#:%7E:text=%27Muscular%20Christianity%27%20was%20a%20term,could%20and%20should%20promote%20this.">“muscular Christianity”</a> took hold. The term, invented in 1857, describes those Christians who see moral and religious value in sports. </p>
<p>In his book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Gods-Gym-Divine-Male-Bodies-of-the-Bible/Moore/p/book/9780415917575">God’s Gym</a> (1997), professor of religion Stephen Moore explores the quest for Jesus in a perfect human masculine form, and how this is connected to physical culture and male narcissism. Masculine Christian spirituality is often aligned with the values of <a href="https://cmn.men/collections/workbooks">courage, strength and power</a>.</p>
<p>While his ministry isn’t known for its exercise focus, Jesus’s fitness can be seen in some interpretations of the gospels. He <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%204-6">walked for 40 days in the vast wilderness</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2019:17-42&version=NIV">carried a heavy cross</a> on his back. </p>
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<img alt="Jesus feeding his disciples" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration from the Armenian Daniel of Uranc gospel (1433) showing the feeding of the 5,000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Feeding_the_multitude,_Daniel_of_Uranc,_1433.jpg">Matenadaran</a></span>
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<p>Through the Eucharist (“take and eat, this is my body”), Jesus’s body became sacrament. This has palpable implications for many modern Christians. If Jesus’s physical fitness is a sign of his holiness, then it is something to aspire to.</p>
<p>Theologian Lisa Isherwood’s book <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Fat_Jesus/a7K1Bil8HcAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">The Fat Jesus</a> (2008) explores Christian women’s weight-loss cultures through programmes such as “Slim for Him”. Feminist theologian Hannah Bacon’s book <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/feminist-theology-and-contemporary-dieting-culture-9780567659958/">Feminist Theology and Contemporary Dieting Culture</a> (2019), meanwhile, analyses the problematic use of “sin/syn” to refer to “bad” foods in weight-loss programmes.</p>
<p>For some Christians, depictions of Jesus as strong and muscular represent the ideal of a man’s body. They interpret Biblical stories in ways that mirror these paintings. Many of these groups believe that Biblical ideas of <a href="https://www.mensalliancetribe.com/about/what-we-believe">masculinity are under attack</a>. In response, they put on events designed to attract men to church and promote the ideals of biblical manhood. Praising a muscular body ideal for men – and for Jesus – is part of that.</p>
<p>So next time you’re looking at a painting of Jesus in a church or gallery, do remember that such images reflect contemporary social and cultural attitudes to men’s bodies, rather than authenticity, in their artistry. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Greenough does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Bible is full of strong men and pumped prophets.Chris Greenough, Reader in Social Sciences, Edge Hill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2131302023-11-15T13:22:10Z2023-11-15T13:22:10ZA TikTok Jesus promises divine blessings and many worldly comforts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559329/original/file-20231114-17-d2sfpr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C0%2C2215%2C1308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jesus images on social media promise divine rewards for today's fast-paced age.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@believerdaily">TikTok</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/tiktok-is-a-unique-blend-of-social-media-platforms-heres-why-kids-love-it-144541">TikTok</a> profile <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@believerdaily">Daily Believer (@believerdaily)</a> has 70 videos with computer-generated Jesuses looking directly at the viewer, beseeching them to stop scrolling and watch the next minute’s worth of content. </p>
<p>All these Jesuses are long-haired and bearded, recalling <a href="https://www.warnersallman.com/">artist Warner Sallman’s</a> ubiquitous 1940 painting “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-long-history-of-how-jesus-came-to-resemble-a-white-european-142130">Head of Christ</a>.” Some wear the crown of thorns, some <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@believerdaily/video/7254161213561736453">look alarmingly like the actor Jared Leto</a>. Nearly all promise a surprise or “good news soon” in exchange for the viewer liking, commenting “Amen” or sharing it with their friends and family. With this digital outreach, the Daily Believer has gained, as of Nov. 13, 2023, 813,200 followers and over 9.2 million likes.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://clas.uiowa.edu/religion/people/brandon-dean">a scholar of religion in the U.S. and its intersection with popular culture</a>, I have been studying the ways American Christians use media and popular culture to perform religious work and evangelical outreach for the past 13 years. I argue that this TikTok phenomenon, in which viewers are promised good luck for sharing, liking and commenting on videos of a computer-generated Jesus, is close to what is known as the prosperity gospel – that is, a Christian belief that God will reward faith with this-worldly comforts, like health and wealth.</p>
<h2>Computer-generated Jesus</h2>
<p><div data-react-class="TiktokEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@believerdaily/video/7244190446103104774"}"></div></p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@believerdaily/video/7244190446103104774">Welcome Jesus into Your Home</a>” is among the Daily Believer’s most popular videos, with over 22.2 million subscribers. According to the computer-generated Jesus, if the viewer believes in God, they must share this video with their friends and family and comment “I believe.” </p>
<p>If they do, they will receive a blessing within an hour. If they do not, computer-generated Jesus issues a thinly veiled threat of damnation by quoting <a href="https://www.bibleref.com/Matthew/3/Matthew-3-10.html#:%7E:text=ESV%20Even%20now%20the%20axe,and%20thrown%20into%20the%20fire.">Matthew 3:10</a>, which has John the Baptist saying, “Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”</p>
<p>It is a TikTok chain letter – one whose creator can be monetarily compensated, by TikTok, <a href="https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-much-does-tiktok-pay/">between 2 cents and 4 cents for every 1,000 views</a>. For example, “Welcome Jesus into Your Home” could have earned the creator $900 from TikTok views alone, with the possibility for additional money earned on sites like Facebook Reels.</p>
<p>It is simple and effective. While the Daily Believer’s views are dwarfed by TikTok megastars like socialite <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-media-and-branding-behind-kylie-cosmetics-success-new-marketing-rules-and-risks-82655">Kylie Jenner</a> and social media personality <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/search?lang=en&q=khaby%20lame&t=1698926189681">Khaby Lame</a>, its engagement percentages are much higher, receiving some form of engagement from about one out of every four viewers.</p>
<p>Whether or not there are religious motivations underlying the Daily Believer’s desire for viewer engagement, there are monetary benefits for sure. The <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/creators/creator-portal/en-us/getting-paid-to-create/creator-fund/">TikTok Creator Fund</a> pays creators who have over 10,000 authentic followers based on the number of views, comments and sharing. </p>
<h2>Faith equals wealth and health</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Preacher T.D. Jakes attends a conference." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557419/original/file-20231103-23-y7kkh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557419/original/file-20231103-23-y7kkh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557419/original/file-20231103-23-y7kkh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557419/original/file-20231103-23-y7kkh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557419/original/file-20231103-23-y7kkh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557419/original/file-20231103-23-y7kkh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557419/original/file-20231103-23-y7kkh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Preacher T.D. Jakes attends the grand finale Woman Thou Art Loosed! Homecoming Day 2 at Georgia World Congress Center on Sept. 22, 2022, in Atlanta, Ga.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bishop-t-d-jakes-attends-the-grand-finale-woman-thou-art-news-photo/1427267058?adppopup=true">Marcus Ingram/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Religious and monetary motivations are not mutually exclusive. In fact, their union is key to one of the more popular recent developments in American and global Christianity – the <a href="https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/prosperity-gospel">prosperity gospel</a>, a subsection of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-pentecostal-christianity-185372">Charismatic Christianity</a> that says God will ensure followers’ material wealth and happiness as long as they believe in God.</p>
<p>The closest nonreligious analogy to the Daily Believer’s content is the chain letter where the recipient is promised good luck for forwarding and curses for breaking the chain. Such letters had their heyday in the mid-20th century as paper letters and in the late 1990s and early 2000s as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/us/chain-email-recipe-exchange-letter-coronavirus-trnd/index.html">emails and social media posts</a>.</p>
<p>Two of the United States’ most famous preachers, <a href="https://www.tdjakes.org/">T.D. Jakes</a> and <a href="https://www.joelosteen.com/">Joel Osteen</a>, teach that individual faith in God will be rewarded by God in the form of material wealth and health. </p>
<p>However, the Daily Believer further simplifies this formula. Viewers don’t really need to have a specific set of Christian beliefs to participate and benefit. All that they need to do is to say “I believe” and share the content with friends and family.</p>
<h2>Turning likes and shares into cash</h2>
<p>This lack of denominational-specific beliefs allows for the widest possible engagement with a wider Christian community. </p>
<p>The TikTok videos can appeal to a spectrum of Christian groups that may have theological, ethical and social disagreements.</p>
<p>Additionally, the Daily Believer’s requests for social media engagement is analogous to the prosperity gospel’s idea of tithing. In the <a href="https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/daves-advice-on-tithing-and-giving">prosperity gospel, tithing</a> – the donation of a portion of your income to the church – is framed as “seed faith,” a monetary investment to demonstrate a person’s faith, and lack of faith will be punished as surely as faith is to be rewarded.</p>
<p>Seed faith and engagement with the Daily Believer’s TikTok videos have the same ritualistic function – give a little time, money or effort to get even more material rewards. They also both serve to make the person behind the request wealthier or increase their cultural clout. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Painting of Jesus Christ." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557418/original/file-20231103-15-xurw2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557418/original/file-20231103-15-xurw2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557418/original/file-20231103-15-xurw2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557418/original/file-20231103-15-xurw2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557418/original/file-20231103-15-xurw2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557418/original/file-20231103-15-xurw2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557418/original/file-20231103-15-xurw2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Warner Sallman’s portrait of Jesus, ‘Head of Christ.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/80236019@N03/7372049566/in/photolist-5Tv3Nh-ijPMsF-Emzza-Nsqjfa-ewNd59-cerFuS-7azzma-2kdka24-4DwU45-6CNrQa-K7JuP-qpSAZK-kL9SUM-b4xhER">Uncle Bobbit/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>By framing these requests as coming directly from the Son of God, not the influencer or content creator, the Daily Believer has made engagement with its social media religious work, which comes with a promise of divine reward in the here and now. It has transformed like-farming – the social media phenomenon of asking for viewer engagement – into the word of God.</p>
<h2>Use of Jesus’ image</h2>
<p>At the same time, it is difficult to see the Daily Believer’s content as having a missionary or outreach function. It seems aimed at those who would already consider themselves Christian and offers little in the way of persuasion or explanation of why someone should be a Christian.</p>
<p>The Daily Believer is not the only TikTok profile engaged in a type of “smash that like button if you love Jesus” content production. Within the larger phenomena of #ChristianTikTok, there are multiple profiles engaged in theological discussion and doctrinal issues. There are even more profiles that forgo discussion in favor of performing praise and worship.</p>
<p>The use of Jesus’ image as the deliverer of the message is more unique.</p>
<p>But the Daily Believer, with its digital Jesus and its bare-bones gospel of “Believe,” serves as an example of a new expression of an ancient religious motivation – the securing of this-worldly health, wealth and reward in exchange for following the will of the deity or deities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213130/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brandon Dean does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of American religion explains how a new phenomenon of Jesus images on TikTok is tapping into the prosperity gospel, a Christian belief that God will reward faith with this-worldly comforts.Brandon Dean, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of IowaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2105092023-08-17T12:35:28Z2023-08-17T12:35:28ZImages of Jesus have always been complex and contradictory − this class looks at how pop culture imagines him, from cartoons to musicals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542837/original/file-20230815-31-gr7hrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C7%2C1005%2C659&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Actor Dave Willetts as Jesus in a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in Zurich in 1992.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jesus-christ-superstar-im-z%C3%BCrcher-corso-1992-news-photo/1174258162?adppopup=true">Philippe Rossier/RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>“Jesus in the Modern Imagination”</p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>My only real exposure to religion while growing up was “Jesus Christ Superstar” – the 1973 film version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/best-easter-pageant-ever-half-a-century-of-jesus-christ-superstar-180628">the much-debated Broadway musical</a>. Every Easter, my parents would throw it on, and I listened to the soundtrack on repeat until I knew every word. </p>
<p>My journey to studying religion was really a happy accident. I had always been enamored by ancient history and planned to research gender and sexuality in the ancient Mediterranean. An adviser suggested I look to early Christianity – and from the moment I first read about <a href="https://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=45213&cid=87041&ecid=87041&crid=0&calpgid=61&calcid=53508">Mary of Egypt</a>, a prostitute who became a saint in the desert, I was hooked. </p>
<p>When I finally started <a href="https://www.bowdoin.edu/profiles/faculty/j.sellick/index.html">graduate work in religious studies</a>, I knew next to nothing about the Bible. “Superstar” and other biblically inspired musicals like “<a href="http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_j/joseph.htm">Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat</a>” were my primary reference points. Drawing comparisons in class, I realized how much of my understanding of religious narratives had been shaped by pop culture.</p>
<p>I knew I probably wasn’t alone in this, so I designed a course that explores the relationship between religion and media.</p>
<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>Although the course has “modern” in the title, a lot of what students and I do is to look at ancient depictions of Jesus and compare it to more modern films, comics and music.</p>
<p>For example, I teach a unit on the “lost years” of Jesus’ life. The four canonical gospels in the Bible either completely ignore Jesus’ youth or basically jump from his birth to his adult life. This gap naturally leads to questions: What was Jesus like as a kid? Was he very pious? A troublemaker?</p>
<p>This is where apocryphal sources – early Christian literature that wasn’t included in official versions of the Bible – can start to fill in the gaps. Students discuss the <a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/infancythomas-hock.html">Infancy Gospel of Thomas</a>, a <a href="https://bibleodyssey.org/people/main-articles/infancy-gospel-of-thomas/">second-century narrative about Jesus’ childhood</a>. This text depicts Jesus disobeying his parents, talking back and even killing people with his divine powers, though he resurrects them all in the end. We read this alongside portions of novelist Christopher Moore’s book “<a href="https://www.chrismoore.com/books/lamb/">Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal</a>.” Moore’s 2002 comedy depicts a teenage Jesus traveling around the world in order to learn how to become the messiah. </p>
<p>But every time you try to fill one gap, even more questions pop up. For example, it may sound silly, but did Jesus, whom the canonical gospels portray as a bachelor, ever have a crush? If he did, would that change conversations about celibacy and sexuality? Once we start peeling back these layers of what we can and cannot know, and how different depictions of Jesus have imagined him, it always leads to really fascinating classroom conversations.</p>
<h2>Why is this course relevant now?</h2>
<p>Jesus is a perpetually contested figure. Is Jesus a teacher of peace or a warrior? A socialist or a capitalist sympathizer? Is he the manliest man to ever exist or a transgressively feminine figure? Depending who you ask, American Christians see Christ as all these things and more.</p>
<p>These are hot-button questions, ones that influence individuals and whole societies. But they cannot be easily answered – or sometimes answered at all – by the Bible. Understandings of Jesus are also deeply shaped by people’s cultures, norms and desires, which we see reflected in everything from <a href="https://wipfandstock.com/9781532656170/the-protevangelium-of-james/">second-century texts</a> to <a href="https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/comics/american-jesus">modern comics</a> and Monty Python’s “Life of Brian.”</p>
<p>This course does not attempt to answer the question, “Who was Jesus?” However, it examines how humanity has grappled with it, both historically and today.</p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>Above all, this course gives students the tools to better analyze how interpretations of religious and historical figures are shaped by the communities that imagine and re-imagine them. It allows the class to see just how complicated religious figures like Jesus are and to analyze the motivations behind specific interpretations.</p>
<p>Oh, and students also get to make their own Jesus movies at the end of the semester – which is pretty awesome.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeannie Sellick receives funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. </span></em></p>Is Jesus a peacemaker or a warrior? A socialist or a capitalist? Depending on whom you ask, American Christians see Christ as all these things and more.Jeannie Sellick, Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion, Bowdoin CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2093632023-07-19T12:25:10Z2023-07-19T12:25:10ZRastafarians gathering for the 131st birthday of Emperor Haile Selassie are still grappling with his reported death in 1975<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537834/original/file-20230717-245914-6k5hle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C14%2C4910%2C3308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rastafarians drum and sing during a special prayer and worship meeting at Menengai forest in Kenya.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/adherents-of-the-rastafari-sect-play-a-drum-and-sing-during-news-photo/1246795428?adppopup=true">James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The week of July 23, 2023, thousands of Rastafarians, known for their dreadlocks and for treating cannabis as a sacrament, will gather in Jamaica to <a href="https://www.reonline.org.uk/festival_event/birthday-of-haile-selassie-i/">celebrate the birth of Haile Selassie I, emperor of Ethiopia</a>. </p>
<p>Estimated to number between <a href="https://www.worlddata.info/religions/rastafari.php">700,000 and 1,000,000 globally</a>, Rastafarian communities are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/595">located on almost every continent</a> today. Their beliefs are spread through migration, reggae music, as well as print, visual and digital media.</p>
<p>The first Rastafarian communities emerged sometime around 1931 in eastern Jamaica. The first two generations of Rastafarians were <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814767474/becoming-rasta/">predominantly from African-descended people</a> who belonged to working-class communities. </p>
<p>Many Christians believe that Jesus Christ was both human and divine, and will return to the Earth to reign over a righteous kingdom of his chosen people. Similarly, Rastafarians are of the view that Emperor Selassie is God, or Jah, who manifested in human form, and that they are God’s chosen people. They borrow generously from the King James Bible, <a href="https://www.uwipress.com/9789766404093/let-us-start-with-africa/">braiding their theology</a> around Black and African identity and culture.</p>
<p>Since the mid-1970s, however, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Rastafari-Movement-A-North-American-and-Caribbean-Perspective/Barnett/p/book/9781138682153">Rastafarian views on the emperor’s divinity have varied</a>, in part because Emperor Selassie had died but also because of an influx of new adherents of varied class, racial and national backgrounds. </p>
<p>Being a Rastafarian, and having <a href="https://education.temple.edu/about/faculty-staff/charles-a-price-tum91324">researched and studied the faith community</a>, I’ve seen how growing diversity among them has also brought varied views on the former emperor’s divinity.</p>
<h2>God as monarch</h2>
<p>The Rastafari believe that the prophecy of the New Testament of the Bible was fulfilled when the Ethiopian nobleman King Ras Tafari Makonnen, born in the Ethiopian province of Harar in 1892, <a href="https://www.cdamm.org/articles/rastafari">was crowned the 225th emperor of Ethiopia on November 2, 1930</a>.</p>
<p>Rastafarians believe that the king <a href="https://www.ohioswallow.com/book/Emperor+Haile+Selassie">traces his lineage</a> to the Old Testament’s King David of the Tribe of Judah, and to David’s son, King Solomon. The “<a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/kn/kn000-1.htm">Kebra Negast</a>,” a 14th-century Ethiopian literary epic, tells the story of how the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, and together they had a son, Menelik I, during ancient times. Menelik I was Ethiopia’s first emperor. </p>
<p>King Ras Tafari assumed the name Emperor Haile Selassie I, or Might of the Holy Trinity, along with commanding titles such as the King of Kings and the Conquering Lion of Judah. </p>
<p>Rastafarians view the king’s coronation in 1930, his titles and his lineage as fulfilling a prophecy in the Book of Revelation. According to Chapter 5, a book of “seven seals” reveals events of the apocalypse many Christians believe will begin once Christ returns – but only the “Root of David,” the “Conquering Lion,” can open it, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265740442_The_Cultural_Production_of_a_Black_Messiah_Ethiopianism_and_the_Rastafari">each revealing events between Christ’s crucifixion and return</a>. </p>
<p>The Rastafari, named for their god – King Ras Tafari – grew from a tiny community to number in the tens of thousands in Jamaica by the 1990s, as I explain in my 2022 book “<a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479888122/rastafari/">Rastafari: The Evolution of a People and Their Identity</a>.”</p>
<h2>The travails of worshiping a Black god</h2>
<p>Many Jamaicans, especially the elites, ridiculed the Rastafari for anointing an African monarch as a deity. They sought at every turn <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479888122/rastafari/">to prove the Rastafari ludicrous</a>. From the 1930s into the 1970s the Rastafari were scorned by their fellow Jamaicans, subjected to discrimination and violence. Many Rastafari were <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479888122/rastafari/">imprisoned, beaten</a>, and many <a href="https://www.uwipress.com/9789766404093/let-us-start-with-africa/">men forcibly shaven for their beliefs</a>.</p>
<p>Things started to change in 1966 when Emperor Selassie visited Jamaica and <a href="https://www.life.com/people/haile-selassie-in-jamaica-photos-from-a-rastafari-milestone/">hundreds of Rastafari swarmed the Norman Manley Airport in Kingston</a> to greet the emperor. He caused a greater stir by inviting the Rastafari to join him during official state ceremonies. </p>
<p>The emperor’s visit conferred respect on the Rastafari, attracting new converts, such as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1982/10/24/rita-marley-heir-to-the-reggae-kingdom/c6a105a5-f67f-4c70-8a4d-8db0d42e5285/">Rita Marley</a>, reggae music singer and wife of reggae superstar Bob Marley. The Rastafari became paragons of Black identity, culture and history. </p>
<p>In 1975, press announcements that Emperor Selassie was dead sparked an existential crisis for the Rastafari. In a coup led by the Ethiopian politician and soldier Mengistu Haile Mariam, the emperor was <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/K/bo22344459.html">imprisoned and allegedly murdered</a>. </p>
<p>Some critics asserted that the Rastafari finally <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479888122/rastafari/">had been proved foolish</a> and that their God was dead. Bob Marley rebuffed the critics in his acclaimed song, “Jah Live” (meaning God lives).</p>
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<h2>What happens if God dies?</h2>
<p>The Rastafari responded to the announcement in several ways. Some <a href="https://streaming-eu.mpg.de/de/institute/eth/mediathek/video/haile_selassie/HaileSelassieFilmProject_Part_II_.mp4">denied Emperor Selassie was dead</a>, insisting that God cannot die, and no body was found to confirm the death. Years later, bones said to be those of Emperor Selassie were recovered from a pit beneath Menelik Palace in Ethiopia, but never confirmed <a href="https://streaming-eu.mpg.de/de/institute/eth/mediathek/video/haile_selassie/HaileSelassieFilmProject_Part_I_.mp4">to be the emperor’s</a>. </p>
<p>Others said <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479888122/rastafari/">only time would reveal the meaning</a> of the emperor’s disappearance, since God’s ways are beyond the ken of mortals.</p>
<p>Another view was that the emperor’s disappearance signaled the beginning of a new era on Earth, much like Christ rising from death. In the new dispensation, these followers believed, the Rastafari must act as the emperor’s anointed and must continue the traditions, knowledge and communities they have birthed. </p>
<p>Some others believed that the emperor was worthy of veneration but not as God. This had a lot to do with the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307810153_The_many_faces_of_Rasta_Doctrinal_Diversity_within_the_Rastafari_Movement">increasing diversity of the Rastafarians in Jamaica</a> and internationally. </p>
<p>In Jamaica, middle-class Rastafarians known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel are more likely to subscribe to this view, as are <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/81909e63b12a42187d8c9d31459150f8/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1636335">many Africans who identify as Rastafarians</a>. However, the doctrine of the Emperor as God remains predominant.</p>
<p>There are also those who continue to wonder why so many Rastafari reject the idea that the emperor is dead. As I argue in my book, claiming that the emperor still lives, without conclusive evidence, requires faith – just as it does for Christians – who believe that Jesus Christ is immortal.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct the date of Haile Selassie’s reported death.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209363/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles A. Price received funding from National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, W.K.Kellogg Foundation, National Community Development Institute, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.
He is affiliated with Highlander Research & Education Center.
</span></em></p>The first Rastafarian communities emerged around 1931 in eastern Jamaica. Today, there are over 700,000 Rastafarian communities located on almost every continent.Charles A. Price, Associate Professor of Education and Human Development, Temple UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1982252023-01-26T13:24:48Z2023-01-26T13:24:48ZDebates over sacred images in the Byzantine Empire show why it’s hard to appease any side<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506453/original/file-20230125-24-83a2uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C6%2C2029%2C1523&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The depiction of Prophet Muhammad at Hamline University has opened up a debate about what sacred images can or cannot be shown in a classroom.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/friscocali/29237898582/in/photolist-LxDSBG-7UJADJ-7UJALq-7UFm3H-7UJRe5-7UFjUp-2o3feQr-7Fz8L2-L3a4V9-cucgoA-7UFm9P-Rdyujo-2n3bdpg-3Q1Uk-Jqsr3E-3Q1KG-2n3bfRq-3Q1T4-7UFkKK-7UJAu1-7UJApb-6r7p4q-6r7po7-TCAEiE-2o3fiwz-7UJA5b-7UJAmq-7UFmdH-9qTeX9-9ifvb-7UJAbQ-2nDevVi-7UJzxj-gniaVK-sGHDZ2-d6Ze2j-7UFjSe-7UFjMD-AVJJij-25UAnVh-ZF7Co1-6QtQwS-7UJAa1-9ZweGN-2eMYA4L-5hsDKt-tFhYdk-3Q21u-Td8Zij-eRhcbT">Friscocali via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An adjunct lecturer at Hamline University recently lost her job for showing an image of Prophet Muhammad in an art history class, which some students and administrators considered to be Islamophobic. The university later retracted the accusation of Islamophobia <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/us/hamline-lawsuit-prophet-muhammad-religion.html">and said in a statement</a>, “It was never our intent to suggest that academic freedom is of lower concern or value than our students,” but still insisted that “care” does not “supersede academic freedom, the two coexist.” </p>
<p>An earlier statement from Hamline President Fayneese Miller had <a href="https://www.twincities.com/2023/01/05/hamline-accreditor-complaint-professor-muhammad-art/">noted</a>, “Students do not relinquish their faith in the classroom,” which suggested that classrooms need to be visually tailored to a specific faith. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/histart/people/faculty/paroma.html">historian of Byzantine art</a> familiar with the fierce debates over sacred images in the 8th and 9th centuries, I consider Miller’s statement a challenge to how students might study religious imagery at all.</p>
<p>The very example of the debates in the Byzantine Empire shows how hard it is to design a space that caters exactly to the specifications of any particular faith.</p>
<h2>The debates over images in Byzantium</h2>
<p>In Greek Orthodox Christianity, which was the official religion of the Byzantine Empire that lasted from 312 to 1453 A.D., some factions were against sacred images and some in favor of them. The factions that were against images claimed that the image of Jesus Christ was unacceptable, since his nature was both divine and human. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration showing men holding long brushes whitewashing a Crucifixion icon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1019&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1019&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506459/original/file-20230125-12-b91uaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1019&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An icon of Christ being effaced, from 9th-century Byzantium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crucifixion_with_iconoclasts,_Chludov_Psalter,_folio_67r.jpg">Chludov Psalter, State Historical Museum, Moscow, via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>This position argued that an image of Christ, therefore, either showed only his divinity – which was impossible, since divinity cannot be depicted in ordinary, human-made materials – or that such an image claimed Christ was not divine at all - also considered a heresy. An image of Christ could not be produced or displayed, since it put the artist and viewer in a false position regarding the Orthodox faith. </p>
<p>However, those who were in favor of images countered this stance by arguing that God, or divinity, had taken human shape in the form of Christ. The incarnation, meaning “enfleshment” of Christ, thus legitimized the making of images, since it made Christ accessible to humankind. This faction also argued that sacred images were necessary, as they served to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Byzantium-in-the-Iconoclast-Era-ca-680850-The-Sources-An-Annotated/Brubaker-Haldon/p/book/9780754604181">remind viewers of the sacred beings they depicted</a>, such as Christ, the Virgin and the saints. </p>
<h2>Contradictions acknowledged on both sides</h2>
<p>The differences between the two factions became clear in the Council of Hiereia, which was called by Emperor Constantine V in 754 A.D. to lay out the terms of those who were against images. However, despite affirming that sacred Christian imagery was blasphemous and should not be produced, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23268277">this faction still stated</a>: </p>
<p>“… we ordain that no one in charge of a church … shall venture … to lay his hands on the holy vessels … because they are adorned with figures. The same is … in regard to the vestments of the church, cloths, and all that is dedicated to divine service. …” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A round rimmed metal vessel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506463/original/file-20230125-12-xfngvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example of a vessel for holy bread used in the sanctuary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466152">Metropolitan Museum, New York. Gift of Mrs. Hayford Peirce, 1987</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The above statement was at <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23268277">odds with the general stance</a> of the council against images. It meant that the already existing sacred images were still considered holy, and vessels containing sacred images were permitted to remain intact. These vessels were in all probability used at the altar table in the sanctuary, the holiest part of a church. </p>
<p>The faction in favor of images <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/767119">won the debate in 843 A.D</a>. That was the year when the Greek Orthodox Church officially ruled that sacred images, or icons, were essential to that faith. But despite the victory, that side made an implicit concession to its opponents. </p>
<p>It was decreed that the sacred icon <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/767119">was not to be venerated</a> for the materials of wood, wax, colors, or other matter it was composed of, or even the image it showed. There was a general idea that venerators, by lighting candles in front of icons and kissing and touching them, were directing attention to the materials and not to the holy subject. Instead, the image was supposed to lead the viewer’s mind to the holy subject, which was Christ, the Virgin or the saints. </p>
<p>In the 11th century, Symeon the New Theologian, an Orthodox monk, came to disregard this definition. A historian of Byzantine art <a href="https://artandarchaeology.princeton.edu/people/charlie-barber">Charles Barber</a> argues that Symeon, despite being in favor of images, <a href="https://brill.com/display/title/14531">sought a spiritual experience</a> during his prayers that went beyond the matter of the image. </p>
<p>Thus, each side of the Byzantine debates implicitly acknowledged the impossibility of any watertight, consistent theory regarding sacred images. By the same token, both sides indicated the impossibility of fashioning spaces that catered exactly to any Orthodox Christian position regarding such images. </p>
<h2>Visual sanctity in the classroom</h2>
<p>Returning to the contemporary classroom, to what extent can this space be visually controlled? </p>
<p>All art history instructors can certainly curate their lectures. Curation here inevitably means the inclusion and exclusion of certain things. However, it is unlikely that any degree or kind of selection would completely satisfy any single position regarding sacred images. </p>
<p>To demand that a discipline like art history maintain visual sanctity in the classroom is, I believe, tantamount to demanding the impossible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198225/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paroma Chatterjee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fierce debates about visual depictions of the sacred have existed for centuries. An art historian explains the controversies in the Byzantine Empire over images of Christ.Paroma Chatterjee, Associate Professor of History of Art, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1816992022-05-04T12:34:49Z2022-05-04T12:34:49ZWhat makes religious relics – like pieces of the ‘true cross’ and hair of saints – sacred to Christians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461043/original/file-20220503-43085-in1z5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=83%2C58%2C5474%2C3641&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Christian clergymen carry a wooden relic believed to be from Jesus' manger at the Notre Dame church in Jerusalem in 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/HolyLandJesusManger/aee3c0798d49413ca518397ae20040db/photo?Query=%20relic%20christian&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=63&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A Russian missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/22/europe/moskva-russia-casualties-intl/index.html">sunk after it was heavily damaged</a> in April 2022. Kremlin officials said that a fire on board caused munitions to explode, while <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092799610/moskva-flagship-damaged">Ukrainian officials claimed</a> they had attacked the Moskva. Several <a href="https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-704498">media reports noted</a> that the ship might have been carrying a relic of the “true cross,” a piece of the actual wooden cross on which Christians believe that Jesus suffered and died. </p>
<p>The possibility of the relic being on the sunken ship cannot be ruled out. A collector is said to have donated the relic in 2020 to the Russian navy, which planned to place it <a href="https://tass.com/society/1123855">in the Moskva’s onboard</a> chapel. It is unclear, however, whether the relic was on board the ship in its chapel when the vessel went into combat. But the widespread interest in the possibility of this ancient relic being on board points to its importance for many Christians.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">expert in medieval Christian liturgy and worship</a>, I know that veneration of relics has a long history in Christian devotional practice.</p>
<h2>Venerating martyrs</h2>
<p>In the first three centuries of Christianity, Christians, whose religion was outlawed, prayed at the entombed bodies of martyrs, who were executed for refusing to renounce their new faith.</p>
<p>After the Roman Empire legalized Christianity in the early fourth century, smaller buildings called <a href="https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/practices-values/shrines-pilgrimage">shrine churches</a> were sometimes built around the tomb of a martyr. At times, the <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/ambrose-letter22.asp">bodies of the martyr were exhumed by local bishops</a> and reburied within the city itself, in a special tomb beneath the floor of a larger church or basilica. </p>
<p>Prior to this practice, bodies of the dead were kept in <a href="https://ontheruinofbritain.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/christianity-and-relics-part-four-the-public-cult/">tombs and catacombs built outside of the city’s walls</a> so as to separate them from the “city” of the living. But Christians believed in the power of the martyrs and, later, other saintly persons to intercede on their behalf with God. Saints were respected and their relics and images venerated, but they <a href="https://www.catholic.com/qa/why-veneration-isnt-idol-worship">were not adored or worshipped</a> as God might be.</p>
<h2>Jesus’ cross</h2>
<p>After Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, Jerusalem became an important center for Christians who wanted to make religious trips to visit the places where Jesus and his apostles lived and preached. The term pilgrimage, <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/pilgrim#:">meaning journey</a>, originated at the time.</p>
<p>During this time, what was believed to be a piece of the “True Cross” <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-history-of-the-cross-and-its-many-meanings-over-the-centuries-123316">was brought back to Europe</a> – supposedly by St. Helena, the emperor’s mother – and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/23/living/jesus-true-cross/index.html#:%7E:text=The%20true%20cross%20of%20Jesus%20had%20been%20revealed.,make%20a%20big%20ship%2Dload">broken up into smaller pieces</a>. </p>
<p>Another section remained in Jerusalem and was venerated there, until in the early seventh century a Persian emperor, a Zoroastrian, conquered the city and removed the relic among the spoils of war. Several years later, the Persians were themselves conquered by the Christian emperor Heraclius, <a href="https://aleteia.org/2019/09/14/when-an-emperor-tried-to-carry-jesus-cross-with-great-pomp-this-miracle-happened/">who returned the relic to Jerusalem</a>. There it remained, even after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem later that century. </p>
<h2>Pilgrimage to see relics</h2>
<p>As Christianity spread throughout Europe, beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire, so did the practice of venerating the saints. </p>
<p>The demands for a saintly “body” increased, and so the remains of famous or local saints were divided into pieces, which included clippings of hair, or sometimes whole body parts. These “relics” – from a <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/relic">Latin word meaning</a> “something left behind” – were frequently placed in special containers or display cases, called reliquaries. </p>
<p>These were usually especially elaborate, <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/relc/hd_relc.htm">made of precious metals and adorned with jewels</a> as a reflection of the special reverence for these elements that had touched the body of Jesus Christ. </p>
<p>The more famous the relic, the more pilgrims would make their way to the church or monastery where it was kept, and the more the clergy <a href="https://blog.oup.com/2011/12/pilgrimage/">could earn through the offerings visitors made at the shrine</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461047/original/file-20220503-6157-f74bu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Devotees carrying the relic of Saint Gregory, in a procession through green fields in Sorlada, northern Spain." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461047/original/file-20220503-6157-f74bu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461047/original/file-20220503-6157-f74bu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461047/original/file-20220503-6157-f74bu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461047/original/file-20220503-6157-f74bu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461047/original/file-20220503-6157-f74bu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461047/original/file-20220503-6157-f74bu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461047/original/file-20220503-6157-f74bu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Devotees take part in a pilgrimage with the ancient relic of Saint Gregory in Sorlada, northern Spain, in 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXSpainSaintGregoryRomeria/d248fee6cfd940b3bb75fff0dd695869/photo?Query=%20relic%20pilgrimage&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=27&currentItemNo=20">AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the turn of the millennium, the number of pilgrims traveling to visit Jerusalem from Europe increased, but <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/story-of-christianity-volume-1-the-justo-l-gonzalez?variant=32130902097954">tensions mounted</a> between Muslim rulers and Christian leaders. There was friction among various Christian nobles and kings as well. Because of this, in the late 11th to the late 13th centuries, Christian political and religious leaders <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-history-of-the-cross-and-its-many-meanings-over-the-centuries-123316">led a series of major wars – the Crusades</a> – to regain control of the Holy Land from its Muslim ruler. </p>
<p>One result was an increase in the number of “relics” of Jesus, Mary and other New Testament figures brought back to Europe and circulated as authentic. </p>
<p>Some of these included fragments of bone or hair from apostles or other saintly figures, while others consisted of scraps of fabric from their clothing. Most esteemed of all were objects that <a href="https://www.medievalists.net/2016/04/crusaders-pilgrims-and-relics-bearers-of-the-cross-material-religion-in-the-crusading-world-1095-1300/#:">supposedly had touched the body of Jesus himself</a>, especially those connected with his suffering and death, such as the spikes used to nail him to the cross.</p>
<h2>Power of relics</h2>
<p>By the end of the medieval period, there was an overwhelming number of stories associating relics with miracles, such as unexpected healings or protection from the dangers of weather. </p>
<p>Many ordinary Christians treated the relics as a kind of lucky rabbit’s foot, owned or reverenced for personal protection. This was true for relics of the true cross as well. In Venice, for example, several <a href="https://brewminate.com/medieval-relics-and-society-the-miracles-of-the-true-cross/">miracle stories of the true cross</a>, especially of it saving ships from storms, circulated widely.</p>
<p>During the Reformation of the 16th century, many European Protestant writers objected to the Catholic veneration of relics. Most felt that it was a practice not found in the Bible; others felt that many believers were worshipping saints as if they were divine, and that many devotional practices involving relics involved fraud and superstition, not genuine prayer. The Protestant theologian John Calvin <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/treatise_relics.v.html">suggested</a> that if all of the supposed fragments of the “True Cross” were gathered together, they would fill an entire ship. </p>
<p>Even some Catholic scholars of the period, notably Erasmus of Rotterdam, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/30201/30201-h/30201-h.htm">criticized the fraudulent manipulation of believers</a> for cash offerings when visiting shrines, and questioned the authenticity of many relics. </p>
<p>In 1563, the Catholic Council of Trent responded to all of these criticisms by clarifying the Catholic view of relics in an official decree. In the document, the assembled bishops stressed that <a href="https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct25.html">devotional activities involving relics should not border on superstition</a> in any way, that “filthy lucre” – buying and selling of relics – be “abolished” and that veneration ceremonies not devolve into “revellings and drunkenness.”</p>
<h2>What makes a relic more precious</h2>
<p>Until very recently, Catholic tradition divided relics into several classes, depending on their relationship to Christ or the saints. A <a href="https://www.scripturecatholic.com/catholic-relics/#First_Class_Relics">first-class relic</a> was a fragment of a saint’s actual body, like a tooth, hair clipping, or sliver of bone.</p>
<p>Pieces of objects involved in the Passion of Christ were also included in this class, since traditional theology teaches that Jesus Christ <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024%3A1-12&version=NRSV">rose again from the dead after three days in the tomb</a> and ascended bodily into heaven 40 days after. </p>
<p>Whether prized as a lucky charm or venerated as a powerful reminder of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, this Russian relic of the true cross has taken its place in the paradoxical history of these valuable religious objects: The peaceful message of Jesus has often been lost in the violent chaos of war.</p>
<p>[<em>Explore the intersection of faith, politics, arts and culture.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-explore">Sign up for This Week in Religion.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181699/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Relics often provided a way to bring more pilgrims into a church – and therefore, more offerings.Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1806282022-04-11T19:06:05Z2022-04-11T19:06:05ZBest Easter pageant ever? Half a century of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457224/original/file-20220410-69681-vtn8z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C6%2C1004%2C676&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The musical 'Jesus Christ Superstar' has always had ardent fans and fierce critics.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jesus-christ-superstar-in-z%C3%BCrich-1992-news-photo/1173983488?adppopup=true">Blick/RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the days leading up to Easter Sunday, Christians around the world will participate in retellings of the story of the last days of Jesus’ life, from his entry into Jerusalem to the Last Supper and to his trial, crucifixion and resurrection. They may walk the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Stations-of-the-Cross">Stations of the Cross</a> – a processional ritual marking key points in the biblical narrative – attend a pageant or simply gather in church for religious services.</p>
<p>And some people will view or listen to “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the 1971 rock musical by <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-andrew-lloyd-webber-launches-a-youtube-channel-heres-how-he-revived-the-musical-135980">Andrew Lloyd Webber</a> and Tim Rice. NBC’s “<a href="https://www.nbc.com/events-and-specials/video/reasons-why-you-should-watch-jesus-christ-superstar-live-in-concert/4148346">Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert</a>,” featuring R&B star John Legend in the title role, was first broadcast on Easter Sunday 2018 and re-aired for Easter 2020, and the <a href="https://ustour.jesuschristsuperstar.com/tickets/">touring production</a> keeps touring. </p>
<p>As I detail in my book “<a href="https://www.press.umich.edu/7427158/playing_god">Playing God: The Bible on the Broadway Stage</a>,” “Superstar” is the most commercially successful adaptation of a biblical story in Broadway history, with well over 1,000 performances spanning multiple productions. In some ways, this is unsurprising. Church reenactments of biblical scenes <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/662153/pdf">were foundational</a> for the development of Western theater, especially the “<a href="http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/quem_quaeritis_trope.htm">quem quaeritis trope</a>,” a 10th-century dialogue that reenacts the moment when Jesus’ body is supposedly discovered missing from the tomb. Put another way, Christians have seen drama as an appropriate way to communicate the story of Jesus’ passion and resurrection for more than a millennium.</p>
<p>Yet something about “Superstar” has always seemed a bit improbable, and its depiction of Holy Week set off controversy from the start. Composer Lloyd Webber <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cI1XEE9De8">has recounted how</a> London producers initially regarded the project as “<a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/culture/jesus-christ-superstar-controversial-musical-phenomenon-turns-50">the worst idea in history</a>.” Many religious audiences viewed the play with <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/culture/jesus-christ-superstar-controversial-musical-phenomenon-turns-50">deep suspicion</a> for what they considered an irreverent approach, questionable theology and its rock ‘n’ roll-influenced score.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two men stand on either side of a woman holding a sign that says 'Jesus Christ Superstar.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457226/original/file-20220410-96568-87lzt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457226/original/file-20220410-96568-87lzt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457226/original/file-20220410-96568-87lzt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457226/original/file-20220410-96568-87lzt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457226/original/file-20220410-96568-87lzt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457226/original/file-20220410-96568-87lzt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457226/original/file-20220410-96568-87lzt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Andrew Lloyd Webber, Yvonne Elliman and Tim Rice promoting the musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in London in 1970.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/andrew-lloyd-webber-yvonne-elliman-and-tim-rice-promoting-news-photo/1198415102?adppopup=true">Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As <a href="https://theatredance.ku.edu/henry-bial#link1">a theater professor</a>, I see “Superstar” as an important step in the evolution of the Broadway musical, a groundbreaking <a href="https://www.press.umich.edu/1875086/theater_will_rock">rock opera</a> that paved the way for contemporary hits like “Mamma Mia!” and “Hamilton.” But the musical’s now-canonical status was anything but inevitable. </p>
<h2>‘Jesus is cool’</h2>
<p>The show’s irreverent attitude is encapsulated in its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX9fLQjqIZA">title song</a>, which combines a soaring choral hook (“Jesus Christ, Superstar, Do you think you’re what they say you are?”) with a series of pointed and ironic questions via rock melody – “Why’d you choose such a backward time and such a strange land?”</p>
<p>Though set in the Jerusalem of 2,000 years ago, the play uses modern language – “Jesus is cool” – and imagery, such as paparazzi following Jesus through the streets. By representing Jesus as a charismatic celebrity <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/apr/26/jesus-christ-superstar-40-celebrity">whose fame spirals out of control</a>, “Superstar” offers audiences a contemporary framework for understanding the ancient biblical narrative. This is underlined by self-aware lyrics that offer commentary on how the Passion story would go on to be told. During the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxd0RBEXGWg">Last Supper scene</a>, for example, Jesus’ disciples sing:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Always hoped that I’d be an apostle<br>
Knew that I would make it if I tried<br>
Then when we retire, we can write the gospels<br>
So they’ll still talk about us when we’ve died.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For conservative Christians, such lighthearted paraphrasing of Scripture may have been offensive. More troubling, in the eyes of many religious leaders, was the musical’s theology. “Superstar” is structured similarly to a traditional Christian Passion play, depicting Jesus’ final days. But it abruptly ends with the crucifixion, omitting the resurrection that is <a href="https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holidays/true-meaning-of-easter-why-is-it-celebrated.html">at the heart of the Easter story</a> – and Christianity itself. What’s more, the play hints at a romantic relationship between Jesus and his supporter <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-was-mary-magdalene-119565482/">Mary Magdalene</a>, and gives a prominent role <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Judas-Iscariot">to Judas</a>, the disciple whom the Gospels say betrayed Jesus – in fact, Judas is arguably the show’s leading man.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two Catholic nuns wearing head coverings pass out brochures." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457225/original/file-20220410-42486-kn5lhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457225/original/file-20220410-42486-kn5lhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457225/original/file-20220410-42486-kn5lhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457225/original/file-20220410-42486-kn5lhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457225/original/file-20220410-42486-kn5lhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457225/original/file-20220410-42486-kn5lhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457225/original/file-20220410-42486-kn5lhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nuns protest the musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in 1992.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nuns-demonstrate-because-of-the-musical-jesus-christ-news-photo/1173897240?adppopup=true">Blick/RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All this caused many Christian leaders to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/14/archives/superstar-the-cheers-and-jeers-build.html">dismiss the show</a> as blasphemous. Others argued that, while well-meaning, “Superstar” was overly focused on Christ’s humanity, to the exclusion of his divinity.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Jewish organizations <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/08/archives/superstar-film-renews-disputesjewish-groups-say-opening-could-stir.html">expressed concern</a> that the play would inspire antisemitism by perpetuating the idea that Jews bear responsibility for the death of Christ. A trio of Jewish priests sings “This Jesus Must Die,” and later pressures a reluctant Pontius Pilate to have Jesus crucified.</p>
<p>In 1971, this was a particularly sore spot for Jewish-Christian relations. The idea that the Jewish people bore collective guilt for killing Jesus had long been part of antisemitic rhetoric from Catholic leaders like the Rev. <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/charles-e-coughlin">Charles E. Coughlin</a>. In fact, it wasn’t until 1965 that the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html">Vatican officially declared</a>, “what happened in [Christ’s] passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.”</p>
<h2>Rock ‘n’ rebels</h2>
<p>Still, most early objections to “Superstar” were driven less by its content and more by its form. The mere idea of turning the Bible into a loud, flashy, rock ‘n’ roll spectacle was often seen as a kind of sacrilege. As religion scholar <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520242807/authentic-fakes">David Chidester</a> and others have observed, conservative Christian groups have historically complained about the superficial and amoral nature of American popular culture, with particular distaste for its music. In this view, rock lyrics <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.5.1.004">advocate sin</a> while the loud, sensual and unrestrained nature of the music encourages it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a white dress sits behind a lounging man in a white robe on stage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457227/original/file-20220410-20-rueijd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457227/original/file-20220410-20-rueijd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457227/original/file-20220410-20-rueijd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457227/original/file-20220410-20-rueijd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457227/original/file-20220410-20-rueijd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457227/original/file-20220410-20-rueijd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457227/original/file-20220410-20-rueijd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Actors Paul Nicholas and Dana Gillespie as Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene in the rock opera ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in the U.K. in July 1972.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/actors-paul-nicholas-and-dana-gillespie-as-jesus-christ-and-news-photo/1271923146?adppopup=true">D. Morrison/Express/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For such critics, “Jesus Christ Superstar” seemed to pose a threat simply by juxtaposing the sacred narrative of the Bible with the profane atmosphere of the rock concert.</p>
<p>Yet half a century after its premiere, the musical no longer generates much controversy. The recognition and appreciation of Jesus’ humanity has gradually <a href="https://www.stephenprothero.com/american-jesus">become more acceptable</a> among American Christians, though not to the exclusion of his divinity. Compared with earlier generations, Generation X and millennials are <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/generational-cohort/">less likely to read Scripture</a>, and therefore less likely to be concerned over fine points of theological interpretation. </p>
<p>Rock music, meanwhile, is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2018.01.007">aging along with its fans</a>, while the rise of the American megachurch has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004178397.i-240.56">blurred the line</a> between rock concert and church service, between celebrities and spiritual leaders. No longer are electric instruments, flashy costumes, spotlights and microphones seen as disrespectful <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2021.1925463">or inconsistent with worship</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps most significantly, today’s audiences, both religious and not, may simply have a greater regard for so-called superstars. For many people in the 1970s, the musical’s comparison of the deification of Christ and the idolatry of a rock star was inherently derogatory, undercutting Jesus’ spiritual significance. Yet today, in an era when Lady Gaga has <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ladygaga/?hl=en">six times as many Instagram followers</a> as <a href="https://www.instagram.com/franciscus/?hl=en">Pope Francis</a>, arguably the title – and the musical itself – reads as a more sincere form of appreciation. </p>
<p>[<em>The most interesting religion stories from three major news organizations.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-best-of-1">Get This Week in Religion.</a>]</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct the lyrics to “The Last Supper.”</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180628/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Henry Bial does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s famous musical has long inspired controversy for how it depicts the story of Jesus of Nazareth.Henry Bial, Professor of Theater and Dance, University of KansasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1707572021-10-29T12:39:16Z2021-10-29T12:39:16ZA Catholic theologian argues for a death row inmate’s right to have the pastor’s touch in the execution chamber<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429138/original/file-20211028-5716-py8gzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C0%2C3463%2C2324&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Physical touch at the end of life has a special significance in many cultures and offers solace.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/death-so-near-in-france-a-patient-receives-support-from-her-news-photo/120396710?adppopup=true">Valerie Winckler/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/ramirez-v-collier/">U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments</a>
on <a href="https://www.kristv.com/news/local-news/ramirez-case-set-for-u-s-supreme-court-on-nov-9">Nov. 9, 2021</a>, in a case regarding a death row inmate’s plea that his Baptist pastor be allowed to lay hands on him in the execution chamber. The Supreme Court <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035383975/supreme-court-stay-of-execution-john-henry-ramirez-texas-pastor">blocked John Henry Ramirez’s execution</a> in September, about three hours after he could have been executed. Ramirez was convicted and sentenced to death for a 2004 robbery and the killing of a convenience store clerk in Corpus Christi, Texas. </p>
<p>Texas policy allows an approved spiritual adviser to be present in the execution chamber, but <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035383975/supreme-court-stay-of-execution-john-henry-ramirez-texas-pastor">there cannot be any physical contact</a> or vocal prayers during the execution. Ramirez has pleaded that this represents an infringement upon his religious liberty. </p>
<p>As a Catholic priest, ministering to the dying is at the core of my job. I have ministered to well over 150 people, from children to centenarians, in their final moments. At these times, I administer a set of ancient prayers and rituals that includes laying my hands on the dying person, anointing them with oil, reciting prayers for the dying and those they are leaving behind, reading Scripture and, if the person is conscious, <a href="https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/382/">giving them Holy Communion</a>, which Catholics believe is truly the body and blood of Christ.</p>
<p>But central to caring for the dying is touch.</p>
<h2>Touch as a primal instinct</h2>
<p>The laying of hands and, more specifically, physical touch at the end of life, holds special significance for many cultures because <a href="https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01721.x">to touch is to reassure</a>. In my ministry with the dying, I have often witnessed how, when death is looming, the warmth and contact of a held hand can communicate deeply where words fail. </p>
<p>Touch is a primal instinct – a gesture of love and comfort that’s instilled in each of us since birth. Touch is a prime way in which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2007.09.019_">mothers communicate with their babies</a>. Universally, people greet others with words but also touch, including handshakes, hugs, kisses or high-fives. </p>
<p>Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, people have found opportunities for physical connection – tapping elbows or <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-pandemics-mase-health-coronavirus-pandemic-50d84380a6e1c8801165d5b87141684d">giving fist bumps</a>. And a natural way to console is to not only say comforting words, but also to gently touch or hug. </p>
<h2>The power of spiritual touch</h2>
<p>Faith leaders often believe they have power that can be transferred to others through physical contact. The pioneering sociologist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emile-Durkheim">Emile Durkheim</a> deployed the Polynesian term “mana” <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004349247_002">to describe a kind of spiritual energy</a> that, for many cultures, can be transmitted to others. </p>
<p>Durkheim was <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/29427/the-way-of-qigong-by-kenneth-s-cohen/">describing a belief</a> also found in other cultures, including the Chinese “qi” and Hindu “<a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198610250.001.0001/acref-9780198610250-e-1925?rskey=0Salgu&result=1901">prana</a>.” </p>
<p>When Catholic deacons and priests are ordained, the <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/23959782">bishop places his hands</a> on the top of their bowed heads. The “laying of hands” is a sacred and <a href="https://www.ltp.org/products/details/RLPR/real-presence">symbolic transfer of power</a> that transmits the power to administer sacraments and celebrate the Eucharist, the ritual reenactment of Jesus’ Last Supper. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429143/original/file-20211028-18-19446sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pope Francis putting his hand on the head of a priest bowing before him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429143/original/file-20211028-18-19446sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429143/original/file-20211028-18-19446sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429143/original/file-20211028-18-19446sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429143/original/file-20211028-18-19446sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429143/original/file-20211028-18-19446sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429143/original/file-20211028-18-19446sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429143/original/file-20211028-18-19446sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Francis performs the imposition of hands on the head of Italian priest Guido Marini, ordained Bishop of Tortona, during an episcopal ordination mass on Oct. 17, 2021, at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-performs-the-imposition-of-hands-on-the-head-news-photo/1235931229?adppopup=true">Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Physical contact is associated with not only communicating love and divinity, <a href="https://www.ltp.org/products/details/RLPR/real-presenc">but also with healing</a> – the practical expression of divine love. <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/8">In the Bible</a>, Jesus heals by touch on at least 18 separate occasions. He cures people of blindness, leprosy and other ailments. As a <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/staff/">Catholic theologian</a>, I know that in all cases where Jesus touched people, or people touched him, they were not only restored to physical wholeness but <a href="https://www.pcusastore.com/Products/0664222811/gods-touch.aspxe">their rightful human dignity was also affirmed</a>. </p>
<h2>End of life and touch</h2>
<p>In our final moments, I believe, all people want to feel safe and consoled. Some meet their moment of death with tremendous resistance and a struggle to stay alive. Others go calmly. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429146/original/file-20211028-25-1cj1ct1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bride holding the hand of a dying man on his bed with family members surrounding them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429146/original/file-20211028-25-1cj1ct1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429146/original/file-20211028-25-1cj1ct1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429146/original/file-20211028-25-1cj1ct1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429146/original/file-20211028-25-1cj1ct1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429146/original/file-20211028-25-1cj1ct1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429146/original/file-20211028-25-1cj1ct1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429146/original/file-20211028-25-1cj1ct1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fidelity (Till death do us part), painting by William Pape, woodcut by Richard Bong from Moderne Kunst (Modern Art), illustrated magazine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/fidelity-painting-by-william-pape-woodcut-by-richard-bong-news-photo/857344666?adppopup=true">De Agostini Picture Library/De Agostini via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In my experience, a peaceful death happens when someone is surrounded by love – friends and family are there with them. In ways that are hard to describe well but are unmistakable, I have felt that love in the room. In these instances, death is not a violent conflict, but rather a peaceful, even joyful passage.</p>
<p>In the 1995 film “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/deadmanwalking.htm">Dead Man Walking</a>,” Sister Helen Prejean, a real-life Catholic nun played by Susan Sarandon, places her hands on the shoulder of convicted killer Matthew Poncelet, played by Sean Penn, as he walks to his execution.</p>
<p>“I want the last thing you see in this world to be the face of love,” Sr. Helen says to Poncelet. “So you look at me. I will be the face of love for you.”</p>
<p>Intentionally taking the life of another human being is <a href="https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/548">a grave sin</a>.
Ramirez has been found to be guilty of murder. But Scripture also says that <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/18">there is no value in vengeance</a>. It is hard to find support for the death penalty in the teachings of Jesus, for whom peace lies in forgiveness and true salvation involves reconciliation. And according to Catholic teaching, <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/08/02/180802a.html">capital punishment</a> is no longer ethically acceptable.</p>
<p>The message this sends to Catholics and people of faith is that they must hold high ideals when it comes to the feelings of other human beings enduring pain and suffering – even those who have committed dreadful crimes. </p>
<p>This means praying for and consoling not only the victim and their loved ones – but also the person responsible for the offense. Consolation can and should include touching them – including holding their hand or even embracing them as they die.</p>
<p>I do not pretend to know the nuances of state policy and federal law, but as a former minister at Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles, I’ve spent time with convicted murderers. I’ve prayed with them and listened to their confessions. I did not see violent killers consumed by evil. Rather, I saw human beings. </p>
<p>And I know, regardless of the crimes they committed and decisions they made, they too have rights bestowed on them simply because they are human. High among those rights is to meet their end with dignity.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170757/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorian Llywelyn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When death is looming, the warmth of a held hand can communicate deeply where words fail.Dorian Llywelyn, President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1655962021-08-18T12:13:08Z2021-08-18T12:13:08ZWarrior, servant, mother, unifier – the Virgin Mary has played many roles through the centuries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416629/original/file-20210817-27-15azmcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C4%2C712%2C357&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Several celebrities have been seen wearing coats designed by Brenda Equihua, with an image of Mary displayed at the back.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KptcBY7HKw">Screen grab from Shelley FKA DRAM - Exposure (Official Music Video)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a recent article in the “Religion News Service,” author <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/07/26/mary-mother-of-jesus-returns-as-an-icon-for-pop-stars-and-social-justice-warriors/%22%22">Whitney Bauck pointed out</a> that the Virgin Mary has become “an icon for pop stars and social justice warriors.”</p>
<p>Visitors to the <a href="https://equihua.us/">website of designer Brenda Equihua</a>, for example, will find <a href="https://equihua.us/collections/new-classics/products/devotion-hoodie-coat">outerwear</a> with a colorful image of Mary displayed on the back. These coats feature prominently in the closets of numerous celebrities. The Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny wears one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvAUZQxb0ME">in his “Cuidao por Ahí” music video</a>,“ and rappers Lil Nas X and Shelley FKA DRAM, among others, have likewise <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KptcBY7HKw">been spotted</a> wearing theirs in various settings. Equihua keeps <a href="https://equihua.us/pages/press">a full list of such appearances on her website</a>. </p>
<p>While Mary may be enjoying renewed popularity as of late, this is not the first time she has been "in the spotlight.” In fact, because of the enormous and consistent impact that she has had on both Christians and some non-Christians <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300076615/mary-through-centuries">for nearly 2,000 years</a>, it’s difficult to conceive of a time in which Mary wasn’t a prominent figure. </p>
<p><a href="https://hcommons.org/members/evandeneykel/">As a scholar of early Christian literature</a> who has done <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/but-their-faces-were-all-looking-up-9780567682543/">extensive research on traditions about Mary</a>, I argue that the early interest in Mary came from her role as mother of Jesus, and that ancient authors transformed her into a sort of mythological figure by putting special emphasis on her virginity.</p>
<p>But others also came to emphasize Mary as an important character in her own right. For nearly 2,000 years, different Christian groups have understood Mary in various ways: as a servant, a warrior, an advocate, a leader, an exemplar, or as some combination of these.</p>
<h2>Mary the mother</h2>
<p>The four New Testament Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – are the earliest sources that mention Mary. </p>
<p>She is a minor character in Matthew, and never speaks, even <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt+1%3A18-2%3A12&version=NRSV">at the time of Jesus’ birth</a>. She has a slightly more pronounced role in Luke, which is the only other New Testament Gospel that mentions the birth of Jesus. In Luke, she <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A26-38&version=NRSV">talks with an angel</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A39-45&version=NRSV">visits a family member</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A46-56&version=NRSV">speaks words of prophecy</a>. She also visits Jerusalem on two occasions: once for <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A22-35&version=NRSV">a purification ritual in the temple</a>, and a second time <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A41-51&version=NRSV">to celebrate Passover</a>.</p>
<p>In Mark, she <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+3%3A31-35&version=NRSV">seeks out Jesus while he is preaching</a>, and she is also <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+6%3A1-6&version=NRSV">mentioned in passing</a> by people in Jesus’ hometown. The first of these scenes also appears in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A46-50+&version=NRSV">Matthew</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+8%3A19-21&version=NRSV">Luke</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, she appears twice in the Gospel of John. The first is at <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+2%3A1-12&version=NRSV">a wedding where the wine has run out</a>, and the second is at Jesus’ crucifixion, where <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+19%3A25-28&version=NRSV">she stands nearby while he dies</a>.</p>
<p>Apart from <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%201%3A14&version=NRSV">one fleeting reference</a> to her in the Book of Acts, Mary appears nowhere else in the New Testament. </p>
<p>Because Jesus is the chief focus of the New Testament Gospels, it is not surprising that they contain so few biographical details about Mary. She is present as a supporting character because she was integral to how these ancient authors thought about her son. The fact that Jesus has a mother, for example, reminds readers that Jesus was, at a basic level, a human being.</p>
<h2>Mary the virgin</h2>
<p>The Gospel authors also use Mary to stress that Jesus was a particularly noteworthy person.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt+1%3A18&version=NRSV">Matthew</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+1%3A26-27&version=NRSV">Luke</a> accomplish this by “mythologizing” the story of his birth, by emphasizing that Mary was a virgin when he was conceived, and that her pregnancy was of divine origin rather than the result of human sexual activity.</p>
<p>The theme of the virgin mother impregnated by a god is not uncommon in the ancient world, and early readers of Matthew and Luke would have understood Mary’s pregnancy in the context of other well-known stories of “divine children” born to virgin mothers.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/ovid/">Roman poet Ovid</a>, for example, writes that the <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Perseus/">mythical hero Perseus</a> was born from a divine-human relationship between the <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028%3Abook%3D4%3Acard%3D604">god Zeus and Perseus’ mother Danaë</a>. The <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/plutarch/">Greek historian Plutarch</a> makes a similar claim about <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Romulus_and_Remus/">Romulus and Remus</a>, the legendary twins whose virgin mother Rhea Silvia insisted that <a href="http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg002.perseus-eng1:3.2">her pregnancy was the result of divine intercourse with Ares</a>, the god of war.</p>
<p>Because Matthew and Luke use Mary’s purported virginity in order to make claims about what they see as the importance of her offspring, this detail is only important for them until Jesus is born. Matthew, for example, alludes to the consummation of Mary and Joseph’s marriage after Jesus’ birth when <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1%3A25&version=NRSV">he writes that</a> “[Joseph] had no marital relations with [Mary] until she had borne a son.”</p>
<p>By contrast, some later, Christian authors highlight Mary’s virginity as something that defines her even after Jesus’ birth. In the late-second century, for example, an anonymous Christian author wrote an influential collection of stories about Mary’s birth and early life. This text is known to scholars today as the “<a href="https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/protevangelium-of-james/">Proto-Gospel of James</a>,” and in it, Mary remains a virgin even after Jesus is born.</p>
<p>The Proto-Gospel is important for how scholars understand Mary for a number of reasons. Not least of those is that it evidences an early fascination with Mary not only as the mother of Jesus, but as an important character in her own right. Jesus is a character in this text, but he is a relatively minor one, appearing only toward the end. The author’s primary focus is the life of the Virgin.</p>
<h2>Mary the mirror</h2>
<p>Like so many biblical characters, the way that a group understands Mary has much to do with how that group understands itself.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Statues of the Virgin Mary on sale near site where the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared in an apparition on August 15, 2020 in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416581/original/file-20210817-17-1rq0jyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=150%2C20%2C6468%2C4396&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416581/original/file-20210817-17-1rq0jyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416581/original/file-20210817-17-1rq0jyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416581/original/file-20210817-17-1rq0jyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416581/original/file-20210817-17-1rq0jyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416581/original/file-20210817-17-1rq0jyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416581/original/file-20210817-17-1rq0jyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Virgin Mary has held tremendous appeal for both Christians and non-Christians over the centuries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/statues-of-the-virgin-mary-are-offered-for-sale-to-catholic-news-photo/1228064555?adppopup=true">Damir Sagolj/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On one level, this plays out clearly in artistic representations of Mary. In the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/sm_maggiore/index_en.html">Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome</a>, for example, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1510002">fifth-century mosaics</a> portray Mary as <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/60661697@N07/16241936529/in/photolist-2kiRctG-N5Frq1-QoCjG2-qpJFeW-p43mR4-x5P673-oBqiXe-EXqngJ-DWLNJf-qy7yzE-mqMWgf-fGapzT-qKfaSr-oi6WxB-oGrPGp-osYeGY-xUDzgh-otTKX2">a noble woman dressed in Roman imperial clothing</a>, which reflects the historical context in which these mosaics were made.</p>
<p>On the other side of the world, in Mexico City, is the famous 16th-century icon of Mary known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Our-Lady-of-Guadalupe-patron-saint-of-Mexico">According to legend</a>, Mary appeared in 1531 to an Aztec man named Juan Diego, and she left this image of her imprinted on his cloak. Visitors to Our Lady of Guadalupe will note Mary’s darker complexion, which is indicative of the icon’s Spanish-Mexican context. Historically, it has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-virgin-of-guadalupe-is-more-than-a-religious-icon-to-catholics-in-mexico-151251">a powerful and unifying symbol of Mexican identity</a>.</p>
<p>A more recent example is the artist Ben Wildflower and <a href="https://benwildflower.com/collections/prints-1/products/magnificat-print">his popular woodcut of Mary</a>, in which she clenches her raised fist and stomps on a serpent while surrounded by the words “Fill the hungry. Lift the lowly. Cast down the mighty. Send the rich away.” When asked about Mary’s presence in his art, Wildflower commented: “<a href="https://udayton.edu/blogs/marianlibrary/2020-06-23-miraculous-metal.php">Mary is who I want to be in the world</a>.”</p>
<p>This phenomenon is at work also in the values that are imposed on Mary, and which sometimes seem at odds with one another. Mary has been upheld both as an exemplar for motherhood, for example, but also as a model for a more strictly ascetic, virginal life.</p>
<p>Her temperament is another detail that frequently shifts according to context. Mary is hailed by some Catholics as “Queen of Peace” and is frequently upheld as a paragon of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/12/let-it-be-marys-radical-declaration-of-consent/266616/">free submission to the divine will</a>. Yet, there are also medieval manuscript illustrations that show her in a more active and perhaps even violent role, <a href="http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/illmanus/other/largeimage74639.html">punching</a> and <a href="https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=29241">wrestling with demons</a>.</p>
<p>Drawing from this image of the seemingly “violent” virgin, some online retailers have begun to sell <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/565274719/hail-mary-punch-the-devil-mug-hail-mary">merchandise featuring the slogan “Hail Mary, full of grace, punch the devil in the face</a>.”</p>
<p>As Christians and non-Christians encounter Mary in various media and settings, they may do well to recall the myriad ways that she has been used to unite and comfort, but also to divide and convict. As I see it, she will no doubt continue to fascinate in both new and familiar ways for years to come.</p>
<p>[<em>Explore the intersection of faith, politics, arts and culture.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-explore">Sign up for This Week in Religion.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165596/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Vanden Eykel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mary has acquired popularity among celebrities of late. A religion scholar writes about how for nearly 2,000 years, the mother of Jesus has been viewed as an exemplar by different Christian groups.Eric Vanden Eykel, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Ferrum CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1622972021-06-07T15:14:12Z2021-06-07T15:14:12ZTB Joshua: the Pentecostalist, televangelist and philanthropist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404867/original/file-20210607-27-mvjv58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Residents and church members gather at the main gate of the Synagogue Church of All Nations headquarters in Lagos to mourn the death of pastor TB Joshua.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In the wake of the death of Nigerian televangelist <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29234245">Temitope Balogun Joshua</a>, who founded the Synagogue Church of All <a href="https://www.culturalheritageonline.com/location-2867_SCOAN---Synagogue-Church-of-all-Nations.php">Nations</a> in Lagos, there have been a host of tributes and <a href="https://theconversation.com/obituary-tb-joshua-nigerias-controversial-pentecostal-titan-162232">obituaries</a>. Religious scholar George Nche, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Religion Studies, University of Johannesburg, explains Joshua’s huge influence and impact on African Christianity.</em></p>
<h2>Who was TB Joshua?</h2>
<p>The Late Temitope Balogun Joshua (known as Prophet TB Joshua) was a charismatic pastor and founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, Nigeria. He was born on June 12, 1963 in Ondo State, Nigeria. He received his primary education at St. Stephen’s Anglican Primary School, Ikare-Akoko, Ondo State, from 1971 to 1977 but could not complete his secondary education. </p>
<p>In the early part of his life he struggled considerably. For a period he did many menial jobs, including waste picking.</p>
<p>His frequent involvement in church activities as a child earned him the nickname “small pastor”. Little would the church community know then that he would grow to become an internationally acclaimed religious leader with far-reaching <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/tb-joshua-ranked-among-most-famous-prophets-in-history/">influence</a>. </p>
<p>His church attracted a congregation of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/popular-but-controversial-nigerian-pastor-tb-joshua-dies-aged-57">over 15,000 people</a>. People travelled to his synagogue in Lagos from several countries in Africa and beyond. His sermons and healing activities were televised on Emmanuel TV – a TV channel he founded that was dedicated to the activities of his church.</p>
<p>TB Joshua was also an outstanding philanthropist, which further endeared him to many who admired <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/africa/2021-06-06-tributes-for-tb-joshua-a-man-of-god-who-gave-to-the-poor-say-followers/">him</a>. He received many awards for these activities. One was the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic awarded by the Nigerian government in <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/tb-joshua-ranked-among-most-famous-prophets-in-history/">2008</a>.</p>
<h2>What role did he play in advancing Pentecostalism and televangelism?</h2>
<p>Pentecostalism appears to be, among other things, a “problem-solving” (both spiritual and physical problems) movement which has miracle and healing at its heart. Its origin and growth, especially in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14769948.2019.1627095">Africa</a>, is largely driven by people’s expectations and beliefs in the healing and transformative power of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/026537880702400105">Holy Spirit</a>. </p>
<p>TB Joshua addressed these expectations. Numerous miracles in the forms of economic prosperity and divine healing were reportedly received in his church or remotely through his <a href="https://www.scoan.org/testimonies/">prayers</a>. This served as a major attraction for many people across Africa and beyond. </p>
<p>Numerous personalities and <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/celebrities/pulse-list-5-celebrities-who-have-been-to-tb-joshuas-synagogue-church/sh876pg">celebrities</a> were visitors to his church. Among them were Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, South African opposition party leader Julius Malema, and international footballer Joseph Yobo. Nigerian actor Jim Iyke reportedly <a href="https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/06/14/t-b-joshua-a-cleric-and-his-passion-for-charity/">visited</a> him in search of healing. </p>
<p>This was a major way through which he contributed to the advancement of the Pentecostal movement in Africa. </p>
<p>Also, the nondenominational nature of the Synagogue Church of All Nations shielded the church from interdenominational tussles. This made it open and accessible to people of “all nations” irrespective of their affiliations. Little wonder he had a large congregation and following.</p>
<p>Joshua’s <a href="https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/06/14/t-b-joshua-a-cleric-and-his-passion-for-charity/">philanthropic activities</a> further portrayed the Synagogue Church of All Nations in a good light. By giving to the poor, Joshua presented his ministry as a movement concerned not only with the spiritual welfare of the people, but also with their physical prosperity. </p>
<p>Joshua also made a substantial contribution to the advancement of televangelism in Africa. For instance, the <a href="https://emmanuel.tv/">Emmanuel TV</a> channel was founded in 2007 by Joshua and used extensively to showcase the activities of the Synagogue Church of All Nations. These activities include bible readings, teachings, testimonies of miracles, and Christian children’s programmes like cartoons. </p>
<p>Before the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56771246">suspension</a> of his YouTube account for videos claiming to “cure” homosexuality, the Emmanuel TV channel had over 1 million subscribers, making it one of the most subscribed Christian YouTube channels worldwide. </p>
<p>Joshua also had over 5 million followers on Facebook and over 4,000 on <a href="https://twitter.com/SCOANTBJoshua?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Twitter</a>. Like American historical phenomenal <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1048680">televangelists</a>, Joshua used these media platforms to spread Pentecostal ideas, advance the Synagogue Church of All Nations brand, and promote the idea of televangelism in Africa.</p>
<h2>Why was he so controversial?</h2>
<p>TB Joshua was immersed in a lot of controversies. These arose partly due to his involvement in and “unpopular” positions on sensitive socio-political and health issues, and partly due to his “unorthodox” ways of worship. </p>
<p>For instance, there was the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/23/ghana-pastor-stampede-tbjoshua">stampede</a> that led to the death of four worshippers in a rush for his “holy water”; the “misleading” <a href="https://theconversation.com/obituary-tb-joshua-nigerias-controversial-pentecostal-titan-162232">narrative</a> he gave explaining the cause of the 2014 tragedy in which 116 people died when a guest house attached to the Synagogue Church of All Nations building collapsed; the suspension of his YouTube channel following his claim that he could cure <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56771246">homosexuality</a>; his unfulfilled political and sports <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/nigerias-tb-joshua-explains-unfulfilled-us-election-prophecy-520711">prophecies</a>; and his claim to have powers to cure <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/millionaire-preacher-sends-4-000-bottles-holy-water-ebola-cure-9674136.html">Ebola</a> and <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/controversy-surrounds-nigerian-healer-1753217">HIV</a>, and to have remotely healed COVID-19 patients from an isolation centre in Honduras, <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/world/2020-08-04-watch--theres-no-vaccine-for-covid-19-but-tb-joshua-healed-patients-through-virtual-prayer/">Central America</a>.</p>
<p>He was also criticised by mainstream <a href="https://www.keepthefaith.co.uk/2019/12/11/reinhard-bonnke-tb-joshua-and-overcoming-division-in-the-body-of-christ/">churches</a> for being heretical and deceitful for his routine way of administering healing by selling holy morning water and stickers.</p>
<p>One <a href="http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/tbjoshua.html">critic</a> urged Christians “to stay far away” from Joshua and those who that mix “Christianity and paganism in a very enticing manner”.</p>
<h2>What legacy will he leave?</h2>
<p>Joshua’s death has left a vacuum that will take a while to fill. His unmistakable mannerism and courage, his philanthropic disposition, and his “spiritual gifts” will be missed by his followers. </p>
<p>However, his greatest legacy, the Synagogue Church of All Nations, is likely to live on, possibly under the leadership of his wife and children as well as the numerous pastors who trained under him. </p>
<p>History shows that churches usually outlive their founders and in some cases grow even bigger. One example is the case of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, which has been expanding vigorously under Enoch Adejare Adeboye, who became the general overseer following the death of the founder, <a href="https://dacb.org/stories/nigeria/akindayomi-josiah/">Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi</a>, in 1980.</p>
<p>There are, however, also examples of churches that died with their founders. One example is the Mai Chaza Church, which shrank after the death of its Zimbabwean founder, Theresa Nyamushanya, in 1960.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162297/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>George Nche does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nigeria’s TB Joshua wasn’t just known for his evangelism and controversies. He was also a beloved philanthropist.George Nche, Postdoctoral research fellow, Department of Religion Studies, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1577612021-03-30T20:59:16Z2021-03-30T20:59:16ZPoliticians have ‘washed their hands’ and blamed others since Jesus’s crucifixion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392380/original/file-20210329-13-raget4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C73%2C2035%2C1260&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sixth-century mosaic depicting Jesus before Roman governor Pontius Pilate washing his hands, at Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(Nick Thompson/Flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Handwashing has gotten substantial coverage this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic, and not just for hygiene. You may have encountered <a href="https://ca.granthshala.com/pastors-and-parishioners-test-the-right-to-congregate-during-the-pandemic">some of the many</a> accusations in both the U.S. <a href="https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/albertans-asking-whereiskenney-as-province-sets-covid-19-record-again-1.5200269">and Canada</a> that a politician has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/opinion/sunday/trump-coronavirus-national-emergency.html">“washed his hands” of pandemic responsibilities</a>. </p>
<p>Sometimes the reference includes a nod to the historical figure associated with this phrase: Recently in the U.S., a conservative commentator faulted President Joe Biden, saying he is “<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/sean-hannity-trashing-joe-biden-day-one-presidency-1563256">like Pontius Pilate: just washes his hands and stays quiet</a>.”</p>
<p>These handwashing images derive from iconic biblical scripture referring to events preceding Jesus’s crucifixion. </p>
<p>In one of the earliest versions of these events, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea from <a href="https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/book/studies-in-the-jewish-background-of-christianity-9783161573279?no_cache=1">at least 26 to 37 CE</a> — the only man with the power to order a crucifixion — <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2027%3A24&version=NRSV">washes his hands before a crowd</a>. In the Gospel of Matthew, he simultaneously assents to Jesus’s execution and claims no personal responsibility.</p>
<p>Throughout the history of Christianity, representations of Pilate’s handwashing have often been used to shift blame for Jesus’s death to Jews, and have been part of a toxic legacy of Christian and western antisemitism.</p>
<h2>The historical Pilate</h2>
<p>In the first century CE, the Roman empire ruled the sub-province of Judea through military governors like Pilate, who were tasked with quashing any rebellions against Roman rule. Pilate was the only person in Judea with the authority to execute someone by crucifixion, a brutal form of <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=p_uwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=%E2%80%9CThe+Lynching+Tree+and+the+Cross:+James+Cone,+Historical+Narrative,+and+the+Ideology+of+Just+Crucifixion%22&source=bl&ots=s3s6DdAfig&sig=ACfU3U1G1zsuT-5uHxQ8pVf85hHmwga6gQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5vMHXn9jvAhVthuAKHcNEAKcQ6AEwA3oECAUQAw#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CThe%20Lynching%20Tree%20and%20the%20Cross%3A%20James%20Cone%2C%20Historical%20Narrative%2C%20and%20the%20Ideology%20of%20Just%20Crucifixion%22&f=false">capital punishment reserved for slaves and non-citizens</a> deemed subversive.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511585166">Helen Bond, professor of Christian origins explains</a> that “the execution of Jesus was in all probability a routine crucifixion of a messianic agitator” by a Roman governor. </p>
<p>Jewish sources convey that Pilate was hostile toward Jews and their customs. Philo of Alexandria even lamented Pilate’s “<a href="http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book40.html">continual murders of people untried and uncondemned</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="17th-century painting of Pilate washing his hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Pilate Washing his Hands,’ by Hendrick ter Brugghen, 17th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shipley Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation/Wikimedia Commons)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Exonerating Pilate</h2>
<p>Yet, the New Testament gospels offer ambivalent portraits of the man who ordered Christ’s execution. There are four different accounts of Jesus’s sentencing and death, but all agree Pilate was reluctant to declare Jesus guilty. </p>
<p>Each gospel depicts Pilate finding Jesus blameless but acquiescing to execute him, whether due to personal <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+23%3A23&version=NRSV">weakness</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+15%3A15&version=NRSV">to appease the crowds</a> or <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+19%3A15&version=NRSV">to legitimate his own authority and the emperor’s</a>. Instead of impugning Pilate, the gospels <a href="https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/main-articles/pontius-pilate">shift the blame for Jesus’s death to Jewish authorities</a>.</p>
<p>Each of these gospels was written during the decades following the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans (70 CE), the climax of the First Jewish Revolt. This was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/15700631-12494235">a period of rampant anti-Judaism</a>: imperialist media such as coins and monuments indiscriminately linked Jews from across the empire to the rebels in Judea and cast Jews as barbaric traitors. The empire punished all Jews, for instance, with a tax.</p>
<p>This created a challenge for those early followers of Jesus — both Jews and gentiles — who proclaimed that their Saviour was a Jew whom Rome executed as a criminal. The gospel authors stressed that Jesus opposed the Jewish authorities and was not found guilty by the Roman governor.</p>
<h2>Jewish and gentile Jesus followers</h2>
<p>How to understand depictions of “Jews” in gospels written before the self-identification “Christian” became widespread in the early second century is thus immensely <a href="https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800662097/The-Ways-That-Never-Parted-Jews-and-Christians-in-Late-Antiquity-and-the-Early-Middle-Ages">complicated</a>. The Gospel of John, for instance, emerged from a gentile community. It never uses the term “Christian” yet distinguishes followers of Christ from Jews through hostile rhetoric demonizing “the Jews” as <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+8%3A44&version=NRSV">children of the devil</a>, as the New Testament scholar <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781978701175/Cast-Out-of-the-Covenant-Jews-and-Anti-Judaism-in-the-Gospel-of-John">Adele Reinhartz has shown</a>. </p>
<p>Matthew’s gospel, however, was produced by a community of <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3632737.html">Christ-followers who more clearly fit within the spectrum of Jewish identities</a>, yet were eager to distinguish themselves from Jewish leaders who had been involved in the revolt and post-war Jewish leaders (namely, the rabbis). In this case, rhetorical attacks against certain Jewish leaders reflect an inter-sectarian argument among Jews. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Statue of Jesus in front of Pilate washing his hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Catholic devotional practice the Stations of the Cross sometimes shows Pilate washing his hands as Jesus is condemned to death. Here, The Shrine of Christ’s Passion, St. John, Indiana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">(Contemplative imaging/Flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Transferring guilt</h2>
<p>The pattern of exonerating Pilate by blaming Jewish leaders is unmistakable in Matthew’s gospel. It includes a “blood curse” that is the basis of <a href="https://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/constantine-and-x27s-sword/9780618219087">a toxic formula that Christians have used to justify centuries of Christian anti-Judaism, often resulting in reprehensible acts of violence against Jews</a>: “So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing … he took some water and washed his hands … saying, ‘<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+27&version=NRSV">I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children</a>!’” </p>
<p>Matthew also writes “the chief priests and the elders” were <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+27%3A20&version=NRSV">manipulating the crowds</a>. He often accuses Jewish leaders of such corruption as well as <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300171563/matthew-within-sectarian-judaism">hypocrisy and misunderstanding the Jewish law</a>. </p>
<p>Pilate’s handwashing alludes to an older account from Jewish scripture. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2021%3A1-9&version=NRSV">Deuteronomy 21:1-9</a> prescribes a ritual through which Israel can be “absolved of bloodguilt” for a murder committed by an unknown person. Because the culprit can’t be prosecuted, this ritual removes “bloodguilt,” or communal liability for “innocent blood,” that would otherwise remain in the midst of the people of Israel.</p>
<p>The rite entails the people’s elders washing their hands of bloodguilt while priests break a heifer’s neck. Matthew inverts Deuteronomy’s ritual, and casts the priests and elders as hypocrites who invited bloodguilt onto their kinfolk.</p>
<h2>Pilate’s redemption and anti-Judaism</h2>
<p>Through early Christian writers, Pilate became an even more positive figure by the time the Roman Empire adopted Christianity. Some considered Pilate a Christian, at least “<a href="http://www.tertullian.org/articles/reeve_apology.htm">in his conscience</a>,” as the early theologian Tertullian wrote. The <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/what-pilate-knew">Coptic Church</a> proclaimed him a saint in the sixth century. Pilate even appears in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nicene-Creed">Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed</a>, a Christian statement of faith: Jesus was “crucified for us under Pontius Pilate.” Note the statement says “under” and not “by” Pilate.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com/article/book/acprof-9780198261827/acprof-9780198261827-div1-67">Ancient Christian texts doubled down</a> on the New Testament gospels’ shifting of blame from Pilate to Jews, as professor of the New Testament <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/5113/Interfaces-Pontius-Pilate">Warren Carter has shown</a>. </p>
<p>Christian authors deployed ambivalent and positive images of Pilate to show that Christianity was not a threat to Roman law and order. In doing so, they <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691139562/pontius-pilate-anti-semitism-and-the-passion-in-medieval-art">fanned the flames of anti-Judaism</a>. Art historian Colum Hourihane has explored how these anti-Jewish interpretations eventually led to negative characterizations of Pilate himself as a Jew during the medieval period in Europe. At this time, Christians blamed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/health/01plague.html">Jews for plagues</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-pandemic-shattered-the-harmony-of-medieval-europes-diverse-cities-134578">How pandemic shattered the harmony of medieval Europe's diverse cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Politics of handwashing</h2>
<p>Some accusations of handwashing rightly seek to hold political leaders accountable, or point to the tightrope politicians walk to meet political objectives. Pope Francis declared that those who ignore suffering caused by COVID-19 are “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-pope-idUSKBN2601JG">devotees of Pontius Pilate who simply wash their hands of it</a>.” </p>
<p>But the expression should also remind us of the dangers of vilification: As we saw under former president Donald Trump’s pandemic leadership, when leaders or communities distinguish themselves through <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/trumps-chinese-virus-tweet-helped-lead-rise-racist/story?id=76530148">scapegoating, this facilitates a dangerous redistribution of guilt to other parties, often marginalized and racialized communities</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/12/anti-asian-attacks-united-states-covid/">Like Trump, political influencers</a> have vilified people of Asian descent, and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-nearly-150-2020-mostly-n-n1260264">both the U.S.</a> <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/reports-of-anti-asian-hate-crimes-are-surging-in-canada-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-1.5351481">and Canada have seen</a> a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anti-asian-racism-during-coronavirus-how-the-language-of-disease-produces-hate-and-violence-134496">Anti-Asian racism during coronavirus: How the language of disease produces hate and violence</a>
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<p>Some conspiracy theorists have falsely <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/anti-semitic-and-anti-asian-incidents-on-the-rise-during-covid-19-reports-1.4924306">blamed Jews and Israel</a> for the virus. Some politicians and commentators have divided communities directly or indirectly through blaming or singling out <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/02/illness-obesity-racism-who-gets-blamed-for-our-crises-the-poor-of-course">people living in poverty</a> <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/race-and-blame/609946/">or Black</a>, racialized and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/opinion-sinclair-pallister-vaccine-first-nations-1.5828578">Indigenous communities</a>. </p>
<p>The history of interpretations of Pilate’s handwashing is stained by malicious attempts to define Christian identity through the demonization of Jewish others. Whether seeking to explain problems, to hold people accountable or to assert our own identities, let’s do so in ways that don’t dehumanize anyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Keddie receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>The expression to “wash one’s hands of responsibility” comes from Christian scripture and has been part of a toxic legacy of blaming Jews for Jesus’s death.Tony Keddie, Assistant Professor of Early Christian History and Literature, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1524212021-03-03T13:26:27Z2021-03-03T13:26:27ZPope’s upcoming visit brings attention to the dwindling population of Christians in Iraq<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387332/original/file-20210302-17-1vpkmh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C45%2C5073%2C3235&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mural depicting Pope Francis on a concrete wall around the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, in preparation for the pontiff's visit, </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXIraqPopeVisit/800ec1c86d184458b1826db881ecd25e/photo?Query=pope%20AND%20iraq&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=437&currentItemNo=5">AP/Photo/Khalid Mohammed</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210301-francis-prepares-first-ever-papal-visit-to-iraq">will arrive in Iraq on Friday</a> in a first-ever papal visit to the country that is expected to raise awareness about the challenges facing Iraqi Christians – a majority of whom are Catholic.</p>
<p>In the past two decades, the Christian population in Iraq has <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/iraq/">fallen by over 80%</a>. The 1987 Iraqi census reported that there were 1.4 million Christians in <a href="https://merip.org/2013/06/iraqi-christians-a-primer/">Iraq</a>, and today it is estimated that the Christian population is less than 250,000. Spurred by political instability and war, many Christians have immigrated to other regions, including North America, Western Europe and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/05/iraqi-christians-nineveh-plain/589819/">Australia</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="iQDLA" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/iQDLA/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>My recent book, “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/alien-citizens/BF353EC932B7A72B61239484061FD4E8">Alien Citizens: The State and Religious Minorities in Turkey and France</a>,” examines how international factors influence the status of religious minorities. I argue that in Iraq’s case, it was a series of international interventions that eventually led to the dwindling of the Christian minority. </p>
<h2>Who are Iraq’s Christians?</h2>
<p>Most Iraqi Christians are ethnically Assyrian, <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/ic/10/1/article-p113_9.xml">and they belong to the historic Church of the East</a>, one of the three major branches of Eastern Christianity. The language of worship is a dialect of Aramaic, the language that <a href="https://www.manchesterhive.com/view/journals/bjrl/53/1/article-p9.xml">Jesus is said to have spoken</a>. </p>
<p>The largest of these Assyrian communities belongs to the Chaldean Catholic Church, making up <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Chaldean_Catholic_Church/NIY8DwAAQBAJ?hl=&gbpv=1">more than two-thirds of all Christians living in Iraq</a>. </p>
<p>The Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East are other smaller Assyrian communities that constitute about 5% of Iraqi <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UhiWDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=">Christians</a>. </p>
<p>Syriacs, who constitute somewhere between 10% to 15% of Iraqi Christians, are organized around the Syriac Catholic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church, which are headquartered in Lebanon and Syria <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fWp9JA3aBvcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA249&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false">respectively</a>. </p>
<p>Armenians and Arab Christians, along with other small groups, constitute the rest of the Christians living in Iraq. </p>
<h2>Christians flee Iraq after war</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10669920701616443">events that followed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq</a> led to a large-scale persecution of the Christian population.</p>
<p>While Saddam Hussein repressed ethnic and religious groups such as Kurds and Shiites, Christians fared relatively better under his rule. As religion scholar <a href="https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/cas_sites/theology/pdf/Boston%20College_Girling_2017%20(1).pdf">Kristian Girling</a> wrote, in return for their acquiescence to Saddam’s authoritarianism, Christians were given protections and gained <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-church-history/article/abs/to-live-within-islam-the-chaldean-catholic-church-in-modern-iraq-19582003/8D946AC66D94B2D93B9724F6CD2E51F2">prominence in business and cultural life</a>. </p>
<p>Tariq Aziz, who was the deputy prime minister in Saddam’s Cabinet between 1979 and 2003, was <a href="https://www.cairn-int.info/revue-les-champs-de-mars-ldm-2011-1-page-55.htm?contenu=resume#">affiliated with the Chaldean Catholic Church</a>. </p>
<p>The ousting of Saddam by U.S. troops led to a power vacuum in which sectarianism and instability helped create the conditions for the rise of extremist groups such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09546550902765565">al-Qaida in Iraq</a> from 2004.</p>
<p>Violence against Christians in the form of <a href="http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=9442">killings</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/world/middleeast/02iraq.html">attacks</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/world/middleeast/14iraq.html">kidnappings</a> soared. </p>
<p>As a result, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html">many Christians fled Iraq</a>. According to data compiled from U.S. International Religious Freedom reports, by 2013, a decade after the invasion, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43554880?casa_token=7WY66SFXwkcAAAAA%3AWekhVGck7KEgFIC0BCzy9Va1LN_hxT0smpjD2ekk07RPpb7PDBqz4au2_tAj1CnebLpDXgtZjScBc424I9OtXOS7SkMAn01iUqG6pFQHvF64sTT1PIJt&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">more than half the Christian population had left the country</a>. </p>
<h2>The destruction by Islamic State group</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="About two dozen photographs displayed on a table with lit candles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387330/original/file-20210302-15-1f828ze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5473%2C3682&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387330/original/file-20210302-15-1f828ze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387330/original/file-20210302-15-1f828ze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387330/original/file-20210302-15-1f828ze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387330/original/file-20210302-15-1f828ze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387330/original/file-20210302-15-1f828ze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387330/original/file-20210302-15-1f828ze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pictures of slain Iraqi Christians displayed at Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IraqChristians/a172baa341d246f8bf39a69e3792921e/photo?Query=iraq%20AND%20christians&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1717&currentItemNo=47">AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The plight of Iraq’s Christians became more precarious as the Islamic State group took hold of swaths of the country. </p>
<p>In 2014, IS controlled the territories around Mosul in Northern Iraq and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28686998">expelled Christians from Nineveh Plains</a>. According to some estimates, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/20/middleeast/iraq-christianity-peril/index.html">more than 100,000 Christians fled</a> from Nineveh Plains to the autonomous Kurdish regions. </p>
<p>Many never returned after the defeat of IS in 2017. Those who did <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/05/iraqi-christians-nineveh-plain/589819/">had to face the Shiite militant groups</a> who helped the Iraqi government defeat IS and controlled some Christian territories. </p>
<p>Until the Iraqi government had tamed these militias and had political control over them, Christians had <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/christianity-in-iraq-is-finished/2014/09/19/21feaa7c-3f2f-11e4-b0ea-8141703bbf6f_story.html">skirmishes with them over properties and lands</a>. According to media reports, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48333923">many more Christians left Iraq in this period</a>. </p>
<p>In short, the U.S. invasion of Iraq started a cycle of violence that put Christianity under threat. As foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2019/12/24/opinion/among-casualties-us-wars-middle-east-christianity/">wrote in a piece for The Boston Globe</a>: “By overthrowing Hussein, we hastened the end of Christianity in a land to which Saint John is said to have brought it soon after the Crucifixion.”</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=experts">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p>
<h2>Is there hope?</h2>
<p>Between 2017 and 2019, the Trump administration provided over US$300 million in aid to support the rebuilding of the Christian cities and villages of Nineveh Plains destroyed by IS in <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/oct-16-2018-fact-sheet-us-assistance-ethnic-and-religious-minorities-iraq">Northern Iraq</a>.</p>
<p>However, a long-lasting solution to improving Christians’ status is maintaining the rule of law in Iraq. The Iraqi constitution, drafted in 2005, <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Iraq_2005.pdf?lang=en">declares Islam as the country’s official religion</a>. Singling out one religion at the expense of others can put religious minorities at risk unless clear protections are provided. Iraq needs a legal framework for equal citizenship to create a safe environment for religious minorities. </p>
<p>The Iraqi government invited Pope Francis to visit. The president of Iraq, <a href="https://twitter.com/BarhamSalih/status/1335912196228993024">Barham Salih,</a> described the visit as “a message of peace to Iraqis of all religions.” Media reports have quoted a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-pope-iraq/pope-francis-to-make-risky-trip-to-iraq-in-early-march-idUKKBN28H17E">Vatican source as saying the pope aims</a> “to comfort Christians who, amid wars and conflicts, have been forced to flee from Iraq.” </p>
<p>One cannot know if the pope’s visit will help Iraqi Christians heal from many years of suffering, but it will definitely bring public attention to their situation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152421/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Opinions are the author's and do not represent the views of the University of Nebraska at Omaha</span></em></p>The events that followed the 2003 US invasion of Iraq started a cycle of violence against the country’s minority Christian population. The pope’s visit is meant to bring some ‘healing and comfort.’Ramazan Kılınç, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska OmahaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1528792021-01-12T13:24:41Z2021-01-12T13:24:41ZHow self-proclaimed ‘prophets’ from a growing Christian movement provided religious motivation for the Jan. 6 events at the US Capitol<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378126/original/file-20210111-19-1rmpx99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C27%2C6005%2C3889&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of President Trump put up a Cross outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6,</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-u-s-president-donald-trump-pray-outside-the-u-news-photo/1294872343?adppopup=true">Win McNamee/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In addition to symbols of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-scholar-of-american-anti-semitism-explains-the-hate-symbols-present-during-the-us-capitol-riot-152883">white supremacy</a>, many of the rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6 carried signs bearing <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/01/07/taking-the-white-christian-nationalist-symbols-at-the-capitol-riot-seriously/">religious messages</a>, such as “Jesus Saves” and “In God We Trust” while others chanted “<a href="https://sojo.net/articles/they-invaded-capitol-saying-jesus-my-savior-trump-my-president">Jesus is my savior and Trump is my president</a>.” In a video interview, one of those who breached the Senate floor describes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOjzEj_r0E4&feature=emb_title">holding a prayer</a> to “consecrate it to Jesus” soon after entering. </p>
<p>Many white evangelical leaders have provided <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-election-support-evangelicals-shows-we-re-biggest-obstacle-ncna1247723">religious justification</a> and undying support for Trump’s presidency, including his most racially incendiary rhetoric and policies. But as a <a href="https://crcc.usc.edu/people/brad-christerson-2/">scholar of religion</a>, I argue that a particular segment of white evangelicalism that my colleague <a href="https://crcc.usc.edu/people/richard-flory/">Richard Flory</a> and I call <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190635671.001.0001/acprof-9780190635671">Independent Network Charismatic</a>, or INC, has played a unique role in providing a spiritual justification for the movement to overturn the election which resulted in the storming of the Capitol.</p>
<p>INC Christianity is a group of high-profile independent leaders who are detached from any formal denomination and cooperate with one another in loose networks.</p>
<h2>Prayer marches</h2>
<p>In the days and hours leading up to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 the group <a href="https://jerichomarch.org/">Jericho March</a> <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/january/jericho-march-dc-election-overturn-trump-biden-congress.html">organized marches</a> around the Capitol and Supreme Court building praying for God to defeat the “dark and corrupt” forces that they claimed, without evidence, had stolen the election from God’s anointed president – Donald Trump. </p>
<p>Jericho March is a loose coalition of Christian nationalists formed after the 2020 presidential election with the goal of overturning its results. Leading up to and following the Capitol violence, their <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2020/1216/Will-election-become-a-new-lost-cause-for-evangelical-conservatives">website stated</a>: “We are proud of the American system of governance established by our Founding Fathers and we will not let globalists, socialists, and communists destroy our beautiful nation by sidestepping our laws and suppressing the will of the American people through their fraudulent and illegal activities in this election.” This statement as well as others were removed some time after the Capitol riot.</p>
<p>Jericho March’s main activity has been organizing prayer marches around Capitol buildings around the nation after the election, imitating the “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%205%3A13-6%3A27&version=NIV">battle of Jericho</a>” in the Bible. In this biblical battle God commanded the army of his chosen people, the nation of Israel, to blow trumpets and then march around the city walls until God brought the walls down and allowed Israel to invade and conquer the city. According to the Bible, this was the first battle that the nation won in its conquest of Canaan, the “promised land” that it occupied afterward. </p>
<p>Jericho March’s activities culminated in a large prayer rally on Dec. 12 in Washington, D.C., that included <a href="https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2020/december/we-come-in-faith-to-our-god-millions-watch-as-jericho-marchers-march-on-nations-capital">prayer marches and speeches</a> on the mall by convicted and pardoned former <a href="https://religionunplugged.com/news/2020/12/13/trump-supporting-jericho-march-ends-in-protest">National Security Advisor Michael Flynn</a>, former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Trump-supporting founder of MyPillow Mike Lindell and far-right Oathkeepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/romt1iWW4Oc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Michael Flynn among other speakers at a Jericho March rally.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They also held <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/january/jericho-march-dc-election-overturn-trump-biden-congress.html">prayer marches and vigils</a> around the Supreme Court and Capitol surrounding the Jan. 6 election certification. <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/01/05/as-jericho-marchers-descend-on-washington-local-faith-leaders-brace-for-attacks/">Jericho March members believe</a> that their prayer marches will help defeat the corrupt forces they claim, without the basis of any evidence, “stole” the election and that God will install Trump in his rightful place as president on Jan. 20. </p>
<p>Their strategy is peaceful prayer marches, however. After the Capitol violence <a href="https://jerichomarch.org/">they released this statement</a>: “Jericho March denounces any and all acts of violence and destruction, including any that took place at the U.S. Capitol.” </p>
<p>There is no evidence that anyone affiliated with the Jericho March organization took part in the Capitol breach. However, their leaders, I argue, are providing the religious motivation for the fight to overturn the election. Here’s why.</p>
<h2>‘Prophets’ and Charismatic Christianity</h2>
<p>A key part of the Jericho March events <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/15/nyregion/trump-preacher-magachurch.html">has been a group of INC Christians</a>
who claim to be modern-day “prophets,” including <a href="https://lancewallnau.com/">Lance Wallnau</a>, <a href="https://www.generals.org/">Cindy Jacobs</a> and <a href="http://bethisraelworshipcenter.org/about%20Us/AboutJC.php">Jonathan Cahn</a>.<br>
Charismatic Christianity, similar to Pentecostal Christianity, emphasizes the “gifts of the Holy Spirit,” which include healing, exorcism, speaking in spiritual languages, and prophecy – defined as hearing direct words from God that reveal his plans for the future and directions for his people to follow. </p>
<p>Scholars use <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2013/october/charismatic-renewal-movement.html">the term Charismatic</a> to describe Christians in mainline or independent churches that emphasize the gifts of the spirit as opposed to Pentecostal Christians, who are affiliated with official Pentecostal denominations. Independent Charismatic Christians tend to be more unorthodox in their practices, as they are less tied to formal organizations.</p>
<p>In our research, we found that in most Charismatic churches, those who receive visions or direct words from God that make predictions that later correspond to events or have uncanny insights into people’s lives are seen to have the “gift of prophecy.” Some particularly gifted “prophets” are seen as being able to predict world events and <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Vessels_of_Fire_and_Glory.html?id=BM6-DwAAQBAJ">get directions from God regarding entire nations</a>. </p>
<p>While most Charismatic churches do not engage in this world-event predicting type of prophecy, some independent, high-profile leaders that do have become increasingly important in INC Christianity. </p>
<h2>‘Seven mountains of culture’</h2>
<p>Before the 2016 election a group of INC “prophets” <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/11/10/meet-evangelicals-prophesied-trump-win/93575144/">proclaimed Trump to be God’s chosen candidate</a>, similar to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezra+1&version=NKJV">King Cyrus</a> in the Bible, whom God used to restore the nation of Israel. After their prophesies of Trump’s winning the election came true, these “prophets” became enormously <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/august-web-only/bethel-church-international-house-prayer-prophets-apostles.html">popular</a> in INC Christianity. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190635671.001.0001/acprof-9780190635671%22">our book</a>, we showed that INC Christianity is significantly changing the religious landscape in America – and the nation’s politics – by providing an unorthodox theology to promote conservative Christians rising to power in all realms of society. It is the fastest-growing Christian group in America. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160799/original/image-20170314-10727-8j6dbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160799/original/image-20170314-10727-8j6dbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160799/original/image-20170314-10727-8j6dbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160799/original/image-20170314-10727-8j6dbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160799/original/image-20170314-10727-8j6dbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160799/original/image-20170314-10727-8j6dbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160799/original/image-20170314-10727-8j6dbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Worshipers pray with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, seen at center and on screen, at The Response, a daylong prayer and fast rally on Aug. 6, 2011, at Reliant Stadium in Houston.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Pat Sullivan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Between 1970 to 2010, the number of regular attenders of U.S. Protestant churches as a whole shrank by an average of .05% per year. At the same time, independent Charismatic churches, a category in which INC groups reside, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=O9c-DgAAQBAJ&q=Neo-Charismatic#v=snippet&q=Table%201.2&f=false">grew in attendance by an average of 3.24% per year</a>. According to the <a href="https://www.worldchristiandatabase.org/">World Christian Database</a> there are over 36 million people attending U.S. independent Charismatic churches – that is, those not affiliated with denominations. </p>
<p>INC beliefs are different from those of most traditional Christian groups, including those affiliated with official Pentecostal denominations. INC promotes a form of Christian nationalism the primary goal of which is not to build congregations or to convert individuals, but to bring heaven or God’s intended perfect society to Earth by placing “kingdom-minded people” in powerful positions at the top of all sectors of society, the so-called “seven mountains of culture” comprising government, business, family, religion, media, education and arts/entertainment. </p>
<p>One INC leader we interviewed in 2015 explained, “If Christians permeate each mountain and rise to the top of all seven mountains … society would have biblical morality, people would live in harmony, there would be peace and not war, there would be no poverty.” <a href="http://elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=17420">They see Trump</a> as fulfilling God’s plan to place “kingdom-minded” leaders in top government positions, including Cabinet members and Supreme Court appointments.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Trump as God’s chosen president</h2>
<p>Many of those referred to as prophets in INC Christianity predicted another <a href="https://religionunplugged.com/news/2020/11/16/the-charismatic-christians-prophesying-trumps-victory-and-not-backing-down">Trump victory</a> in 2020. After his Nov. 3 loss, many we have studied have not recanted their prophecies, and have adopted Trump’s conspiratorial rhetoric that the <a href="https://lancewallnau.com/">election was fraudulent</a>. Many believe that the demonic forces that have stolen the election <a href="https://www.givehim15.com/post/december-1-2020">can still be defeated through prayer</a>. </p>
<p>For INC Christianity’s “prophets,” Trump is God’s chosen candidate to advance the kingdom of God in America, so any other candidate, no matter what the vote totals show, is illegitimate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brad Christerson received funding from John Templeton Foundation to conduct this research.</span></em></p>A scholar of religion explains a growing Christian movement that believes Trump was part of God’s plan to bring heaven to Earth.Brad Christerson, Professor of Sociology, Biola UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1440422020-08-18T12:16:45Z2020-08-18T12:16:45ZHagia Sophia has been converted back into a mosque, but the veiling of its figural icons is not a Muslim tradition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352815/original/file-20200813-24-tugb2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=154%2C73%2C4765%2C3172&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People pray inside the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, with sail-like drapes covering mosaic figures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Turkey-Hagia-Sophia/2655787d5c544c30ae1e979303b39098/3/0">AP Photo/Yasin Akgul</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ever since the reversion of Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, the Muslim call to prayer has been resounding from its minarets.</p>
<p>Originally built as a Christian Orthodox church and serving that purpose for centuries, Hagia Sophia was transformed into a mosque by the Ottomans upon their conquest of Constantinople in 1453. </p>
<p>In 1934, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hagia-sophia-a-shifting-symbol-in-turkey-once-again-opens-up-to-islamic-prayers-11595585919">it was declared a museum</a> by the secularist Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. </p>
<p>As of June 24 of this year, Hagia Sophia’s icons of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ are covered by fabric curtains as the edifice yet again changes functions.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o_e42l4d0Uk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/ibrahim-kalin-acikladi-ayasofyadaki-ikonlar-nasil-kapatilacak-41568112">Turkish officials have stated</a> that the veiling of the images, especially the <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/medieval-europe-islamic-world/v/hagia-sophia-apse">interior mosaics</a>, is necessary to transform the interior into a Muslim prayer space.</p>
<p>As historians of <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/histart/people/faculty/paroma.html">Byzantine</a> and <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/histart/people/faculty/cjgruber.html">Islamic</a> art, we argue that in their rush to reassert the monument’s Islamic past, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his associates have inadvertently – and superficially – emulated certain Orthodox Christian practices. </p>
<p>Images of Mary and Christ were often ritually veiled and unveiled in Byzantium, while later Ottoman Muslim rulers did not engage in such practices. </p>
<h2>Images of Mary and Jesus in Islam</h2>
<p>When Sultan Mehmed II, known as the “Conqueror” or Fatih, took over Constantinople, he headed straight to Hagia Sophia, declared it a mosque and ordered it protected in perpetuity. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352997/original/file-20200814-14-yb4gfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352997/original/file-20200814-14-yb4gfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352997/original/file-20200814-14-yb4gfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352997/original/file-20200814-14-yb4gfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352997/original/file-20200814-14-yb4gfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352997/original/file-20200814-14-yb4gfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352997/original/file-20200814-14-yb4gfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352997/original/file-20200814-14-yb4gfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mosaic of the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus in Hagia Sophia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apse_mosaic_Hagia_Sophia_Virgin_and_Child.jpg">Myrabella</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He did not order the ninth-century mosaic of Mary and Christ in the interior removed or covered. Instead, Ottoman historians tell us that <a href="https://henrymatthews.com/hagia-sophia/">he stood in awe</a>, feeling that the eyes of the Christ child followed him as he moved about the structure.</p>
<p>Although images of humans are almost never found in mosque architecture, the depictions of Mary and Jesus <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hagia-sophia-a-shifting-symbol-in-turkey-once-again-opens-up-to-islamic-prayers-11595585919">remained uncovered</a> in the mosque of Hagia Sophia until 1739. At that time, the mosaic was plastered over. The plaster was later removed during the building’s 1934 conversion into a museum.</p>
<p>The centuries-long display may have been <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/what-would-muslim-want-portrait-christ-758008">a gesture</a> in appreciation of the Prophet Muhammad, who is said to have preserved an icon of the Virgin and Christ when he destroyed the pagan statues at the Kaaba, Islam’s holy sanctuary, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>In this and other cases, Muslim rulers clearly understood <a href="https://www.academia.edu/42914508/Idols_and_Figural_Images_in_Islam_A_Brief_Dive_into_a_Perennial_Debate">that religious figures can be used for devotional purposes</a> without necessarily being idolatrous. This nuance <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/how-ban-images-muhammad-came-be-300491">has been lost</a> as of late in the more recent debates surrounding representations of the Prophet Muhammad.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352802/original/file-20200813-20-3mwv5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352802/original/file-20200813-20-3mwv5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352802/original/file-20200813-20-3mwv5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352802/original/file-20200813-20-3mwv5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352802/original/file-20200813-20-3mwv5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352802/original/file-20200813-20-3mwv5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352802/original/file-20200813-20-3mwv5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352802/original/file-20200813-20-3mwv5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">European print of the Virgin Mary and Christ Infant included in an Ottoman album around 1600.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451972">The Metropolitan Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From the medieval period onward, Mary and Christ are in fact <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/what-would-muslim-want-portrait-christ-758008">a recurring motif in Islamic art</a>. They are depicted in <a href="https://www.academia.edu/33184072/The_Freer_Canteen_Reconsidered_pdf">metalwork</a>, on <a href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/30576/beaker/">glassware</a> and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36857348/Mughal_Occidentalism_Artistic_Encounters_Between_Europe_and_Asia_at_the_Courts_of_India_1580_1630">book paintings</a>. </p>
<p>European prints of the mother-and-child pair <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691189154/the-album-of-the-world-emperor">were also collected into albums</a> by the Ottoman elites of Constantinople in the 17th century. Not shunned or destroyed, these images were sought after, safeguarded and even <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451972?searchField=All&amp;sortBy=Relevance&amp;what=Albums&amp;ft=Bellini+album&amp;offset=0&amp;rpp=20&amp;pos=8">embellished with colorful paints</a>.</p>
<h2>Veiling icons in Christianity</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353212/original/file-20200817-24-7f5t8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353212/original/file-20200817-24-7f5t8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353212/original/file-20200817-24-7f5t8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353212/original/file-20200817-24-7f5t8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353212/original/file-20200817-24-7f5t8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353212/original/file-20200817-24-7f5t8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353212/original/file-20200817-24-7f5t8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Byzantine-era casket. On the lid is a composition showing Christ enthroned in majesty, flanked by the Virgin Mary, archangels and Apostles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464238">The Metropolitan Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the history of Christianity, covering images, and revealing them at significant moments, <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36610230/ArcA_ArcArum_Nested_Boxes_aNd_the_dyNamics_of_sacred_experieNce_ArcA_ArcArum_cajas_aNidadas_y_la_diN%C3%A1mica_de_la_experieNcia_sagrada">often testified to their power</a>. The wrapping, encasing, framing and veiling of the most precious images and objects signaled and guaranteed their divine qualities. </p>
<p>Thus relics were stored in <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464238">containers</a> and icons strategically <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1988-0411-1">enshrouded</a>. Sometimes, paintings of Mary and Christ in medieval Western European manuscripts were screened by <a href="http://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/55/158726">veils sewn onto folio pages</a>.</p>
<p>Lifting these cloth “shields” enabled viewers a full visual and tactile experience of the divine depiction <a href="https://www.academia.edu/6433354/_Raising_the_Curtain_on_the_Use_of_Textiles_in_Manuscripts_">beneath</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352804/original/file-20200813-14-sdjr1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352804/original/file-20200813-14-sdjr1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352804/original/file-20200813-14-sdjr1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352804/original/file-20200813-14-sdjr1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352804/original/file-20200813-14-sdjr1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352804/original/file-20200813-14-sdjr1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352804/original/file-20200813-14-sdjr1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352804/original/file-20200813-14-sdjr1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A medieval icon depicting a painted image of of the Virgin Mary and Christ Infant flanked by fabric veils.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1988-0411-1">The British Museum</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Virgin Mary, or Theotokos, as she was known in Byzantium, is closely associated with veils. The “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/2576259/Threads_of_Authority_The_Virgin_Marys_Veil_in_the_Middle_Ages">maphorion</a>,” or the cloth with which she is believed to have covered her head and shoulders, was housed in Constantinople. It was said to be invested with protective powers and believed to ward off enemies. </p>
<h2>A Byzantine miracle</h2>
<p>Turkish officials claim that the curtains covering the mosaics are on an electronic rail system and that they shall be lowered to cover the icons only <a href="https://www.haberler.com/ayasofya-daki-mozaik-ve-freskler-bir-dakikada-13436830-haberi/">during prayer times</a>. </p>
<p>But if the strips of cloth covering the Mary and Christ mosaic are to be raised intermittently and nonmanually between prayers as proposed, then a startling – if purely cursory – coincidence would emerge. </p>
<p>[<em>You’re too busy to read everything. We get it. That’s why we’ve got a weekly newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybusy">Sign up for good Sunday reading.</a> ]</p>
<p>It would resemble somewhat a well-known 11th-century Christian miracle in Constantinople. The story goes that <a href="https://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/5584.elizabeth-a-fisher-michael-psellos-on-symeon-the-metaphrast-and-on-the-miracle-at-blachernae">each Friday evening</a>, the veil covering an icon of Mary and Christ would rise by itself after prayers. It would remain lifted until the following day when it fell again – on its own.</p>
<p>The raised veil was interpreted, among other things, <a href="https://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/5584.elizabeth-a-fisher-michael-psellos-on-symeon-the-metaphrast-and-on-the-miracle-at-blachernae">as a sign of the tangible interface</a> between the divine and mortal worlds and, more specifically, as the Virgin Mary’s embrace of her devotees.</p>
<h2>The paradox of the past</h2>
<p>The rich symbolism of the 11th-century miracle and other instances of Orthodox practice is certainly lost in the current strategy of veiling at Hagia Sophia. Ideological struggles over this world heritage structure since 1934 reveal the extent to which the monument serves as a symbol for the staking of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-hagia-sophia-remains-a-potent-symbol-of-spiritual-and-political-authority-143084">political power and religious authority</a> among Christians, Muslims and secularists in Turkey and beyond.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352814/original/file-20200813-24-ci8h5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=64%2C0%2C6010%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352814/original/file-20200813-24-ci8h5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352814/original/file-20200813-24-ci8h5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352814/original/file-20200813-24-ci8h5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352814/original/file-20200813-24-ci8h5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352814/original/file-20200813-24-ci8h5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352814/original/file-20200813-24-ci8h5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The mosaic, left, depicts The Virgin Mary and Jesus in the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia. On the photo on the right, the mosaic is covered with sail-like drapes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Turkey-Hagia-Sophia/e0d5c6f6620341549067f1b7e4dccf01/13/0">AP Photo/Emrah Gurel/Yasin Akgul</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This time around, rather than maintain Hagia Sophia as a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/hagia-sophia-must-stay-monument-coexistence-opinion-1514802">monument of coexistence</a>, the Turkish government’s actions have <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/turkeys-decision-to-turn-hagia-sophia-into-a-mosque-dismays-christians-neighbors-historians-11594419524">sharpened an already tense ideological divide</a> between pious and secular Turks, and between Muslims and Christians worldwide.</p>
<p>But beyond the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/from-reformer-to-new-sultan-erdogans-populist-evolution">political and religious posturing</a>, we argue that Erdoğan and his team have also accidentally, and speciously, brought back the fabric veiling of icons, one of the practices of Byzantine Orthodoxy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In reconverting Hagia Sophia to a mosque, Turkish officials have emphasized veiling of Christian icons to create a Muslim prayer space. Experts explain why the veiling is in fact a Byzantine practice.Christiane Gruber, Professor of Islamic Art, University of MichiganParoma Chatterjee, Associate Professor of History of Art, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1433412020-07-27T12:14:18Z2020-07-27T12:14:18ZWhat are the origins of cathedrals and chapels?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349420/original/file-20200724-29-1mqs934.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=55%2C16%2C3645%2C2447&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mosaic in San Vitale Basilica, Ravenna, Italy</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/byzantine-mosaic-in-san-vitale-basilica-ravenna-royalty-free-image/175522853?adppopup=true">nimu1956/Collection E+ via Getty images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cathedrals and chapels have played vital roles in the development of Christian culture. </p>
<p>As a scholar of the <a href="https://colorado.academia.edu/SamBoyd">Bible, Judaism and Christianity</a>, I have come to learn the historic importance of these structures and the pivotal role they play in the practice of many Christians’ faith.</p>
<h2>Early Christian architecture</h2>
<p>Cathedrals and chapels not only provide a space for worship, but they are also vessels for the display of religious iconography and art.</p>
<p>Until the early fourth century A.D., much of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Early-Christian-Art/Jensen-Ellison/p/book/9781138857223">early Christian art</a> and space for worship occurred in catacombs – subterranean locations where Christians would bury members of their community.</p>
<p>It has traditionally been thought that Christians used such catacombs due to persecutions by the Roman government. However, such persecutions were <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-myth-of-persecution-candida-moss">periodic</a> and not sustained. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/catacombs.html">Other explanations</a> have been offered regarding the regular use of the catacombs as a result.</p>
<p>In any case, such tombs became the repositories of <a href="https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/christian-art-a-very-short-introduction-9780192803283?cc=us&lang=en&">art expressions</a> in the early decades of the religion. </p>
<p>Prominent scenes include depictions of the Bible that highlighted deliverance from death.</p>
<p>Depictions of Jesus of Nazareth appear in these catacombs, but often borrowing from the <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/what-did-jesus-look-like-9780567671493/">likeness</a> of the Greek god Hermes, who functioned as a messenger deity as well as a <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203407639">carrier of souls</a> in the afterlife. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674088801">cross</a> as a widely displayed symbol of Christian faith would become more frequent only after the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-art-of-the-roman-empire-9780198768630?q=elsner&lang=en&cc=us#">fourth century A.D.</a></p>
<h2>Development of cathedrals</h2>
<p>With imperial backing, Christians began to build their places of worship, known as “churches” from the Greek kuriake “belonging to the lord,” above ground.</p>
<p>Such building practices borrowed from two main areas of precursors: ancient temples and places of Roman administration.</p>
<p>Ancient temples across cultures, including the one in Jerusalem, generally were thought of as spaces where the god or goddess <a href="https://secure.aidcvt.com/sbl/ProdDetails.asp?ID=064703P&PG=1&Type=BL&PCS=SBL">lived</a>.</p>
<p>Many ancient and modern Christians believe that Jesus is physically present in communion – the ritual that in some Christian thought involves the actual transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. </p>
<p>As such, cathedrals such as the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-history/ravenna-late-antiquity?format=HB&isbn=9780521836722">Basilica of San Vitale in Italy</a>, constructed in the sixth century A.D., contain mosaics to depict Jesus as actually present in communion. These buildings tap into a widely held <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/6052">religious history</a> that the deity dwells in the holy place.</p>
<p>Many of these ancient, pre-Christian temples, including the Temple in Jerusalem, were oriented from the east to the west. Christian cathedrals for the most part in both the ancient and modern world used <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-the-age-of-constantine/0F0E0815CD834C2A1C0358BE7E00D26F">this east to west axis as well</a>. Some traditions placed communion toward the east – called “oriented” – and others toward the west – called “occidented.” </p>
<p>Notable exceptions occurred, such as in the Rockefeller Chapel at the <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/U/bo19782446.html">University of Chicago</a>, originally a Baptist school, whose chapel is oriented north to south. </p>
<p>The second major source for early Christian churches was <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/christianity-and-roman-society/BDB789E109CBF21099D22C0A7C9243A5">Roman administrative buildings</a>. The very name cathedral means “<a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192802903.001.0001/acref-9780192802903">seat</a>” and in Roman society was referred to the location where governors would adjudicate and oversee their districts. When the pope speaks from his seat of power, he speaks “ex cathedra.”</p>
<p>Roman temples had a different structure, but the <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/296647/christianity-by-diarmaid-macculloch/">Roman basilica</a>, with its resonances of governance and imperial backing, was instead <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300198386/first-thousand-years">chosen</a>, along with the east to west orientation of ancient temples, as the basic design for such cathedrals.</p>
<h2>How chapels came to be</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349408/original/file-20200724-23-5f1dgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349408/original/file-20200724-23-5f1dgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349408/original/file-20200724-23-5f1dgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349408/original/file-20200724-23-5f1dgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349408/original/file-20200724-23-5f1dgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349408/original/file-20200724-23-5f1dgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349408/original/file-20200724-23-5f1dgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349408/original/file-20200724-23-5f1dgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Russian Orthodox Church chapel in Moscow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/russian-orthodox-christian-chapel-news-photo/163134273?adppopup=true">Alexandr Lis/Collections Moment via Getty</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast to the often large and impressive designs of cathedrals, <a href="https://utorontopress.com/us/early-christian-chapels-in-the-west-2">chapels</a> in Christianity represent a smaller scale conception of religious worship.</p>
<p>The term chapel derives from <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/medieval-music-legend-and-the-cult-of-st-martin/E3503AA36CD0F242B14BE2878E8CC4DB">Martin of Tours</a>, a bishop in the early church from France who was wearing a cloak while walking past a poor man. Martin was reminded of Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew that helping the poor was, in effect, to help and worship God. Martin gave the poor man his cloak and the destitute person revealed himself to be Jesus himself.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Pieces of this cloak, having touched Jesus, were thought to hold special significance. As a result, small structures were built to house them. These small structures were known as chapels, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/296647/christianity-by-diarmaid-macculloch/">derived from Latin capella</a> for “little cloak.”</p>
<p>These spaces of worship did not have musical instruments to accompany the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Temple-the-Church-Fathers-and-Early-Western-Chant-1st-Edition/McKinnon/p/book/9780860786887">service</a>. As a result, the word <a href="https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000000091">a capella</a>, meaning “according to the chapel” or “in the chapel style,” reflects the manner of worship in the small church.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143341/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel L. Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Millions step into cathedrals and chapels on a regular basis. The history of these places of worship offers important insights into Christianity.Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1429652020-07-23T12:17:10Z2020-07-23T12:17:10ZOnline Christian pilgrimage: How a virtual tour to Lourdes follows a tradition of innovation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348984/original/file-20200722-20-dazogk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C18%2C3096%2C1881&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People wearing masks and social distancing at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on May 30, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/faithfuls-wearing-protective-facemasks-sit-and-stand-as-news-photo/1216287453?adppopup=true">Laurent Dart/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Catholic Church held what is being <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2020-07/lourdes-to-host-first-online-world-pilgrimage.html">termed as the first online pilgrimage</a> to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. Earlier this spring, for the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisobrien/2020/07/16/lourdes-holds-first-online-pilgrimage-as-city-fights-to-save-religious-tourism-business/#2f2d5baa1807">first time in its 162-year existence</a> the shrine was closed as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.</p>
<p>This online pilgrimage included many elements of the actual journey such as <a href="https://lourdesvolunteers.org/what-is-a-virtual-pilgrimage/">traditional prayers and communion</a>, but recreated for a virtual experience. Prayers and services were offered in both English and Spanish. Participants were shown scenes of the healing waters, taken on a virtual tour of the cave and heard music that is part of the normal, in-person experience. </p>
<p>As a scholar of the <a href="https://colorado.academia.edu/SamBoyd">Bible, Judaism and Christianity</a>, I know the importance of pilgrimages. But rituals have often been adapted in the face of difficult circumstances.</p>
<h2>The pilgrimage of Lourdes</h2>
<p>In 1858, 14-year old <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bernadette-of-lourdes-9781441175779/">Bernadette Soubirous</a>, the oldest of nine children born to a local miller and laundrywoman in southwestern France, claimed to have had a series of visitations of an apparition of a woman in a cave in Lourdes. </p>
<p>Four years later, in 1862, local Catholic authorities confirmed that the visions were of the Virgin Mary. The confirmation process was based on both interviews with Soubirous as well as <a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190867355.001.0001/oso-9780190867355">through the investigation of events</a> at the grotto that were deemed miraculous. </p>
<p><a href="https://cornellup.degruyter.com/view/title/551790?language=en">Ever since</a>, the site has been a pivotal place for pilgrimage rites, particularly on July 16, commemorating the last visitation of Mary to Soubirous. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Some of these rites involve immersion in, or drinking from, waters in Lourdes, which are believed to hold healing powers. In 1879, a woman from the United States named <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300074994/material-christianity">Mary Hayes</a>, who suffered from severe headaches, wrote a letter to Father Alexis Granger about the healing powers of the water. </p>
<p>Granger was originally from France but at that time was the pastor of the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame. He had given Hayes some of the water from Lourdes to help with her ailments. Hayes reported that the healing waters of Lourdes had a restorative effect, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300074994/material-christianity">stating</a> that “I have more faith in” the waters “than in all the doctors of the world.”</p>
<p>As rumors of healing miracles at the pools of the grotto in Lourdes became more numerous in the 19th century, the pilgrimages every July to commemorate the appearance of Mary to Soubirous became <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/lourdes-9780141889900">much more important</a> in Catholic religious practice.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348932/original/file-20200722-24-n9n551.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348932/original/file-20200722-24-n9n551.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348932/original/file-20200722-24-n9n551.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348932/original/file-20200722-24-n9n551.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348932/original/file-20200722-24-n9n551.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348932/original/file-20200722-24-n9n551.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348932/original/file-20200722-24-n9n551.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348932/original/file-20200722-24-n9n551.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims filling bottles with spring water flowing from taps installed near the grotto of the Sanctuaries of Lourdes in 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/des-p%C3%A9lerins-remplissent-le-28-ao%C3%BBt-2008-des-gourdes-et-des-news-photo/1163197814?adppopup=true">Eric Cabanis/ AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A place for God’s dwelling</h2>
<p>During a pilgrimage, people <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/pilgrimage-a-very-short-introduction-9780198718222?cc=us&lang=en&">visit a place</a>, often where a significant religious event occurred. According to the Bible, locations where God appeared to humans could become special sites where regular pilgrimages could happen. </p>
<p>For example, the book of <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/deuteronomy-and-the-hermeneutics-of-legal-innovation-9780195112801?cc=us&lang=en&">Deuteronomy</a>, part of the Bible called the Torah and traditionally believed to have been written by Moses, commands ancient Israelites to come three times in a year to the place where God “causes his name to dwell,” thought to be Jerusalem. </p>
<p>The significance of <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/jerusalem-pilgrimage-road-identified/">this pilgrimage</a> clearly played an important role in ancient Israelite religion. Archaeological excavations have revealed ancient routes attesting to journeys of pilgrims to Jerusalem. Parts of the book of the Psalms in the Bible may also have been ancient songs, called “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/psalms/E13E5E08245E35A397A5C217F0FABC70">psalms of ascent</a>,” that pilgrims sung on their routes.</p>
<p>While most translations of the book of Deuteronomy indicate that pilgrims “appear before the Lord,” evidence exists that the original text suggests that pilgrims <a href="https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/article/the-face-of-god-and-the-etiquette-of-eye-contact-visitation-pilgrimage-and-prophetic-vision-in-ancient-israelite-and-early-jewish-imagination-101628094457012799440186?no_cache=1">would actually see God</a>. </p>
<p>Deuteronomy makes it clear that such visitations to the holy site will bring tangible benefits in agricultural produce.</p>
<h2>Spiritual experience</h2>
<p>Despite the mandate in the Bible for pilgrimage, such journeys had limited value in the earliest centuries of Christianity. For many Christians during this time, physical places like Jerusalem were more valuable as <a href="https://brill.com/view/title/55533">spiritual concepts</a> than actual destinations for pilgrims. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/4886/jerusalem-by-karen-armstrong/">Karen Armstrong</a>, author of many books on religion and history, observes that Origen, a third century A.D. Christian scholar, visited Jerusalem and its environs in order to understand where certain events in the Bible occurred.</p>
<p>Such a visit, however, was not a pilgrimage, and, according to Armstrong, Origen “certainly did not expect to get a spiritual experience by visiting a mere geographical location, however august its associations.” </p>
<p>The importance of pilgrimage changed and occupied a more <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/pilgrimage-in-graeco-roman-and-early-christian-antiquity-9780199237913?cc=us&lang=en&">central place</a> in Christianity beginning in the fourth century A.D. when the Roman emperor <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Emperor-Constantine/Pohlsander-Pohlsander/p/book/9780415319386">Constantine</a> converted to Christianity. </p>
<p>His mother Helena visited <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/4886/jerusalem-by-karen-armstrong/">Jerusalem and Israel</a>, following the footsteps of the life, trial and death of Jesus. </p>
<p>It was a general belief in the ancient world that anywhere God or a divine emissary made themselves visible to humans could become a holy space. <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Relics-Shrines-and-Pilgrimages-Sanctity-in-Europe-from-Late-Antiquity/Pazos/p/book/9780367188672">Materials</a> from such divine visitation could become holy relics around which stories of miracles and shrines, objects of pilgrimage destinations, could be constructed. </p>
<p>Martin of Tours, a prominent figure in Christian monasticism in the sixth century A.D., saw a destitute man and, remembering Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew that caring for the poor is like caring for God, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/296647/christianity-by-diarmaid-macculloch/">Martin gave the poor man his cloak</a>. </p>
<p>The destitute man revealed himself to be Jesus himself, and portions of that “little cloak,” or capella in Latin, were housed in small churches. The origins of the word “chapel” was derived from capella – spaces that, at least in some cases, would become destinations for pilgrimages. </p>
<h2>Quarantine and disruptions</h2>
<p>While pilgrimage has a long history, such practice can adapt to changing circumstances.</p>
<p>The Bible, in the Old Testament book of Leviticus chapters 13 and 14, requires that individuals showing evidence of exposure to a highly infectious skin disease be separated from the larger community. </p>
<p>This passage provides the platform for <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/35/9/1071/330421">the belief</a> that quarantine is necessary during the outbreak of an infectious disease. As such, for many priests and pastors these chapters allow a biblical warrant for <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahalothman/coronavirus-churches-easter">innovation</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348933/original/file-20200722-16-1s3u4hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348933/original/file-20200722-16-1s3u4hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348933/original/file-20200722-16-1s3u4hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348933/original/file-20200722-16-1s3u4hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348933/original/file-20200722-16-1s3u4hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348933/original/file-20200722-16-1s3u4hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348933/original/file-20200722-16-1s3u4hi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shop selling consecrated water in the city of Lourdes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/shop-selling-consacrated-water-in-the-city-of-lourdes-news-photo/481682201?adppopup=true">BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://lourdesvolunteers.org/request-lourdes-water/">for many years</a>, the healing waters of Lourdes have been packaged and distributed worldwide for those who can’t go on the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>The pilgrimage undoubtedly remains an important journey for many Christians, even when taken online. It attests to transformations of the ritual in the face of difficult circumstances. In fact, social media estimated that participation was <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/07/july-16-virtual-pilgrimage-to-lourdes-to-affirm-prayer-against-covid-19/">five times</a> greater than normal viewership in a pilgrimage. </p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to many religious activities. But the adaptations to the pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2020 show that adaptation and innovation can play a key role in observing rituals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel L. Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Coronavirus is causing religious communities to rethink ways of expressing their faith. In the spirit of finding innovative ways to continue rituals, the pilgrimage to Lourdes was conducted online.Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1421302020-07-17T12:19:23Z2020-07-17T12:19:23ZThe long history of how Jesus came to resemble a white European<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347971/original/file-20200716-23-118p5j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C2020%2C1694&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Painting depicting transfiguration of Jesus, a story in the New Testament when Jesus becomes radiant upon a mountain.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Transfigurazione_%28Raffaello%29_September_2015-1a.jpg">Artist Raphael /Collections Hallwyl Museum</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Leer en <a href="https://theconversation.com/como-jesus-llego-a-parecerse-a-un-europeo-blanco-143404">español</a></em></p>
<p>The portrayal of Jesus as a white, European man has come under renewed scrutiny during this period of introspection over the legacy of racism in society.</p>
<p>As protesters called for the removal of Confederate statues in the U.S., activist <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/white-jesus-statues-should-torn-down-black-lives-matters-leader-says-1512674">Shaun King</a> went further, suggesting that murals and artwork depicting “white Jesus” should “come down.”</p>
<p>His concerns about the depiction of Christ and how it is used to uphold notions of <a href="https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/66587">white supremacy</a> are not isolated. <a href="https://religionnews.com/2020/06/24/how-jesus-became-white-and-why-its-time-to-cancel-that/">Prominent</a> <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/editorial-why-white-jesus-problem">scholars</a> and the archbishop of Canterbury <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/27/uk/justin-welby-jesus-scli-intl-gbr/index.html">have called to reconsider</a> Jesus’ portrayal as a white man. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://sc.academia.edu/AnnaSwartwoodHouse">European Renaissance art historian</a>, I study the evolving image of Jesus Christ from A.D. 1350 to 1600. Some of the <a href="https://www.uffizi.it/en/search?query%5Bmatching_text%5D=jesus+">best-known depictions of Christ</a>, from Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” to Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel, were produced during this period.</p>
<p>But the all-time most-reproduced image of Jesus comes from another period. It is <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300063424/icons-american-protestantism">Warner Sallman’s light-eyed, light-haired “Head of Christ” from 1940</a>. Sallman, a former commercial artist who created art for advertising campaigns, successfully marketed this picture worldwide.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346421/original/file-20200708-3995-5ulgxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346421/original/file-20200708-3995-5ulgxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346421/original/file-20200708-3995-5ulgxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346421/original/file-20200708-3995-5ulgxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346421/original/file-20200708-3995-5ulgxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346421/original/file-20200708-3995-5ulgxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346421/original/file-20200708-3995-5ulgxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346421/original/file-20200708-3995-5ulgxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sallman’s ‘Head of Christ’</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Through Sallman’s partnerships with two Christian publishing companies, one Protestant and one Catholic, the Head of Christ came to be included on everything from prayer cards to stained glass, faux oil paintings, calendars, hymnals and night lights.</p>
<p>Sallman’s painting culminates a long tradition of white Europeans creating and disseminating pictures of Christ made in their own image.</p>
<h2>In search of the holy face</h2>
<p>The historical Jesus likely had the brown eyes and skin of other <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35120965">first-century Jews from Galilee</a>, a region in biblical Israel. But no one knows exactly what Jesus looked like. There are no known images of Jesus from his lifetime, and while the Old Testament Kings Saul and David are explicitly called <a href="https://biblehub.com/1_samuel/9-2.htm">tall</a> and <a href="https://biblehub.com/1_samuel/16-12.htm">handsome</a> in the Bible, there is little indication of Jesus’ appearance in the Old or New Testaments.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347766/original/file-20200715-23-1x1wxh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347766/original/file-20200715-23-1x1wxh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347766/original/file-20200715-23-1x1wxh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347766/original/file-20200715-23-1x1wxh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347766/original/file-20200715-23-1x1wxh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347766/original/file-20200715-23-1x1wxh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347766/original/file-20200715-23-1x1wxh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Good Shepherd.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Good_Shepherd_Catacomb_of_Priscilla.jpg">Joseph Wilpert</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even these texts are contradictory: The Old Testament prophet Isaiah reads that the coming savior “<a href="https://biblehub.com/isaiah/53-2.htm">had no beauty or majesty</a>,” while the Book of Psalms claims he was “<a href="https://biblehub.com/psalms/45-2.htm">fairer than the children of men</a>,” the word “fair” referring to physical beauty.</p>
<p>The earliest images of Jesus Christ emerged in the first through third centuries A.D., amidst concerns about idolatry. They were less about capturing the actual appearance of Christ than about clarifying his role as a ruler or as a savior. </p>
<p>To clearly indicate these roles, early Christian artists often relied on syncretism, meaning they combined visual formats from other cultures.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Probably the most popular syncretic image is Christ as <a href="https://biblehub.com/john/10-11.htm">the Good Shepherd</a>, a beardless, youthful figure based on pagan representations of Orpheus, Hermes and Apollo. </p>
<p>In other common depictions, Christ wears the toga or other attributes of the emperor. The theologian <a href="https://www.fordham.edu/info/23704/theology_faculty/6211/richard_viladesau">Richard Viladesau</a> argues that the mature bearded Christ, with long hair in the “Syrian” style, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/ebr.jesus">combines characteristics</a> of the Greek god Zeus and the Old Testament figure Samson, among others.</p>
<h2>Christ as self-portraitist</h2>
<p>The first portraits of Christ, in the sense of authoritative likenesses, were believed to be self-portraits: the miraculous “image not made by human hands,” or acheiropoietos. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347767/original/file-20200715-15-1qnwbii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347767/original/file-20200715-15-1qnwbii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347767/original/file-20200715-15-1qnwbii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347767/original/file-20200715-15-1qnwbii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347767/original/file-20200715-15-1qnwbii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=810&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347767/original/file-20200715-15-1qnwbii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=810&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347767/original/file-20200715-15-1qnwbii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=810&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Acheiropoietos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novgorod_School#/media/File:Christos_Acheiropoietos.jpg">Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This belief originated in the seventh century A.D., based on a legend that Christ healed King Abgar of Edessa in modern-day Urfa, Turkey, through a miraculous image of his face, now known as the Mandylion. </p>
<p>A similar legend adopted by Western Christianity between the 11th and 14th centuries recounts how, before his death by crucifixion, Christ left an impression of his face on the veil of Saint Veronica, an image known as the volto santo, or “Holy Face.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347769/original/file-20200715-25-tvk1m9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347769/original/file-20200715-25-tvk1m9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347769/original/file-20200715-25-tvk1m9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347769/original/file-20200715-25-tvk1m9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347769/original/file-20200715-25-tvk1m9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347769/original/file-20200715-25-tvk1m9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347769/original/file-20200715-25-tvk1m9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347769/original/file-20200715-25-tvk1m9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Christ crowned with thorns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435580">Artist Antonello da Messina. The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931, Metropolitan Museum, New York</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These two images, along with other similar relics, have formed the basis of iconic traditions about the “true image” of Christ. </p>
<p>From the perspective of art history, these artifacts reinforced an already standardized image of a bearded Christ with shoulder-length, dark hair. </p>
<p>In the Renaissance, European artists began to combine the icon and the portrait, making Christ in their own likeness. This happened for a variety of reasons, from identifying with the human suffering of Christ to commenting on one’s own creative power.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347979/original/file-20200716-35-hv9mb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347979/original/file-20200716-35-hv9mb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347979/original/file-20200716-35-hv9mb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347979/original/file-20200716-35-hv9mb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347979/original/file-20200716-35-hv9mb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347979/original/file-20200716-35-hv9mb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347979/original/file-20200716-35-hv9mb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347979/original/file-20200716-35-hv9mb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Albrecht Dürer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61547383">Albrecht Dürer/Alte Pinakothek Collections</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 15th-century Sicilian painter Antonello da Messina, for example, painted small pictures of the suffering Christ formatted exactly like his <a href="https://www.palazzomadamatorino.it/it/tag-opere/antonello-da-messina">portraits of regular people</a>, with the subject positioned between a fictive parapet and a plain black background and signed “Antonello da Messina painted me.”</p>
<p>The 16th-century German artist Albrecht Dürer blurred the line between the holy face and his own image in a famous self-portrait of 1500. In this, he posed frontally like an icon, with his beard and luxuriant shoulder-length hair recalling Christ’s. The “AD” monogram could stand equally for “Albrecht Dürer” or “Anno Domini” – “in the year of our Lord.” </p>
<h2>In whose image?</h2>
<p>This phenomenon was not restricted to Europe: There are 16th- and 17th-century pictures of Jesus with, for example, <a href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/30807/triptych-with-mary-and-her-son-archangels-scenes-from-life-of-christ-and-saints">Ethiopian</a> and <a href="https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.312">Indian</a> features.</p>
<p>In Europe, however, the image of a light-skinned European Christ began to influence other parts of the world through European trade and colonization. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347771/original/file-20200715-17-7c88iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347771/original/file-20200715-17-7c88iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347771/original/file-20200715-17-7c88iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347771/original/file-20200715-17-7c88iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347771/original/file-20200715-17-7c88iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347771/original/file-20200715-17-7c88iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347771/original/file-20200715-17-7c88iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347771/original/file-20200715-17-7c88iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Adoration of the Magi.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.getty.edu/museum/images/web/enlarge/00090001.jpg">Artist Andrea Mantegna. The J. Paul Getty Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Italian painter Andrea Mantegna’s “Adoration of the Magi” from A.D. 1505 features three distinct magi, who, according to one <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/535881/the-story-of-the-black-king-among-the-magi/">contemporary tradition</a>, came from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. They present expensive objects of porcelain, agate and brass that would have been prized imports from China and the Persian and Ottoman empires. </p>
<p>But Jesus’ light skin and blues eyes suggest that he is not Middle Eastern but European-born. And the faux-Hebrew script embroidered on Mary’s cuffs and hemline belie a complicated relationship to the Judaism of the Holy Family. </p>
<p>In Mantegna’s Italy, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674240933">anti-Semitic myths</a> were already prevalent among the majority Christian population, with Jewish people often segregated to their own quarters of major cities.</p>
<p>Artists tried to distance Jesus and his parents from their Jewishness. Even seemingly small attributes like <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/650997">pierced ears</a> – earrings were associated with Jewish women, their removal with a conversion to Christianity – could represent a transition toward the Christianity represented by Jesus. </p>
<p>Much later, anti-Semitic forces in Europe including the Nazis would attempt to divorce Jesus totally from his Judaism in favor of an <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691148052/the-aryan-jesus">Aryan stereotype</a>. </p>
<h2>White Jesus abroad</h2>
<p>As Europeans colonized increasingly farther-flung lands, they brought a European Jesus with them. Jesuit missionaries established painting schools that taught new converts Christian art in a European mode.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://explore-art.pem.org/object/asian-export-art/AE85752/detail">small altarpiece made in the school of Giovanni Niccolò</a>, the Italian Jesuit who founded the “Seminary of Painters” in Kumamoto, Japan, around 1590, combines a traditional Japanese gilt and mother-of-pearl shrine with a painting of a distinctly white, European Madonna and Child.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347772/original/file-20200715-27-vvo3q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347772/original/file-20200715-27-vvo3q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347772/original/file-20200715-27-vvo3q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347772/original/file-20200715-27-vvo3q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347772/original/file-20200715-27-vvo3q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347772/original/file-20200715-27-vvo3q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347772/original/file-20200715-27-vvo3q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347772/original/file-20200715-27-vvo3q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nicolas Correa’s ‘The Mystic Betrothal of Saint Rose of Lima.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicol%C3%A1s_Correa_-_The_Mystic_Betrothal_of_Saint_Rose_of_Lima_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg">Museo Nacional de Arte</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In colonial Latin America – called “New Spain” by European colonists – images of a white Jesus reinforced a <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300109719/casta-painting">caste system</a> where white, Christian Europeans occupied the top tier, while those with darker skin from perceived intermixing with native populations ranked considerably lower. </p>
<p>Artist Nicolas Correa’s 1695 painting of Saint Rose of Lima, the first Catholic saint born in “New Spain,” shows her metaphorical marriage to a blond, light-skinned Christ. </p>
<h2>Legacies of likeness</h2>
<p>Scholar <a href="https://history.sdsu.edu/people/blum">Edward J. Blum</a> and <a href="http://www.paulharvey.com/">Paul Harvey</a> argue that in the centuries after European colonization of the Americas, the image of a white Christ associated him with the logic of empire and could be used to <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469618845/the-color-of-christ/">justify the oppression of Native and African Americans</a>.</p>
<p>In a multiracial but unequal America, there was a disproportionate representation of a white Jesus in the media. It wasn’t only Warner Sallman’s Head of Christ that was depicted widely; a large proportion of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/actors-who-played-jesus-christ/">actors who have played Jesus on television and film</a> have been white with blue eyes. </p>
<p>Pictures of Jesus historically have served many purposes, from symbolically presenting his power to depicting his actual likeness. But <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/arts/design/jesus-christ-image-easter.html">representation matters</a>, and viewers need to understand the complicated history of the images of Christ they consume.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142130/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Swartwood House does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recent protests on racial justice have also questioned the portrayal of Jesus as a white man. An art historian explains how this image appeared and came to be marketed worldwide.Anna Swartwood House, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1397422020-06-04T12:29:58Z2020-06-04T12:29:58ZA justification for unrest? Look no further than the Bible and the Founding Fathers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339630/original/file-20200603-130907-2rqi1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C4985%2C3315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters smash the window of a Chase bank during protests in Oakland</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Minneapolis-Police-Death-Oakland/9eaec834610441e0967161851fb4ac82/109/0">AP Photo/Philip Pacheco</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The civil unrest seen across the United States following the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html">killing of George Floyd</a> brings to the fore the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous observation that “a riot is the language of the unheard.”</p>
<p>Taken from his 1968 speech “<a href="https://www.crmvet.org/docs/otheram.htm">The Other America</a>,” King condemned the act of rioting, but at the same time challenged audiences to consider what such actions say about the experience of those marginalized in society. </p>
<p>“Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention,” King said.</p>
<p>In other words, peace cannot exist without justice. This conviction has deep roots in Christian thought, it can be traced to the authors of the Bible and early Jewish and Christian communities.</p>
<p>More recently, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, said of the current protests that the church aligns “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Washdio/posts/3190915587621323">with those seeking justice</a>.” The comment follow a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/us/politics/trump-st-johns-church-bible.html">controversial visit in which President Trump held a Bible</a> in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church – an act preceded by the <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trumps-use-of-tear-gas-to-break-up-a-protest-undermined-three-core-values-of-american-democracy/">dispersal of a crowd of protesters and priests tending to them with the use of tear gas</a>.</p>
<p>As scholars of <a href="https://experts.colorado.edu/display/fisid_155484">biblical texts</a> and <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/wgst/samira-mehta">religion and culture</a>, we believe that understanding how, often violent, unrest informed both early Christianity and the foundational stories of the United States itself can guide us in this current period of turmoil.</p>
<h2>Israelite injustice</h2>
<p>Deep rooted dissatisfaction with prevailing social injustice and actions against such inequity isn’t new. It would have been a familiar theme to the people who wrote the Bible and it is reflected in the texts themselves.</p>
<p>Unrest lies at the heart, for example, of <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691169545/the-book-of-exodus">the biblical story</a> about the origins of ancient Israel. As recounted in the books of Genesis and Exodus, Abraham’s grandson Jacob travels to Egypt for food in a time of famine. After Jacob’s descendants are made slaves, Moses delivers Israel from bondage and leads them back to the promised land.</p>
<p>Here, the event that sparks <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=p0oNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA254&lpg=PA254&dq=liberation+readings+exodus+womanist&source=bl&ots=xl0JuJyUA4&sig=ACfU3U1kASg8Ya8T8_BV6s6lodkD-4y2jg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiuyJaWsuPpAhVLaM0KHQDxBkQQ6AEwAnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=liberation%20readings%20exodus%20womanist&f=false">liberation</a> is Moses’ witnessing of the oppression of the Israelites. The book of Exodus details how they left Egypt with gold and silver procured in somewhat uncertain circumstances from their Egyptian neighbors. The manner of this acquisition would be a topic of discussion in biblical interpretation for centuries, for fear that it looks like plunder.</p>
<p>However, both ancient Jewish and ancient Christian sources viewed these goods as “fair wages,” in the words of the scholar <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674791510">James Kugel</a> – just repayments for the Israelites’ years of slave labor. </p>
<p><a href="https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/the-oxford-history-of-the-biblical-world-9780195139372?cc=us&lang=en&">Archaeological evidence</a> points to a generally different origin story for the ancient nation of Israel – <a href="https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/6260/biblical-history-and-israels-past.aspx">though one also of social unrest</a>. According to some scholars, the settlement stemmed from the rebellion and regrouping of people who fled the <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691168388/1177-bc">collapse</a> of large, urban areas in the southern Levant, modern-day Israel and Palestine.</p>
<p>The biblical impulse toward social justice appears especially in the prophets of the Old Testament, such as Amos and Isaiah whose call for <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/theology-of-the-book-of-amos/F57E51194681892C163BC6D04D9C5190">justice and equality</a> is a constant theme. It is little wonder, then, that they were cited in the context of the modern-day civil right’s movement. King <a href="http://www.uapress.ua.edu/product/Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Heroism-and-African-Ameri,6022.aspx">cited prophets</a> from the Bible repeatedly in his “I Have a Dream” speech. When he talked of “justice” rolling “down like waters, righteousness like an everflowing stream” and “crooked places” being “made straight,” he is pulling directly from the Books of Amos and Isaiah. </p>
<h2>Early Christian unrest</h2>
<p>The New Testament also attests to experiences of social unrest in <a href="https://www.wjkbooks.com/Products/0664250122/the-new-testament-in-its-social-environment.aspx">early Christianity</a>. </p>
<p>In the Book of Matthew, Jesus is quoted as saying, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” And in confronting money changers in the Temple of Jerusalem, Jesus overturns the tables and whips the money changers for their unjust actions. </p>
<p>To <a href="https://twitter.com/emorydominique/status/1267312921081606144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1267312921081606144&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaldronpool.com%2Fjesus-overturning-tables-is-not-a-licence-to-riot-and-destroy-other-peoples-property%2F">some</a> this might provide justification for the destruction of property. Others, however, <a href="https://caldronpool.com/jesus-overturning-tables-is-not-a-licence-to-riot-and-destroy-other-peoples-property/">observe</a> that Jesus claims that the Temple belongs to “my father’s house” – meaning his family – and as such cannot be taken as justification for destroying someone else’s possessions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339569/original/file-20200603-130923-1ts3v3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C798%2C571&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339569/original/file-20200603-130923-1ts3v3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339569/original/file-20200603-130923-1ts3v3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339569/original/file-20200603-130923-1ts3v3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339569/original/file-20200603-130923-1ts3v3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339569/original/file-20200603-130923-1ts3v3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339569/original/file-20200603-130923-1ts3v3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Caravaggio’s depiction of Christ driving money changers out of the temple.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1610_Cecco_del_Caravaggio_Christ_expulses_money_changers_anagoria.JPG">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is clear from many passages that the religious movement had a primary concern to <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/medicine-and-health-care-early-christianity">care</a> for the <a href="http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/loving-the-poor-saving-the-rich/335440">oppressed</a> and that in that context, unrest can sometimes be justified.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, some parts of the Bible have been used to justify the quelling of social unrest. Jeff Sessions, former attorney general of the United States, recently appealed to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/06/romans-13/562916/">Romans 13</a> when claiming that enforcement of strict immigration reform was the rule of law: “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”</p>
<p>Biblical scholars dispute this interpretation, noting that the <a href="https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/articles/apostle-and-ag">word “law” appears only once</a> in Romans 13, when Paul states that “love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”</p>
<h2>Civil religion and unrest</h2>
<p>Biblical passages have been used by American politicians for as long as there has been a United States.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.si.edu/object/siris_sil_1008690">historian James Byrd has argued</a>, the American revolutionaries claimed the apostle Paul gave Christians the license to resist tyrants using violent means. </p>
<p>In addition to drawing on the Bible, the Founding Fathers also produced a new sacred canon to justify unrest in the event of injustice – founding stories referred to by scholars as “civil religion.”</p>
<p>Think, for instance, of the Boston Tea Party dumping tea into the harbor in a protest against an unjust tax. The national narrative sees this as heroic.</p>
<p>The fact that injustice requires action is similarly supported by the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript">Declaration of Independence</a>. It frames the relationship between Britain and the colonies as one of “repeated injuries and usurpations” which the colonists have tried to solve, only to be “answered only by repeated injury.”</p>
<p>Repeated injustice, then, was grounds for revolution.</p>
<h2>‘Deferred dreams explode’</h2>
<p>Martin Luther King did not call for violence, but said “<a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/when-peace-becomes-obnoxious-sermon-delivered-18-march-1956-dexter-avenue?fbclid=IwAR3EssTK4JuCTo_t2h518fd9AJr3e-9BrFiqEqV34qENcjudsVzjmodkZBU">peace is not merely the absence of this tension, but the presence of justice</a>.” He also stated that if peace meant silence in the face of injustice, then “<a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/when-peace-becomes-obnoxious">I don’t want peace</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339575/original/file-20200603-130934-crhumt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339575/original/file-20200603-130934-crhumt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339575/original/file-20200603-130934-crhumt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339575/original/file-20200603-130934-crhumt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339575/original/file-20200603-130934-crhumt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339575/original/file-20200603-130934-crhumt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339575/original/file-20200603-130934-crhumt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clergy of color lead a march in Minneapolis to protest the killing of George Floyd.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/minneapolis-mn-june-2-clergy-of-color-led-a-silent-clergy-news-photo/1242702156?adppopup=true">David Joles/Star Tribune via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>King did not think that riots were the best approach to take. But he warned against condemning them, <a href="https://www.crmvet.org/docs/otheram.htm">unless society also condemned the conditions that brought riots about</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.c.rasmussen/videos/10222939128729650/UzpfSTEzMjEyODY0NzA6MzA2MDYxMTI5NDk5NDE0OjEwOjA6MTU5MzU4Njc5OTo5MTk1NzU0MDMyNDg0OTIwNzA5/?__tn__=%2CdlCH-R-R&eid=ARCgtVXRKU3JAhJw0PkopNW4ORQ5naMlGI1_e8aobPzxEprO3lFf0sZ-dFbFsGhSxbbAwcCtx_NVv3vb&hc_ref=ARSkRpv8OoJzovMKRwN9KT3q0Up5qhjEbtI5-u9tHG7XjaOQuUitfu_2CMZNmmCUEIo">one pastor in Minneapolis</a> put it, referencing the poet Langston Hughes as she assessed the protests: “Deferred dreams explode.”</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139742/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samira K. Mehta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel L. Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Understanding how unrest informed both early Christianity and the foundational stories of the United States can serve as a guide in this current period of turmoil.Samira Mehta, Assistant Professor of Women and Gender Studies & Jewish Studies, University of Colorado BoulderSamuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1356392020-04-13T12:16:15Z2020-04-13T12:16:15ZAncient texts encouraged hope and endurance when they spoke of end times<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327010/original/file-20200409-187559-xmp2p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C4%2C987%2C608&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 14th-century Last Judgment relief from a facade of Orvieto cathedral in Umbria. Italy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/last-judgement-by-lorenzo-maitani-and-assistants-relief-news-photo/1150944710?adppopup=true">De Agostini via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-pictures-of-new-york-city-empty-streets-2020-3">streets deserted</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hospital-capacity-crosses-tipping-point-in-u-s-coronavirus-hot-spots-11585215006">hospitals full</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6778532/coronavirus-morgues-bodies-deaths/">morgues struggling</a> to cope with the number of bodies, it isn’t surprising that some people are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/opinion/coronavirus-apocalyptic-novels.html">making comparisons</a> with the apocalypse. </p>
<p>The idea of an apocalypse, a time of catastrophic suffering, has existed for thousands of years.</p>
<p>Although things seemed bleak during ancient times of crisis, my <a href="https://kimhaineseitzen.wordpress.com/">research</a> on ancient apocalypticism and its <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300090888/cosmos-chaos-and-world-come">long history</a> suggests that cultivating hope during times of chaos was essential.</p>
<h2>Ancient apocalypticism</h2>
<p>The word apocalypticism comes from the ancient Greek word “apokalypsis,” meaning a “revealing” or a “revelation.” Scholars define <a href="http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/apocalypticism-in-the-bible-and-its-world/336490">apocalypticism</a> as a social and religious movement that sees the world in stark terms, such as dramatic visions that reveal a battle between good and evil and a coming judgment day. </p>
<p>In more general terms, apocalypticism explained the cause of a crisis and how people should respond to it. The future, in most forms of apocalyptic thinking, meant imminent cataclysmic change: a new kingdom, a new world order. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327011/original/file-20200409-92027-1mmc17g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327011/original/file-20200409-92027-1mmc17g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327011/original/file-20200409-92027-1mmc17g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327011/original/file-20200409-92027-1mmc17g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327011/original/file-20200409-92027-1mmc17g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327011/original/file-20200409-92027-1mmc17g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327011/original/file-20200409-92027-1mmc17g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327011/original/file-20200409-92027-1mmc17g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Image of woman sitting on the scarlet beast.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apocalypse_27._The_woman_sitting_on_a_beast._Revelation_17_v_3._Hooghe._Phillip_Medhurst_Collection.jpg">Phillip Medhurst / Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Apocalyptic ideas are an important theme in the Bible. The biblical <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14078.html">Book of Revelation</a>, for example, was written during a time of political upheaval when Christians were being persecuted. </p>
<p>Its dramatic visions included the “woman sitting on a scarlet beast…with seven heads and ten horns.” This vision, which probably alluded to the tyranny of imperial political authorities, was paradoxically a source of inspiration for early Christians, because it gave voice to their suffering. </p>
<p>But long before Revelation was written, apocalyptic thinking took root in ancient Judaism during times of significant political <a href="https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/jesus-9780195124743?cc=us&lang=en&">unrest</a>, violent oppression and social devastation. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300139686/book-daniel">Book of Daniel</a> reflects one such crisis: Parts of this book were written in response to the conquests of Jerusalem by a Seleucid king named Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus desecrated the Jewish sacred temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C. by setting up an altar to the God Zeus within the temple’s precincts. </p>
<p>The book addresses the suffering of the people, it recalls the history of violence and portrays this history with terrifying visions. But it also speaks of a coming judgment day that will be followed by a new kingdom – a kingdom that is everlasting and stands in contrast to the oppression of earlier times. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/311393/the-complete-dead-sea-scrolls-in-english-by-geza-vermes/">Dead Sea Scrolls</a>, dating to the period just after the apocalyptic writings in the Book of Daniel, spoke of impending terrible battles between good and evil.</p>
<p>Much of what scholars know about the Jewish community that wrote and preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls, speaks to a people in the throes of what appeared to be the end times.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/327976/the-historical-figure-of-jesus-by-e-p-sanders/">origins</a> of Christianity lie in early Jewish apocalyptic worldviews: John the Baptist, Jesus, and the apostle Paul all seemed to have apocalyptic worldviews and preached messages about the imminent end times. </p>
<p>With its emphasis on a coming judgment day, one often accompanied by dramatic and destructive transformations, apocalypticism seems pessimistic. It certainly speaks to dire circumstances, as well as to fear and suffering. </p>
<h2>Apocalyptic hope</h2>
<p>But there is an important feature of apocalypticism that is often overlooked and it helps to explain why it continues to resurface throughout <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003958">history</a> and in our own times. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327144/original/file-20200410-63156-1bu18yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327144/original/file-20200410-63156-1bu18yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327144/original/file-20200410-63156-1bu18yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327144/original/file-20200410-63156-1bu18yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327144/original/file-20200410-63156-1bu18yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327144/original/file-20200410-63156-1bu18yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327144/original/file-20200410-63156-1bu18yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327144/original/file-20200410-63156-1bu18yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">St. John the theologian writing the Book of Revelation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.ebyzantinemuseum.gr/?i=bxm.en.exhibit&id=50">Theodoros Poulakis/Byzantine and Christian Virtual Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In powerful and important ways, apocalypticism was about <a href="http://www.paulistpress.com/Products/2242-1/apocalyptic-spirituality.aspx">hope</a>. The ancient Greek word for hope – elpis – illuminates just how closely associated fear and hope were in the ancient world: <a href="https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/2404/theological-dictionary-of-the-new-testament.aspx">Elpis</a> referred to the anticipation or expectation of a good and safe future, but it could also refer to the fear of the unknown.</p>
<p>Apocalypticism cultivated a sense of meaning and encouragement through dire circumstances. It sought to make sense of suffering, and it predicted an end to suffering. In doing so, it gave people hope. Above all, apocalyptic thinking bonded people together in uncertain and challenging times. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800631734/Paul-The-Man-and-the-Myth">Paul</a> wrote that the judgment day will come “like a thief in the night” and he encouraged his followers to have “steadfastness of hope” in the midst of crisis. The <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300144888/revelation">Book of Revelation</a> speaks repeatedly about “patient endurance” and it calls for love and faith during times of persecution and oppression.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-new-oxford-annotated-bible-with-apocrypha-9780190276072?cc=us&lang=en&">Book of Daniel</a> writes poetically of those who “will shine like the brightness of the sky” in the time after the apocalypse. Other apocalyptic texts, such as the <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300140194/old-testament-pseudepigrapha-volume-1">Sibylline Oracles</a>, describe poetically a coming light, a “life without care,” and a time when the “earth will belong equally to all.” </p>
<p>It is this quality of hope and endurance that might be most important for our own time. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327154/original/file-20200410-136931-1cda56e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327154/original/file-20200410-136931-1cda56e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327154/original/file-20200410-136931-1cda56e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327154/original/file-20200410-136931-1cda56e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327154/original/file-20200410-136931-1cda56e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327154/original/file-20200410-136931-1cda56e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327154/original/file-20200410-136931-1cda56e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People watch a firefighter play his trumpet from the top of a ladder for residents cooped up at home, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, offering a sign of hope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-Brazil-One-Good-Thing-Rio-Fi-/325f662011ed4323bd515d9fc111e2da/4/0">AP Photo/Leo Correa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kim Haines-Eitzen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some people are comparing current times with the apocalypse. In ancient texts, apocalyptic messages cultivated endurance and encouragement through dire circumstances.Kim Haines-Eitzen, Professor of Early Christianity, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1290492019-12-20T13:56:10Z2019-12-20T13:56:10ZOlive trees, markets and hikes: how the Palestinian West Bank welcomes tourists at Christmas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307891/original/file-20191219-11924-1o3y7hz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4031%2C3024&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Manger Square with Bethlehem Peace Centre and Christmas tree, December 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dorina Buda</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are often marches and demonstrations in support of Palestine in cities around the world, but for those who want to visit the region, a thriving tourism industry has emerged in recent years. “Solidarity tourists” arrive at all times of year to help improve the lives of ordinary Palestinians, with events like olive tree planting in February and olive harvesting in October organised by local Palestinian initiatives such as the <a href="http://atg.ps/programs/olive-campaigns">Alternative Tourism Group</a> and <a href="https://www.jai-pal.org/en/.">Joint Advocacy Initiative</a> </p>
<p>Given Palestine’s place in what is known as the Holy Land – the reputed birthplace of Jesus Christ – one of the busiest seasons for visiting is during the Christmas period. Despite the region’s troubled history, thousands make the trip each year.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307883/original/file-20191219-11951-1wrs2lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307883/original/file-20191219-11951-1wrs2lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307883/original/file-20191219-11951-1wrs2lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307883/original/file-20191219-11951-1wrs2lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307883/original/file-20191219-11951-1wrs2lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307883/original/file-20191219-11951-1wrs2lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307883/original/file-20191219-11951-1wrs2lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307883/original/file-20191219-11951-1wrs2lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1100&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tourists help pick olives in the Palestinian West Bank.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dorina Buda</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many will take the <a href="https://masaribrahim.ps/">Masar Ibrahim</a> – meaning the path of Abraham – a 330km-long trail running from the north to the south of the Palestinian West Bank. Tourists are encouraged to stay with local families, as the hiking trail passes through more than 50 communities, including villages that are entirely Muslim, entirely Christian or with mixed communities.</p>
<p>Christmas in Palestine is a season for neighbourly relations among the various communities, and a period to tell stories of the ancestors. During the first week of December, most Palestinian towns light a communal Christmas tree, while local bands and choirs perform, and international tourists are encouraged to take part.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/uncovering-the-language-of-the-first-christmas-70686">Uncovering the language of the first Christmas</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Since September 2019, I’ve been researching tourism in the Palestinian West Bank and trying to understand how people celebrate their ancient heritage amid modern tensions and conflict. This is my second Christmas in the region, and on both occasions I’ve had the opportunity to stay with a local family in Beit Sahour town, which is part of the Bethlehem area.</p>
<h2>Peace and goodwill</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307868/original/file-20191219-11896-1uk89ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307868/original/file-20191219-11896-1uk89ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307868/original/file-20191219-11896-1uk89ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307868/original/file-20191219-11896-1uk89ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307868/original/file-20191219-11896-1uk89ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307868/original/file-20191219-11896-1uk89ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307868/original/file-20191219-11896-1uk89ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307868/original/file-20191219-11896-1uk89ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Communities gather to light Christmas trees at the beginning of December.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dorina Buda</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Few visitors realise that three Christmases are actually celebrated in Palestine. The Latin churches, which includes Catholic worshippers, recognise December 25 as Christmas Day. But the Greek Orthodox church, which represents the majority of Christians in Palestine and Israel, observes Christmas according to the old Julian calendar created during the time of Julius Caesar in 45 BC. For them, Christmas Day falls on January 7, while the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem marks Christmas and Epiphany together on January 19.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307869/original/file-20191219-11919-1yonmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307869/original/file-20191219-11919-1yonmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307869/original/file-20191219-11919-1yonmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307869/original/file-20191219-11919-1yonmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307869/original/file-20191219-11919-1yonmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307869/original/file-20191219-11919-1yonmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307869/original/file-20191219-11919-1yonmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307869/original/file-20191219-11919-1yonmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Local Palestinian Family at the Lighting of the Tree in Beit Sahour Market, December 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dorina Buda</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s still warm enough to go outdoors, so most visitors at this time of year will explore the beautiful Palestinian landscape. Hiking in the hills of Battir between Bethlehem and Jerusalem takes tourists through <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1492/">a UNESCO heritage site</a>, while in the north part of the country near Ramallah, <a href="http://rozana.ps/en/?avada_portfolio=birzeit">the hills of Birzeit</a> offer charming views of valleys and hillsides. Christmas markets are also popular and for children, there’s the traditional practice of decorating the al-burbara, a Palestinian dessert, at the Bethlehem Peace Center in celebration of Saint Barbara’s Day on December 4. </p>
<p>Violence flared after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017. According to one hotel manager in Palestine’s West Bank, the cancellation rate for bookings that month was around 80%. Palestine’s tourism industry <a href="https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284421152">seemed to recover in 2018</a>, but the conflict can have a lasting impression that serves to turn away potential tourists. </p>
<p>Local authorities are quick to denounce the risk and insist that Palestine is safe to visit. Anton Salman, the mayor of Bethlehem said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Bethlehem as a tourist destination is a secure and safe place. We are showing to the world with the lighting of the Christmas Tree ceremony that Bethlehem is a safe place … Tourists can visit and they can have the experience together with Bethlehemites, ours is a welcoming, hospitable community.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/spare-a-thought-for-bethlehem-this-christmas-as-politics-and-tourism-collide-88573">Spare a thought for Bethlehem this Christmas as politics and tourism collide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Tour guides also seem optimistic about demand from visitors. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yamenelabed/?hl=en">Yamen Elabed</a> from Beit Sahour has worked as a <a href="https://www.toursinenglish.com/2006/06/yamen-elabed-profile.html">tour guide</a> for the past ten years and said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have not seen such a busy November in a long time. Compared to the same months in 2018, the number of tourists has increased significantly.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I spoke with one tourist from the US who praised the “amazing” hospitality of the local people. Even amid the turmoil and conflict, the friendly welcome of Palestine is an example to the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorina-Maria Buda receives funding from The Dutch Research Council - NWO: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek/Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.</span></em></p>‘Solidarity tourism’ has made Christmas a very busy time of year in Palestine.Dorina-Maria Buda, Professor of Tourism Management, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1261712019-11-05T12:15:39Z2019-11-05T12:15:39ZWhy Joe Biden was denied communion at a church<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299917/original/file-20191101-88399-16i4pa8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at a town hall in Florence, South Carolina. He was denied communion by a priest in South Carolina.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Election-2020-Campaigning-While-Worshipping/10e9e9fbfd7248e1b48b34a49e42f856/1/0">Sarah Blake Morgan</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Former Vice President Joseph Biden, who is a Roman Catholic, recently <a href="https://www.scnow.com/news/local/joe-biden-denied-holy-communion-at-florence-church/article_4dfe451b-e181-5cdb-9da1-feae72795f0c.html">stopped on the campaign trail to attend Sunday Mass</a> at a church in Florence, South Carolina. But the pastor, Robert Morey, <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/biden-denied-communion-mass-during-campaign-stop-south-carolina">refused</a> to give him Communion.</p>
<p>Morey said Biden’s support for legalized abortion contradicts the unity between “God, each other and the church.” </p>
<p><a href="https://divinity.vanderbilt.edu/people/bio/bruce-morrill">As a Catholic theologian</a>, I focus much of my research on the history and current <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/6183/Anamnesis-as-Dangerous-Memory">relationship between worship and ethics</a>. </p>
<p>From its very origins, Christianity has closely associated the administering of communion with ethical behavior. In Roman Catholicism, a congregant must be in a “state of grace” – that is, not aware of any unrepented, unforgiven sins – to share in the sacraments. Confession is necessary before returning to Communion. </p>
<p>Many clergy and lay Catholics, however, may question whether Biden exists in such a sinful state.</p>
<h2>Church rules on communion</h2>
<p>Especially when celebrated on Sunday, the sacrament shows that the church, in its many members, is joined together as one body in union with Christ. Participation in the sacrament of Communion is believed to strengthen the members’ faith and commitment to God, one another and the church’s mission in the world.</p>
<p>Morey’s refusal of Communion to Joe Biden rests on a specific article in the Catholic Church’s <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/cic_index_en.html">Code of Canon Law</a>, which dates from 1983. It stipulates that Holy Communion should not be given to those “who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin.”</p>
<p>This extensive code defines the degrees and types of sins, as well as their penalties. Grave sins include murder, adultery and public renouncement of one’s faith. The seriousness of these misdeeds increases if they’re publicly known, making them “manifest grave sins.”</p>
<p>In 2004 the office of the Vatican that regulates teaching on faith and morals <a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/rcc_poli2.htm">specified</a> that a politician’s “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” constitutes “personal formal cooperation” in grave sin.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299918/original/file-20191101-88378-1aribap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299918/original/file-20191101-88378-1aribap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299918/original/file-20191101-88378-1aribap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299918/original/file-20191101-88378-1aribap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299918/original/file-20191101-88378-1aribap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299918/original/file-20191101-88378-1aribap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299918/original/file-20191101-88378-1aribap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The church allows only those who have not committed a ‘grave sin’ or have been forgiven to receive communion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Egypt/c560e889ab3c4673b336a16f9ea9d672/111/0">AP Photo/Amr Nabil</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The directive <a href="https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/worthiness-to-receive-holy-communion-general-principles-2153">further notes</a>, however, that this disciplinary practice is not “a judgment on the person’s subjective guilt.” The issue, rather, is the “public unworthiness” of receiving Holy Communion in the midst of the assembled community. </p>
<p>To allow the person to receive communion would be a contradiction of the meaning and purpose of a sacrament meant to unify believers in their common faith, according to Catholic law.</p>
<h2>Role of penance</h2>
<p>In the early Christian era, it was common for the bishop of a local church to <a href="https://christiantruth.com/articles/articles-roman-catholicism/penancehistory/">prohibit from communion</a> any member publicly known to have committed a “grave” sin. </p>
<p>The pastor or bishop would lead the person who had committed a “manifest serious sin” through a lengthy process of penance, which could last years. Entry into this “<a href="https://www.filipinocursillosf.org/blogs/history-of-ash-wednesday-the-order-of-penitents">Order of Penitents</a>” would be marked by a religious ceremony for all to see, as would its conclusion.</p>
<p><a href="http://michaeldrout.com/SeafarerProject/Seafarer/penance/PenanNar.html">By the Middle Ages</a>, however, the practice shifted largely to individual, private confession of sins to the parish priest – the sacrament of penance. During confession, priests would help penitents determine the severity of their sins, assign an appropriate act of penance and declare the sins forgiven.</p>
<p>To this day, private confession with a priest in the <a href="http://usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments-and-sacramentals/penance/index.cfm">sacrament of penance</a> remains the normal way to address sins in Roman Catholicism.</p>
<p>Then and now, the church’s stated concern is to guard and build up the faith and morals of the members. Taking the extreme measure of prohibiting a member from communion is believed to benefit the faith of the wider community as well as the repentance of the individual offender.</p>
<p>In dealing with Joe Biden, Morey invoked an article of the Roman Catholic Church’s <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann879-958_en.html">canon law</a>. Canon 915 calls for the pastor to meet with the offending politician to teach him about his error and his prohibition from communion “until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin.” </p>
<p>Morey clearly considered himself to have carried out the directives of this canon. </p>
<p>But the law arguably assumes a context of an individual parishioner dealing with his local pastor. The priest is envisioned taking the person aside, outside of the context of the Mass, for an extended conversation and then following up with regular personal contact. Many American Catholics, like Biden, travel constantly. These Catholics attend Mass and go to Communion outside of their local parish, without any notice and without a pastoral relationship to the priest giving communion.</p>
<p>Other Catholic clergy, in dealing with prominent politicians, <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/apr/15/20040415-114941-5291r/">have interpreted the law differently</a>. In 2004, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had said after his meeting with senator John Kerry, who supported abortion, that people would like to see sanctions. “But I think many of us would not like to use the Eucharist as part of the sanctions,” he said in an interview. </p>
<h2>Beliefs in different denominations</h2>
<p>Other Christian churches vary in assigning gravity to sins, as well as how these are to be handled ritually.</p>
<p>In 2005 the Russian Orthodox Church issued a <a href="https://jordanville.org/files/Articles/On-the-Participation-of-the-Faithful-in-the-Eucharist-Edited.pdf">document</a> encouraging the “faithful” to regularly receive the Holy Communion but stipulating that it might be unacceptable for people in a “state of resentment or anger, or with grave, unconfessed sins or unforgiven offenses.” </p>
<p>But the practice of refusing communion can vary even in Orthodox churches, as the Orthodox theologian <a href="https://www.valpo.edu/academics/about-the-faculty/university-chairs/denysenko/">Nicholas Denysenko</a> has <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0458063X.2019.1559603">noted</a>. </p>
<p>In Protestant churches today, confession of sin generally is part of the opening rites of the Sunday service. Each member reflects silently on their lives and then all recite a prayer of contrition together and receive a prayer of absolution from the minister. Choosing to receive communion later in the service is then up to the individual.</p>
<p>That was not always the case for churches of the <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/renaissance-and-reformation/protestant-reformation/a/an-introduction-to-the-protestant-reformation">Protestant Reformation</a>. As liturgical scholar <a href="https://almanac.logos.com/Annemarie_S._Kidder">Annemarie Kidder</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0458063X.2019.1559606">recounts in her recent journal article</a>, from the 16th century onward, ministers in some of the Protestant traditions would sternly warn unrepentant sinners from partaking of communion. Well into the 19th century, pastors or elders would even visit homes annually to confront or exhort members about their moral conduct.</p>
<h2>Changes in the Catholic Church</h2>
<p>Attitudes about the sin and practices of penance have also changed significantly among American Roman Catholics over recent decades.</p>
<p>In the past, people expected the clergy to instruct them on what to believe and do, even if at times individuals practiced otherwise. Many Catholics, aware of their moral shortcomings but not getting to “regular confession,” rarely received Holy Communion. A good or practicing Catholic was one who <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0458063X.2019.1559615">regularly confessed one’s sins to a priest to attain forgiveness</a>. </p>
<p>But the number of American Catholics who go to confession has declined steeply since the 1960s. <a href="http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2016/08/sacraments-today-updated.html">Current survey data</a> shows nearly three-quarters never go to confession or do so less than once per year. Just 3% say they go to confession monthly, while 12% say they confess several times per year.</p>
<p>American Catholics, across class and ethnic lines, practice what sociologist <a href="https://www.scu.edu/jst/about/people-of-jst/faculty/jerome-p-baggett-phd/">Jerome Baggett</a> <a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326956.001.0001/acprof-9780195326956">describes</a> as a personal, individualist negotiation of tradition. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0458063X.2019.1559614">I have found in my work</a>, the vast majority of today’s Catholics choose to reflect on and feel forgiven of sin in the context of the Sunday Mass. Virtually all Catholics present at Mass join in the communion procession – something unimaginable a century ago.</p>
<p>It is not surprising, therefore, to find that a local pastor’s denying a public Catholic figure like Joe Biden Holy Communion proves newsworthy. Parishioners would largely consider Biden’s decision to participate in the sacrament a personal matter.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.ats.edu/">Vanderbilt University Divinity School is a member of the Association of Theological Schools</a></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce T. Morrill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Joe Biden was denied communion for pro-choice views. Catholics with ‘unforgiven’ sins can’t receive communion. A theologian says many Catholics would question if Biden was indeed in a ‘sinful’ state.Bruce T. Morrill, Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies, Professor of Theological Studies, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1221712019-10-10T12:46:17Z2019-10-10T12:46:17ZPanama celebrates its black Christ, part of protest against colonialism and slavery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295891/original/file-20191007-121075-118s9ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The life-sized wooden statue of the Black Christ in St. Philip Church in Panama.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/9508280@N07/28003438728/in/photolist-JEyYTu-JEyXRu-JEyWH7">Dan Lundberg/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Panama’s “Festival del Cristo Negro,” the festival of the “Black Christ,” is an important religious holiday for local Catholics. It honors a dark, <a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20Pages/alexander-craft-devil.html">life-sized</a> wooden statue of Jesus, “Cristo Negro” – also known as “El Nazaraeno,” or “The Nazarene.” </p>
<p>Throughout the year, pilgrims come to pay homage to this statue of Christ carrying a cross, in its permanent home in Iglesia de San Felipe, a Roman Catholic parish church located in Portobelo, a city along the Caribbean coast of Panama. </p>
<p>But it is on Oct. 21 each year that the major celebration takes place. As many <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KDU30Ae4S4cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=cristo%20neegro&f=false">as 60,000 pilgrims</a> from Portobelo and beyond travel for the festival, in which <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KDU30Ae4S4cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=cristo%20neegro&f=false">80 men with shaved heads</a> carry the black Christ statue on a large float through the streets of the city. </p>
<p>The men use a common Spanish style for solemn parades – three steps forward and two steps backward – as they move through the city streets. The night continues with music, drinking and dancing.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.academia.edu/40560920/Racism_and_the_Mystical_Body_of_Christ">my research</a> on the relationship between Christianity, colonialism and racism, I have discovered that such festivals play a crucial role for historically oppressed peoples. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pm.html">About 9% of Panama’s population</a> claims African descent, many of whom are concentrated in Portobelo’s surrounding province of Colón. Census data from 2010 shows that <a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20Pages/alexander-craft-devil.html">over 21% of Portobelo’s population claim</a> African heritage or black identity. </p>
<p>To Portobelo’s inhabitants, especially those who claim African descent, the festival is more than a religious celebration. It is a form of protest against Spanish colonialism, which brought with it slavery and racism. </p>
<h2>History of the statute</h2>
<p>Portobelo’s black Christ statue is a fascinating artifact of Panama’s colonial history. While there is little certainty as to its origin, <a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20Pages/alexander-craft-devil.html">many scholars believe</a> the statue arrived in Portobelo in the 17th century – a time when <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LdrBUR6jtIYC&pg=PT180&dq=1518+and+1870&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwicqISNyq3kAhVIo1kKHQk1DDUQuwUwAHoECAUQBA#v=onepage&q=1518%20and%201870&f=false">the Spanish</a> dominated Central America and brought in enslaved people from Africa. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296243/original/file-20191009-3880-1bkkcum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296243/original/file-20191009-3880-1bkkcum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296243/original/file-20191009-3880-1bkkcum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296243/original/file-20191009-3880-1bkkcum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296243/original/file-20191009-3880-1bkkcum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296243/original/file-20191009-3880-1bkkcum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296243/original/file-20191009-3880-1bkkcum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cristo Negro.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/adam_jones/11457845555">Adam Jones/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Various <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=cNEcEyZs254C&printsec=frontcover&dq=culture+and+customs+of+panama+soley&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-28SMmNnkAhUGd98KHW2FAwQQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=christo%20negro&f=false">legends</a> circulate in Panama as to how the black Christ got to Portobelo. Some maintain that the statue originated in Spain, others that it was locally made, or that it washed ashore miraculously. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KDU30Ae4S4cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=cristo%20neegro&f=false">of the most common stories</a> maintains that a storm forced a ship from Spain, which was delivering the statue to another city, to dock in Portobelo. Every time the ship attempted to leave, the storms would return. </p>
<p>Eventually, the story goes, the statue was thrown overboard. The ship was then able to depart with clear skies. Later, local fishermen recovered the statue from the sea. </p>
<p>The statue was placed in its current home, Iglesia de San Felipe, in the early 19th century. </p>
<p>Stories of miracles added to its mystique. Among the legends in circulation is one about how prayers to the black Christ <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KDU30Ae4S4cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=cristo%20neegro&f=false">spared the city</a> from a plague ravaging the region in the 18th century. </p>
<h2>Catholicism and African identity</h2>
<p>Since its exact origins are unknown, so are the artistic intention behind the Jesus statue. However the figure’s blackness has made it an object of <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KDU30Ae4S4cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=cristo%20neegro&f=false">particular devotion for locals of African descent</a>. </p>
<p>At the time of the <a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20Pages/alexander-craft-devil.html">arrival of Cristo Negro</a>, the majority of the Portobelo’s population was of African descent. This cultural heritage is significant to the city’s identity and traditions. </p>
<p>The veneration of the statue <a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20Pages/alexander-craft-devil.html">represents</a> one of many ways that the black residents of Portobelo and the surrounding Colón region of Panama have engendered a sense of resistance to racism and slavery. </p>
<p>Each year around the time of Lent, local men and women across Colón – where slavery was particularly widespread – <a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20Pages/alexander-craft-devil.html">dramatize the story of self-liberated black slaves</a> known as the Cimarrones. This reenactment is one of a <a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20Pages/alexander-craft-devil.html">series of celebrations</a>, or “carnivals,” observed around the time of Lent by those who identify with the cultural tradition known colloquially as “Congo.” <a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20Pages/alexander-craft-devil.html">The term Congo</a> was originally used by the Spanish colonists for anyone of African descent. It is now is used for traditions that can be traced back to the Cimarrones. </p>
<p>During the carnival celebration, some local people dress up as the devil, meant to represent Spanish slave masters or complicit priests. Others don the dress of the Cimarrones.</p>
<p>Many of the participants in both the black Christ and carnival celebrations of Panama are Catholics as well. Together they participate to bring to light the Catholic Church’s complex relationship with Spanish colonization and slavery. Many Catholic leaders in the 16th to 18th centuries <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-catholic-enlightenment-9780190232917?cc=us&lang=en&">justified</a> the enslavement of Africans and the colonization of the Americas, or at least did not object to it. </p>
<h2>A revered tradition</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296245/original/file-20191009-3846-18fella.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296245/original/file-20191009-3846-18fella.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296245/original/file-20191009-3846-18fella.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296245/original/file-20191009-3846-18fella.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296245/original/file-20191009-3846-18fella.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296245/original/file-20191009-3846-18fella.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296245/original/file-20191009-3846-18fella.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The different colored robes that are put on the statue of Cristo Negro.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aliarda/4442062650/in/photolist-7LwJt5-dUzZnq-dUA1SW-jBZRDA-dUuodx-dUzZqw-7LwMbh-ij895V-dUA46d-Wbo4bN-dUuiZn-sjCUZk-2EN2Gg-s1nKAV-dUureH-dUupmv-aMKPM-gSp6Z3-h9ZoGP-SgY2CP-dUuiUZ-RetegD-qD1z63-gSoSRb-s3euMx-rNDzmi-dUujzp-dUA1BE-8jehdg-6RrWz9-qG1UaM-qFZdVZ-7uBwBF-oMSwF5-dUA1FA-dUA53s-dUupBn-dUzZJA-dUuppi-dUzXTh-dUunw2-dUuqaP-dUun2X-dUusvZ-pLcGBq-dUuqR8-dUus1v-dUA1fJ-dUzVTJ-dUzXNN">Ali EminovFlickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many people from throughout Panama have <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KDU30Ae4S4cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=cristo%20neegro&f=false">donated robes to clothe the statue</a>. The colors of the robes donned by the statue varies throughout the year. Purple is reserved for the October celebrations, which likely reflects the use of <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04134a.htm">purple in Catholic worship</a> to signify suffering.</p>
<p>These robes draped on Panama’s black Christ are <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KDU30Ae4S4cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=cristo%20neegro&f=false">meant to represent</a> those placed on Jesus when he was mockingly dressed in royal garb by the soldiers torturing him before his crucifixion. </p>
<p>Evoking this scene perhaps serves to remind the viewer of the deeper theological meaning of Jesus’s suffering as it is often understood in Christianity: Although Jesus is the Son of God prophesied to save God’s people from suffering and should thus be treated like royalty, he was tortured and executed as a common criminal. His suffering <a href="https://mobile.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A21-25&version=NIV">is understood</a> to save people from their sins. </p>
<p>Some pilgrims specifically come during the October festival to <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KDU30Ae4S4cC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=cristo%20neegro&f=false">seek forgiveness</a> for any sinful actions. Some wear their own purple robes, the color indicating a sign of their suffering – and, of course, that of the black Christ.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>S. Kyle Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The statue of black Christ has a deep significance for the people of Panama. An object of deep devotion, it also serves as a reminder of colonialism.S. Kyle Johnson, Doctoral Student in Systematic Theology, Boston CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1233162019-09-26T11:22:32Z2019-09-26T11:22:32ZThe history of the cross and its many meanings over the centuries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293888/original/file-20190924-51405-1mrrxu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"> A procession of Christian girls, venerating the Cross, in the village of Qanat Bekish, Lebanon.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mideast-Lebanon-Cross/161bf78b0fd54388a1ebb7ce7f3a9e3d/30/0">AP Photo/Hussein Malla</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the fall, Catholics and some other Christian churches celebrate the <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/the-exaltation-of-the-holy-cross-594">Feast of the Holy Cross</a>. With the feast, Christians commemorate Jesus Christ’s life, especially his salvific death on the cross and his later Resurrection, believing this offers them the promise of forgiveness and eternal life.</p>
<p>The feast has its roots in late antiquity, a time when the cross became an important part of Christian art and worship. The cross, once a shameful form of execution for criminals, has became a predominant symbol of Christ and Christianity.</p>
<p>However, the cross at times has also taken on darker meanings as a symbol of persecution, violence and even racism.</p>
<h2>The early cross</h2>
<p>As a <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=k85JKr1OXcQC&pg=PA297&dq=Joanne+Pierce+veneration&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiR0tGe9OfkAhWToFwKHb9OCAEQ6AEwAHoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=Joanne%20Pierce%20veneration&f=false">scholar of medieval Christian history and worship</a>, I have studied this complicated history.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294165/original/file-20190925-51452-1ikunv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294165/original/file-20190925-51452-1ikunv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294165/original/file-20190925-51452-1ikunv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294165/original/file-20190925-51452-1ikunv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294165/original/file-20190925-51452-1ikunv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294165/original/file-20190925-51452-1ikunv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294165/original/file-20190925-51452-1ikunv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Second century pagan graffito depicting a man worshipping a crucified donkey-headed figure.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A famous piece of early-third century Roman wall art, the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=GfvWWJx9su0C&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&dq=alexamenos+fidelis&source=bl&ots=Vy4j75PPbb&sig=ACfU3U0Ong3Ag1fz7tgukE-ZONA7TUF_Fw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhosKjpsXkAhVSnKwKHSdwCGkQ6AEwEXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=alexamenos%20fidelis&f=false">“Alexamenos graffito,”</a> depicts two human figures, with the head of a donkey, arms stretched out in a T-shaped cross, with the caption “Alexamenos worships his god.” </p>
<p>Christianity was outlawed at the time in the Roman Empire and criticized by some as a religion for fools. The caricature of <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/%7Egrout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/graffito.html">“Alexamenos,”</a> offering prayers to this crucified figure was a way of depicting Christ with a donkey’s head and ridiculing his god. </p>
<p>But for Christians, the cross had deep meaning. They understood Christ’s death on the cross to be “completed” by God’s raising him from the dead three days later. This Resurrection was a sign of Christ’s “victory” over sin and death. </p>
<p>Believers could share in this victory by being baptized, forgiven of past sin and “reborn” into a new life in the Christian community, the church. Christians, then, frequently referred to the Christ’s cross both as the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lf9aDgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=robin+jensen&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUo_P5ldnkAhUEqZ4KHcUxB6gQ6AEwAXoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=wood%20life&f=false">“wood of life”</a> and as a <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=RAxmJtxspQEC&pg=PA83&dq=victorious+cross+christ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVsvnjltnkAhWIuZ4KHfuiDKsQ6AEwCHoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=victorious%20cross%20christ&f=false">“victorious Cross.”</a> </p>
<h2>The true cross?</h2>
<p>In the early fourth century, Emperor Constantine <a href="https://www.biography.com/political-figure/constantine-i">legalized Christianity</a>. He authorized excavation of some of the holy sites of Christ’s life in what came to be called the “Holy Land.” At the time, it was part of the Roman province of Syria Palestina, bracketed by the Jordan River to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the west and Syria to the north.</p>
<p>By the fifth century, the legend arose that pieces of crosses were <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lf9aDgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=robin+jensen&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUo_P5ldnkAhUEqZ4KHcUxB6gQ6AEwAXoECAAQAg#v=snippet&q=helena&f=false">uncovered by Constantine’s mother</a>, Helena, during these excavations. Believers said a miraculous healing took place when a sick woman was touched with one piece, proof that it was a section of the actual cross of Christ.</p>
<p>Constantine built a large church, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lf9aDgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=robin+jensen&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUo_P5ldnkAhUEqZ4KHcUxB6gQ6AEwAXoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=martyrium&f=false">the Martyrium</a>, over what was assumed to be the location of Jesus’ tomb. The September date of that church’s dedication came to be celebrated as the feast of the “Exaltation of the Cross.” </p>
<p>Helena’s supposed “finding” of the cross itself was given its own feast day in May: the “Invention of the Cross.” Both feasts were <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=tVESLvUcwRUC&pg=PA159&dq=two+feasts+of+the+cross&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwinqMuyn9nkAhWSHTQIHWpaCsgQ6AEwAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=two%20feasts%20of%20the%20cross&f=false">celebrated</a> in Rome by the seventh century.</p>
<p>One section of what was believed to be the true cross was kept and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/byzantine-and-modern-greek-studies/article/lignum-vitae-or-crux-gemmata-the-cross-of-golgotha-in-the-early-byzantine-period/6F9AEC41B1EF37325A9032174B0E6979#">venerated on Good Friday</a> in Jerusalem from the mid-fourth century until its conquest by a Muslim caliph in the seventh century.</p>
<h2>Later representations</h2>
<p>Numerous Christian churches were constructed in the Roman Empire during the fourth and fifth centuries. With imperial financial support, these large buildings were decorated with intricate mosaics depicting figures from the scriptures, especially of Christ and the apostles. </p>
<p>The cross that appears in mosaic is a golden cross adorned with round or square precious gems, a visual representation of the victory over sin and death achieved by Christ’s death. It was called a “crux gemmata,” or “gemmed cross.” </p>
<p>From the sixth century through the early Middle Ages, <a href="https://www.christianiconography.info/crucifixion.html">artistic representations of the Crucifixion</a> became more common. Sometimes Christ was depicted on the cross alone, perhaps <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+23%3A32-55&version=NRSV">between the other two criminals</a> crucified with him. More often, Christ on the cross is surrounded on either side <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+19:24-26&version=NRSV">by the figures of Mary and the apostle, Saint John</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293889/original/file-20190924-51410-np2f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293889/original/file-20190924-51410-np2f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293889/original/file-20190924-51410-np2f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293889/original/file-20190924-51410-np2f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293889/original/file-20190924-51410-np2f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293889/original/file-20190924-51410-np2f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293889/original/file-20190924-51410-np2f8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Early medieval representation of Christ on the cross.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/44529998112">Thomas Quine</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Public veneration of the cross on Good Friday became increasingly common outside of the Holy Land, and this <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=tVESLvUcwRUC&pg=PA120&dq=veneration+cross+rome&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjE1YHFwtnkAhUD-6wKHVOTBWYQ6AEwAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=veneration%20cross%20rome&f=false">ritual</a> was observed in Rome in the eighth century.</p>
<p>During the medieval period, the crucified Christ was commonly portrayed as a serene figure. The representation <a href="https://mavcor.yale.edu/conversations/object-narratives/christ-crucified-gellone-sacramentary">tended to change</a> over the centuries, to Christ as a <a href="https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Grunewald.html">tortured, twisted victim</a>. </p>
<h2>Different meanings</h2>
<p>During the Reformation, Protestant churches rejected the use of the crucifix. In their view, it was a human “invention,” not in frequent use in the primitive church. They claimed the crucifix had become the object of idolatrous Catholic veneration, and used other versions of a plain cross instead. </p>
<p>Differing depictions of the cross expressed deeper conflicts within Western Christianity. </p>
<p>But even before that, the cross was used in a divisive way. During the High Middle Ages, the cross became connected with a <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/Crusades/">series of religious wars</a> waged from Christian Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the grasp of Muslim rulers.</p>
<p>Those who chose to go and fight <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=t2t4_JG1xfIC&pg=PA159&dq=pope+urban+take+the+cross&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijmIf5zdnkAhUGeKwKHd3qBPwQ6AEwAnoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=pope%20urban%20clothing%20the%20cross&f=false">would wear a special garment</a>, marked with a cross, over their daily clothes. They had “taken the cross” and came to be called “Crusaders.” </p>
<p>Of all the Crusades, only the first one in the late 11th century really accomplished its objective. These Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in a bloody battle that <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/fulcher-cde.asp#capture">did not spare women and children</a> in the effort to rid the city of “infidels.” The Crusades also sparked waves of active hostility toward European Jews, resulting in outbreaks of violence against Jewish communities for centuries.</p>
<p>By the 19th century, the term “crusade” came to refer more generally to any kind of struggle for a “righteous” reason, whether religious or secular. In the United States at that time, the term was used to <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zz0vkgAACAAJ&dq=william+lloyd+garrison+crusader&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj-0qzwxefkAhXrmOAKHaGeDHUQ6AEwAHoECAAQAQ">describe a number of religious-social activists</a>. For example, abolitionist newspaper editor William Lloyd Garrison was called a “Crusader” in his political struggle to end the evil of slavery.</p>
<h2>Symbol of pro-white agenda</h2>
<p>Later the cross was also literally taken up by activists demonstrating against social advances. For example, the Ku Klux Klan, as part of their terror campaign, would <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1105/cross-burning">often burn</a> plain wooden crosses at meetings or on the lawns of African Americans, Jews or Catholics.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294213/original/file-20190925-51463-y5h1tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294213/original/file-20190925-51463-y5h1tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294213/original/file-20190925-51463-y5h1tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294213/original/file-20190925-51463-y5h1tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294213/original/file-20190925-51463-y5h1tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294213/original/file-20190925-51463-y5h1tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294213/original/file-20190925-51463-y5h1tu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A monolith listing the names, dates and rationale for the lynching of African Americans stands in front of a photograph of a burning Ku Klux Klan cross on display in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Miss.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mississippi-Bicentennial/c1d0082ab4424f97a6ac51c136f0ca2a/2/0">AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A few decades later, Adolf Hitler’s quest for German expansionism and persecution of Jews, based on his belief in the superiority of the “Aryan race,” <a href="https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/how-why-sanskrit-symbol-become-nazi-swastika-svastika/">came to be crystallized</a> in the sign of the swastika. Originally a <a href="https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=37894&picture=hindu-swastika">religious symbol from India</a>, it had for centuries <a href="https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/wp-content/themes/winchestercathedral/scripts/php/thumb.php?src=https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/edington_lp.jpg&w=210&h=180&zc=1">been used in Christian iconography</a> as one of many artistic expressions of the cross.</p>
<p>[<em>Explore the intersection of faith, politics, arts and culture.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-explore">Sign up for This Week in Religion.</a>]</p>
<p>Even today, the newspaper of the KKK is entitled The Crusader, and various white supremacy groups use forms of the cross as a symbol of their own pro-white agenda on flags, tattoos and clothing. </p>
<p>The Feast of the Holy Cross focuses on the meaning of the cross as a powerful sign of divine love and salvation for early Christians. It is tragic that the cross has also been twisted into a vivid sign of hatred and intolerance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sept. 14 is the the Feast of the Holy Cross celebrated by many Catholics and some other Christians. A religion scholar revisits the history of the cross, how it became a symbol of divine love, but also of violence.Joanne M. Pierce, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1162532019-04-30T22:06:53Z2019-04-30T22:06:53ZThe man who painted Jesus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271613/original/file-20190429-194616-wb4kif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C5%2C1178%2C619&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Warner Sallman painted Jesus in oil after people raved about his black and white sketch. It has been reproduced millions of times. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Warner Sallman/collage by The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>April 30 is the 127th birthday of an artist whose name you probably don’t know, but his work may be the most widely distributed of the 20th century. Despite never leaving Chicago, <a href="https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/warner-sallmans-famous-head-of-christ-11630632.html">Warner Sallman</a> influenced how many Christians the world over, for better or worse, picture Jesus. </p>
<p>Anderson University in Indiana holds <a href="https://www.anderson.edu/galleries/warner-sallman/">Sallman’s collected works</a>. Their collection notes explain how images like Sallman’s may be objects of beauty, historical artefacts, mementos, articles of piety or propaganda in the service of an ideology. The truth is that religious images can serve all these purposes. </p>
<p>They can also sell products.</p>
<p>Reproductions of Sallman’s warm, sympathetic, Nordic and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-did-jesus-really-look-like-52529">very much non-historical</a> “Head of Christ” hang in churches of every sort, and in confessional schools and hospitals on every continent. In his book, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300063424/icons-american-protestantism"><em>Icons of American Protestantism</em></a> David Morgan of Valparaiso University in Indiana tells <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-91/face-thats-everywhere.html">how millions of pocket-sized “Heads of Christ” cards were handed out by the YMCA and Salvation Army during the Second World War and carried to Europe and Asia by U.S. soldiers</a>. </p>
<p>Sallman was a freelance illustrator and a devout member of the Swedish Evangelical Covenant Church. One of Sallman’s 1924 black and white sketches for <a href="https://covenantcompanion.com/"><em>the Covenant Companion</em></a> magazine received such praise he painted it in oils, creating, in 1940, the “Christ” that would go on to sell 500 million copies. That number multiplied exponentially when reproductions started appearing on clocks, lamps, buttons, laminated Bible verses, <a href="http://www.carosta.com/music-boxes/religious-music-boxes.htm">music boxes</a> and night-lights. When the “Head of Christ” became a hit, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/12/arts/the-man-who-rendered-jesus-for-the-age-of-duplication.html">Sallman followed up</a> with “Christ at Heart’s Door,” and “Christ our Pilot.”</p>
<h2>Mass produced kitsch</h2>
<p>Already in the 1930s, there was a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Protestants_and_Pictures.html?id=AcIs5JAUEIYC&redir_esc=y">long tradition of “Caucasian Jesus portraits”</a>
just as there had been, since the mid-18th century, literary “lives of Jesus.” These “lives” tended to portray Christ as representing the best of European (male) culture. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/paul-apostle-of-christ-owes-more-to-coca-cola-than-to-the-bible-94556">'Paul, Apostle of Christ' owes more to Coca-Cola than to the Bible</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Visual images of Jesus painted by Europeans reflected those who painted him; only on rare occasions, such as when Jesus was portrayed as a <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/victorian-art-architecture/pre-raphaelites/v/sir-john-everett-millais-christ-in-the-house-of-his-parents-1849-50">red-headed youth</a>, did historians object. From the time of the ancient Romans, Christians have always “contextualized” Jesus in their own image. </p>
<p>What changed in the 20th century with Sallman, was that <a href="https://www.sheffieldphoenix.com/showbook.asp?bkid=235">Jesus images met American advertising</a> and mass production. Prayer met plastic.</p>
<p>Is Sallman’s portrait a kitsch Jesus? Certainly it wasn’t for the artist. Despite his beard, the “Head of Christ” is anything but <a href="https://twitter.com/hipster_christ">hipster</a> irony. The image is a bit dated now. But for many there is nothing jarring in the high forehead, broad shoulders and long nose. For them this is, simply, what Jesus looks like. </p>
<h2>Masculine portrayal?</h2>
<p>Apparently, Sallman was attempting to create a more masculine Jesus than earlier portrayals. Ironically, <a href="https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/warner-sallmans-famous-head-of-christ-11630632.html">many now find his Jesus effeminate</a> — demonstrating the extent to which definitions of “masculine” are cultural and fluid rather than biological. In Jesus’ own day, and as a Jew in the Roman Empire, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PHLeExc5MUcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=behold+the+man+Conway&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwipy-aqmvbhAhWs5KYKHf7eDJoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=behold%20the%20man%20Conway&f=false">masculinity was as contested</a> then as it is now.</p>
<p>Of course, <a href="https://theconversation.com/jesus-wasnt-white-he-was-a-brown-skinned-middle-eastern-jew-heres-why-that-matters-91230">the historical Jesus was neither Nordic, nor American</a>. The <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/american-visual-culture-9781845202170/">visual mono-culture of the United States</a>, relatively new in Sallman’s time, has since given way to the fractured image-production of the 21st century — the end of a taken-for-granted singular way of seeing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271775/original/file-20190430-136813-8crx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271775/original/file-20190430-136813-8crx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271775/original/file-20190430-136813-8crx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271775/original/file-20190430-136813-8crx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271775/original/file-20190430-136813-8crx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271775/original/file-20190430-136813-8crx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271775/original/file-20190430-136813-8crx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Almuth Lutkenhaus-Lackey’s sculpture – Crucified Woman – in the grounds of Emmanuel College at Victoria University in Toronto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.emmanuel.utoronto.ca/about.htm">Richard C. Choe/Emmanuel College</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The way Christians picture Jesus, whether in two- or three-dimensional art, says much about the way they perceive God. Devout Christian artists portray Jesus as Nigerian, <a href="http://indigenousjesus.blogspot.com/2014/09/indian-christian-art-by-brojoe-joseph.html">South Asian</a>, Korean or <a href="https://thejesusquestion.org/2015/11/13/hehu-karaiti-jesus-christ-of-the-maori/">Indigenous</a>. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-statue-homeless-jesus-1.4855663">Jesus has been sculpted by Canadian Timothy Schmalz as a homeless street person</a> and portrayed by other artists <a href="https://canadianmennonite.org/blogs/susie-guenther-loewen/missing-crucified-woman">as a crucified woman</a> or even as faceless, a mirror to our angst. </p>
<p>Kitsch is in the eye of the beholder, or better, the attitude of the consumer. There are bobble-head Jesuses and <a href="http://www.ifitshipitshere.com/15-bizarre-jesus-stocking-stuffers/">inflatable Jesus pillows</a>. </p>
<p>The staying power of Sallman’s 1940 Nordic “Head of Christ” tells us nothing about the first-century Mediterranean Jewish teacher. But the appeal of Sallman’s painting reveals much about both globalized Americana and popular religious sentiment — the kind of surprising piety that can surface <a href="https://www.capebretonpost.com/living/film-was-inspired-by-vision-of-jesus-at-tim-hortons-18838/">when a “Jesus image” appears</a> at a <a href="https://capebreton.lokol.me/1998-image-of-jesus-appears-at-bras-dor-tim-hortons-video">Tim Hortons in Cape Breton</a>.</p>
<p>Kitsch has always been slippery to define, and religious kitsch especially so. Were he still alive, Sallman would probably insist his paintings were just an aid to faith. They were certainly anti-elitist. </p>
<p>However honest Sallman’s own feelings, it is difficult to distinguish the distribution of his images from the wider ideological program of mid-20th century America. On this anniversary, it’s important to remember how powerfully formative feelings can still attach to a well-marketed image.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Robert Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>April 30 is the birthday of one of the most famous artists you never heard of: Warner Sallman painted the famous “Head of Christ,” circulated in the millions on postcards, portraits and nightlights.Matthew Robert Anderson, Affiliate Professor, Theological Studies, Loyola College for Diversity & Sustainability; Teaching Affiliate, University of Nottingham UK, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1139022019-04-23T10:43:24Z2019-04-23T10:43:24ZWhat Leonardo’s depiction of Virgin Mary and Jesus tells us about his religious beliefs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270063/original/file-20190418-28116-1ed39ai.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/leonardo-da-vinci-the-virgin-of-the-rocks">National Gallery London</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, Italian academic Francesco Caglioti’s <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-little-figures-could-be-leonardo-da-vincis-only-known-sculpture-180971678/">recent claim</a> that a sculpture held at a London museum bears close similarities with the work of the Renaissance genius has opened up a fresh discussion. </p>
<p>The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has been cautious and <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-little-figures-could-be-leonardo-da-vincis-only-known-sculpture-180971678/">said</a>: “A potential attribution to Leonardo da Vinci was first proposed in 1899, so Professor Caglioti’s study opens up the discussion of its authorship afresh.”</p>
<p>It is a <a href="http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O70263/the-virgin-with-the-laughing-statuette-rossellino-antonio/">charming and jovial image</a> of “The Virgin with the Laughing Child,” in which the young Mary appears to be enjoying the magic of motherhood with her son resting comfortably on her lap. Baby Jesus has a joyous expression as he entwines his right hand with his mother’s left. </p>
<p>Whatever the final outcome on this finding, <a href="https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014RfKvAAK/diane-apostoloscappadona">as a scholar of religious art</a>, I would suggest that, beyond the immediate charm of his art creations, Leonardo invites viewers into a religious message. </p>
<p>Leonardo’s Virgin and laughing child expresses both church teachings and what it means to be a human.</p>
<h2>Leonardo: Religion and his art</h2>
<p>Leonardo was one of the greatest artists in history. However, very little is known about his early life and even less so about his religious one.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270053/original/file-20190418-28100-1cs7gjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270053/original/file-20190418-28100-1cs7gjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270053/original/file-20190418-28100-1cs7gjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270053/original/file-20190418-28100-1cs7gjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270053/original/file-20190418-28100-1cs7gjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270053/original/file-20190418-28100-1cs7gjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270053/original/file-20190418-28100-1cs7gjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/411913">The Metropolitan Museum. Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What is known is that he was baptized as an infant in the presence of 10 witnesses and that at the end of his life <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Leonardo-da-Vinci/Walter-Isaacson/9781501139161">he asked for a priest</a> to hear his last confession and administer the Last Rites. He was <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Leonardo-da-Vinci/Walter-Isaacson/9781501139161">given a Catholic funeral</a> and buried in consecrated ground. </p>
<p>Art historian <a href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/17102018-luke-syson-appointed-director-fitzwilliam">Luke Syson</a> has argued that Leonardo had solid knowledge of religious symbolism and contemporary Catholic teachings, which he combined with a humanistic approach to his art’s subjects. </p>
<p>An example is how Leonardo transformed the traditional image of “The Last Supper” into a more human-centered drama. </p>
<p>The traditional emphasis of the Last Supper is on the institution of the Eucharist. It forms the scriptural basis for Communion, in which bread is seen to be a symbol for Jesus’ body and wine as a symbol for his blood. </p>
<p>Leonardo, instead, emphasized the announcement of the betrayal by one of the disciples.</p>
<p>He had a <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/La_biblioteca_perduta.html?id=V9InMQAACAAJ">large collection of religious books</a> in his personal library and is known to have made regular references in his notebooks to religious ideas. </p>
<h2>Leonardo’s drawings as evidence</h2>
<p>In fact, much of what is known about Leonardo has been found through <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Leonardo_da_Vinci_Master_Draftsman">the visual evidence</a> of his drawings, paintings and notebooks. And they reveal another side to him.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270052/original/file-20190418-28084-uiu11c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270052/original/file-20190418-28084-uiu11c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270052/original/file-20190418-28084-uiu11c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270052/original/file-20190418-28084-uiu11c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270052/original/file-20190418-28084-uiu11c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270052/original/file-20190418-28084-uiu11c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270052/original/file-20190418-28084-uiu11c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leonardo’s sketches.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nga.gov/?service=asset&action=show_zoom_window_popup&language=en&asset=61227&location=grid&asset_list=52895,152896,85622,61227&basket_item_id=undefined">National Gallery of Art</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Beyond being an artist, Leonardo’s creativity expanded into the study of science, human anatomy and military armaments. </p>
<p>The pages of his numerous notebooks are filled with anatomical drawings such as his studies of the fetus and the eye. His study of human anatomy was not simply through live models but more significantly through <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Heart_of_Leonardo.html?id=tCSMkQEACAAJ">participation in autopsies</a>. His drawings are used today as illustrations in medical textbooks. </p>
<p>Yet, at the same time, his notebooks are also filled with sketches and drawings of religious figures. His art <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm">reflected his meditations</a> on the Bible and his knowledge of Christian symbolism. These were an <a href="https://www.zonebooks.org/books/66-leonardo-s-incessant-last-supper">important basis</a> for “The Last Supper” and <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/past/leonardo-da-vinci-painter-at-the-court-of-milan">his paintings</a> of the Virgin of the Rocks. </p>
<h2>Picturing the Bible</h2>
<p>Leonardo reinterpreted traditional Christian iconography.</p>
<p>From its earliest days, Christian art employed signs and symbols like flowers, animals and colors to identify individuals and ideas. As the majority of the population at the time was unable to read, Christian art was a <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/dictionary-of-christian-art-9780826410658/">form of visual literacy</a>. It helped teach stories of faith. </p>
<p>In Leonardo’s time, additional books were being written about the Christian faith, especially those given to episodes in the life of Christ and of his mother.</p>
<p>Leonardo’s sculpture expanded the forms that Christian art had taken until then. </p>
<p>One of the most popular themes of Christian art was that of the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Mary_in_Western_Art.html?id=qd7EZAFouDgC">Madonna and Child</a>. Madonna meant “my lady,” which was the title for the Virgin Mary from the Middle Ages.</p>
<p>Typically, the Madonna was presented as an elegantly dressed and beautiful woman with a halo and surrounded by angels. The artist’s emphasis was on identifying her as the regal mother and queen of heaven. </p>
<p>Over the course of his life, Leonardo drew and painted many images of the Madonna. Leonardo <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Mary_in_Western_Art.html?id=qd7EZAFouDgC">emphasized Madonna’s humility</a> by removing her crown and halo and replacing her extravagant costumes with simpler dress.</p>
<p>In 1483, he painted the Virgin of the Rocks. This image illustrated a new doctrine on the <a href="https://www.beliefnet.com/entertainment/movies/the-da-vinci-code/leonardo-his-faith-his-art.aspx?">Immaculate Conception of Mary</a>. This teaching emphasized that with God’s intervention, Mary was conceived without the stain of “original sin” even though she had two human parents. This differed from the belief regarding Mary’s miraculous virginal conception of Jesus. </p>
<p>Typically in images that promoted this teaching, the artist depicted a prayerful Mary dressed in white being elevated by a group of angels. Leonardo painted her as an earthly mother with her young son and his cousin, the young John the Baptist, in a landscape setting. </p>
<p>His paintings of baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary do not simply show “any mother” or “any child.” He both depicted the naturalness of their relationship and touched upon the religious meaning of their identities. He also <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337494">emphasized</a> the emotional intimacy between the two.</p>
<p>He communicated ideas and feelings through their hand gestures, facial features and body poses. </p>
<h2>Both divine and human</h2>
<p>As scholars of cultural history like <a href="https://theology.nd.edu/people/lawrence-cunningham/">Lawrence Cunningham</a> and <a href="https://www.cengage.co.uk/author/john-j-reich/">John Reich</a> have <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Culture_and_Values_A_Survey_of_the_Human.html?id=UTMD_LaZRNgC">noted</a>, Leonardo was interested in a Renaissance worldview which centered around the human person. This interest resulted in not only his works that depicted a natural view of the human body but one that explored the personalities of the individuals he drew and painted.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270057/original/file-20190418-28106-gjht8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270057/original/file-20190418-28106-gjht8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270057/original/file-20190418-28106-gjht8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270057/original/file-20190418-28106-gjht8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270057/original/file-20190418-28106-gjht8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270057/original/file-20190418-28106-gjht8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270057/original/file-20190418-28106-gjht8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Madonna of the Carnation by Leonardo da Vinci.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madonna_of_the_Carnation_Leonardo_da_Vinci.jpg">Alte Pinakothek Art Museum</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Even as the final word is awaited from Victoria and Albert Museum – and it might take many years to resolve – I would agree with the <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/another-new-leonardo-is-a-reason-to-be-cheerful">scholars</a> who support the view that The Virgin with Laughing Child bears Leonardo’s hallmarks.</p>
<p>The mother is dressed, but the child is totally naked. While this naturalism of their human figures is typical of the Renaissance, what I propose is that the presentation of a laughing but naked baby Jesus made visible the complex theological idea of the Incarnation – that God became flesh in Jesus.</p>
<p>For Christians, Christ was the unique son of God who was miraculously human and divine at the same time. He was <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A14&version=KJV">identified</a> in the New Testament as “…the Word was made flesh…” </p>
<p>In all his art, Leonardo made this visible through the joyful demeanor of baby Jesus and the obvious display of his fully human form. Simply put, Leonardo illustrated how Jesus’ humanity came from his mother and his divinity from God.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113902/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diane Apostolos-Cappadona does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Leonardo da Vinci emphasized the naturalness of the relationship of Jesus and Mary in his art, while also inviting viewers into a religious message.Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Haub Director of Catholic Studies, Georgetown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.