A Course Blog for Elon's REL 204: Christian Traditions.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
With so many different representations of Jesus throughout the world, the large and varied amounts of images can be overwhelming and confusing at times. There seem to be new images of Jesus emerging and shifting throughout time and whenever the world undergoes changes, which is very often. Because of this, it seems impossible to have all Christians agree upon a single image to capture Jesus' appearance. My question is, do you think there will ever be one accepted image of Jesus? If you believe that Christians will never be able to recognize the same image of Jesus, do you think this will create a rupture in the faith and disunite Christians? Or is it better to have different Christians identifying with different images? Why?
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At the end of the day, an individual defines Jesus through their relationship with the Church and Christ. An image does not fully cover the complex concept of Jesus, but the individual sect of Christianity defines who He is. But there is no doubt we are influenced by images. These visuals are an attempt to reflect Christ's components in a way that a specific community can understand. Thus, one "Jesus" in one population may differ significantly from another. Time period, culture, race, socio-economic status, etc. all affect the way we interpret Christ's teachings, and therefore his image. Since the image is a reflection of what already exists, various images will not further disunite Christians. I don't think we can all agree on one image of Christ, and I don't think we should. The image is only a spiritual guide, and constructing an estimated, scientific image offers little value.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Blum and Harvey in the Civil Rights and the Coloring of Christ chapter, "I know Jesus probably doesn't look like the picture... It doesn't matter. I thank Mr. Sallman for giving me this image to hang onto" (Blum and Harvey 211). I agree with you that there will never be one concrete image of Jesus. Perhaps this is a result of people hanging onto the images that resonate with them. I think there is absolutely value in this. I loved your point regarding us not needing to agree on one image of Christ. Using the image as a spiritual guide is indeed the purpose of considering his appearance; therefore, in my opinion, worshipping different images of the Christ figure is valid and CAN unite Christians in it's own right.
DeleteGreat question Lily and great reply Jenna. One early 19th century theologian, Friedrich Schlerimacher (I love to say that name), talked about the need for having multiple perspectives on the divine, since all are individual and incomplete. If you bring more people to the table to talk about God then you get a richer, albeit always complete, image. Makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I don't think we will ever agree on one image. I believe that we all grew up with a certain idea of what Jesus looks like, and it's difficult for us to change how we see Christ in our mind. For example, I associate Christ with a certain image, and changing that image (even if my current perceived image of him is wrong), would alter my relationship that I have with Him. I think that if we view Him as something different than what we already knew, then we assume that He is different in general.
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