WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:08.839 Understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol, 2 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:10.000 an idea. 3 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.519 The population of atheists this country is going through the. 4 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:19.039 Rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I 5 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:23.160 tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth, not because. 6 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.760 I put my hand on a book and made a wish. 7 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:28.839 And working together for a more rational world. 8 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:32.039 Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness. 9 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.719 Truth Usian wisdom will come to you that way. 10 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:43.520 Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the 11 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:52.759 Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews. 12 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.200 It is that time again when I take a speech 13 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.200 that I've been doing on the road and I retire it. 14 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:04.560 I put the video of it on YouTube and the 15 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:09.760 audio here in the podcast. Usually this stuff translates great 16 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.920 to audio, and I think this one is no exception. 17 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:16.480 It's a very listenable speech you're gonna get. I'm gonna 18 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.959 say the majority of it. But as I go back 19 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.280 through what seventeen hundred years of these depictions of Jesus 20 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.239 Christ and all these various contexts, you're gonna hear me 21 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.760 talk about the slides that are on the screen. I 22 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:34.439 described them a little bit. I described them enough for 23 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:36.239 you to be able to take the ride here. But 24 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:39.239 I really think when you're done listening, if you get 25 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:42.280 a chance, click the YouTube version. The link is in 26 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.480 the description box and go back and see all the 27 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:49.560 stuff that you are hearing about on the show this week. 28 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:52.640 I am not going to take a commercial break in 29 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:56.920 this show. I just don't want to interrupt the momentum. 30 00:01:57.280 --> 00:01:59.879 So as much as I know I could use the revenue, 31 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:01.760 I'm not going to take a break. You're going to 32 00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:04.840 hear the whole thing uninterrupted. Thanks to my supporters and 33 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:08.919 patrons and everybody else for helping to fill in that gap. 34 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:12.800 Here we go the audio of my presentation given May 35 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:16.879 the second in Calgary that the We Can Reason Conference. 36 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:21.479 It's called Died and Risen, and that's dye ed died 37 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:25.560 as in dyeing a color, dyed and risen. The strange 38 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:56.159 story of white Jesus. 39 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.159 Imposter syndrome is real. 40 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:01.319 I was going down the US of Speakers and I 41 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:07.240 was like PhD, PhD guy who took thirty years to 42 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:12.879 figure out a Bible donkey couldn't speak Hebrew. But I'm 43 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:15.240 here for what it's worth, and it's an honor to 44 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:17.400 be here now. 45 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:23.080 Those who know my story know where I live. 46 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:27.800 I was born and raised in a state where registered 47 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:32.599 Republicans outnumber Democrats two to one. It's a state with 48 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:37.800 over seven thousand churches, most of them Bible based. It 49 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:41.360 is located within a highly religious section of the United 50 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:46.199 States known as the Bible Belt. Also it's known as 51 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.439 the divorce Belt, the. 52 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:51.400 Teen pregnancy Belt. 53 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:57.560 We have the meth Belt, divorce, and the foreign you 54 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:04.560 Belt have a Yeah, always the Puritan States, and then 55 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:07.680 you hear from like porn Hub. They did a survey 56 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:11.319 and they're like, hey, our biggest usage comes out of and. 57 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:13.000 It's always a red state, isn't it? 58 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:18.560 Or almost always we're certainly the flag waving, Bible banging 59 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:19.720 God and country. 60 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:21.759 We are a Christian nation belt. 61 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:27.920 Tens of millions of Americans have linked God and the government. 62 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:31.759 Political speeches have really become sermons. The White House has 63 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:35.480 been doing prayer theater. You guys been watching that these 64 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.439 big performances where he's sitting in the Oval Office and 65 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.560 all the evangelists are laying hands and anointing him as 66 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:46.360 God's proxy on Earth. Bible rhetoric has really infected the discourse. 67 00:04:46.839 --> 00:04:51.879 False history about our founders and a secular constitution. The 68 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:57.480 false narratives are everywhere. We've seen an entire culture linking 69 00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:01.800 Jesus to a man that they have embraced as a 70 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:05.839 great savior anointed by the Savior. 71 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:07.040 Of course, I'm. 72 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:12.800 Talking about the poster child for presidential pre pubescence, Donald. 73 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:26.439 Tangerine Palpatine right there, our founding fondler. 74 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:36.319 Okay, now, I know, I know that the rest of 75 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:41.040 the world, including Canada, thinks that my country has become 76 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:42.920 just a runaway clown car. 77 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:46.360 I know this. I saw this post a while back. 78 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:49.120 I'm sure you can validate this one from a guy 79 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:52.160 named John who posted online Canada must feel like they 80 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:54.279 live in an apartment above a methline. 81 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:01.120 I'm prepping a. 82 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:05.040 Different speech which gets into the breakdown of the breakdown 83 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.560 of the United States that covers decades and decades. All 84 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.399 the precursors are many of the major precursors that got 85 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:14.560 us to the tragic place we are today. That's a 86 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:18.319 different presentation that I'll probably do and release in the fall. 87 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:23.360 But I want to draw mostly away from politics today 88 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:28.639 for a presentation about the Western perception of Jesus Christ. 89 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.480 Certainly the Bible Belt perception of Jesus Christ, which is 90 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:40.319 something like this. Now, I am not going out on 91 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:45.040 a limb when I say that Oklahoma's and citizens like 92 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:50.240 them profess Jesus all the time while knowing almost nothing 93 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:51.720 about him. 94 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:55.680 Maybe you saw this recent headline from my home state. 95 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:00.959 Oklahoma has recently been ranked fiftieth in education. 96 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:11.120 You know how many states we have in the United States. 97 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:11.839 If you don't count the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Oklahoma, 98 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:13.199 we have fifty states. 99 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.120 We have come in last. 100 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:19.759 Fortunately, our leaders in Oklahoma have been focused on other 101 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:23.600 ways that we can make Oklahoma great again. We just 102 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:28.560 passed House Resolution ten thirteen proclaiming Christ is King. This 103 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.360 is a government proclamation. Well, that ought to do it right. 104 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:40.800 That should fix roads, health care, transportation, schools, public safety, homelessness, 105 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:44.800 the deficit, etc. And this kind of legislation has been 106 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:47.959 making the rounds across the United States. A similar bill 107 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:52.279 was introduced in North Dakota last year. It was rejected, 108 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:56.279 but the proposal was again that the kingship of Jesus 109 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:00.000 Christ would be acknowledged at a government's level. 110 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:05.279 Jesus is on everybody's lips. Trump is worried. 111 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:08.399 He's terrified about the upcoming midterm election, so he's been 112 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:13.199 telling people to support his voter suppression bill in the 113 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:14.120 name of Jesus. 114 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:15.160 For Jesus. 115 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:20.160 But beyond the weaponization of God speak to turn the 116 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:26.720 United States into Gilead. I have noticed something interesting. America 117 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:29.800 needs Jesus. This is a common sentiment. We need some Jesus. 118 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:33.440 I love Jesus and Jesus loves me. What a friend 119 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:41.360 we have in Jesus. Jesus saves Jesus take the wheel. Interestingly, 120 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.039 the son of God and savior Jesus they are invoking 121 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:51.759 is almost always this guy white Jesus. Check out those 122 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:57.480 baby blue eyes. I saw this meme recently, so there 123 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:05.080 I was the only white dude in Jerusalem. Of course, 124 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:08.799 we've seen the artist interpretation of Jesus's brother. Do you 125 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:16.000 know he had a brother, Brian Christ. 126 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:20.559 He turns water into cold Core's light Brian Christ. 127 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:22.879 By the way, have you seen these These are making 128 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.519 the rounds throughout the Bible Belt and elsewhere. 129 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:26.559 It's taken off. 130 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:29.360 People are buying in bulk these tiny, little one and 131 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:30.080 a half inch. 132 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:31.639 Talled Jesus figurines. 133 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:34.000 And the thing is is you just put them in 134 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:37.399 your pockets, your handbag, or wherever, and wherever. 135 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:39.399 You go you leave a little Jesus. I call them 136 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:42.279 a little Jesus. You leave a little Jesus wherever you go. 137 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:45.320 And so people go shopping, they leave one on the shelf, 138 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:47.039 They go to a friend's house, they leave it on 139 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.799 the mantle. Natalie was working, she works in medical, and 140 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:55.200 somebody left one of these on the receptionist desk, and 141 00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:57.320 so she knows my sense of humor, and she called 142 00:09:57.360 --> 00:09:59.960 me and she goes, you want this for your off 143 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.639 And I'm like, hell, yes, I want a little Jesus. 144 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:06.440 So she brought it home. In fact, that's it on 145 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:08.519 the right. I took a little phone photo on my 146 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:09.360 way out the door. 147 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:15.200 But even here, doesn't that skin look suspiciously fair to you? 148 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:21.559 I grew up with this image of Jesus all over 149 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:26.039 the place, Christian schools, my illustrated Bibles in my head. 150 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:29.720 You walk up to the average American Christian and even 151 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:34.840 suggest that a first century Jewish man might not have 152 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:41.279 looked like this guy, what response might we expect? Back 153 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:44.399 in two thousand and one, a British forensic anthropologist and 154 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:47.919 a retired medical examiner, A guy named Richard Nee out 155 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:51.960 of the University of Manchester. He made this image of 156 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:55.720 what he thought Jesus might have looked like. He used 157 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:59.679 as a guide this uncovered male skeleton from the time 158 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:04.799 the region. This was made for a BBC documentary called 159 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:08.039 The Son of God two thousand and one. Now Here 160 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:12.840 this guy looked suspiciously like someone that Ice would throw 161 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:19.320 in the back of a van and deport. Right and 162 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.399 my churches who saw this depiction of Jesus Christ would 163 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.960 be undoubtedly shouting in protest because our mental picture of 164 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:34.039 Jesus was literally a white savior. Now, this is the 165 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:40.279 most all time, most reproduced image of Jesus Christ ever made. 166 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:42.879 It was painted by a guy named Warner Salmon back 167 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:44.399 in nineteen forty. 168 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:46.320 It's called the Head of Christ. 169 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:50.759 Warner Salomon was an artist who mostly drew and painted 170 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:55.559 for commercial ad campaigns. For the better part of a century, 171 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.039 this single image has been printed more than. 172 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:00.679 Half a billion times. 173 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:06.000 It's in illustrated bibles, prayer cards, calendars, murals, hymnals. It's 174 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:09.279 displayed in homes and churches across the United States and 175 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:10.440 all around the world. 176 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:13.720 This is the Jesus You're gonna get when. 177 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:17.879 The guy who depicts him is a white Christian marketing 178 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:23.600 artist out of Chicago. Now, we know that human beings 179 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:28.320 have evolved to respond to things that look like us, 180 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:32.440 and sound like us, and feel like us and validate us. 181 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:36.600 And in a country that has been white centric for 182 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:41.080 most of its history, what ethnicity would we expect our 183 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:42.080 Jesus to be? 184 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:47.200 He would be white Jesus. 185 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:50.200 Now, I don't know if it's true that a grandma 186 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:54.039 displayed a young obi Wan on her mantle thinking it 187 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:56.440 was Jesus. But I really wanted to be true, so 188 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:59.399 I brought this slide. But have you guys seen Kenny 189 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:05.600 Loggin's Jesus? Is Jesus Taken the Highway to the danger 190 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.679 Zone Jesus? So okay, Well, take a look at the 191 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:12.039 depiction on your left. This is a legitimate piece of art. 192 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:15.600 It is called Prince of Peace. It was painted back 193 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:17.919 in two thousand and three by an artist who was 194 00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:20.720 a child eight years old at the time. Her name 195 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:24.480 is Akiana Krumerik. Now, she claimed as a young baby, 196 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:28.679 I say baby eight, that she had visions of heaven. Okay, 197 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:32.600 And she had claimed that after one of these visions, 198 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:35.559 when she came back, she saw Jesus, and so she 199 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.559 took her paint brush, and this is the Jesus that 200 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:42.440 she painted. Now we see maybe a little ethnicity in there, 201 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.399 but overall, this is going to be the type of 202 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:49.600 Christ that would be painted by a young woman not 203 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:54.399 born in the biblical Holy Lands, but in Mount Morris, Illinois. 204 00:13:54.679 --> 00:14:00.320 Right now, if that's her personal God, fine, totally cool 205 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:03.679 with men. 206 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:07.000 I doubt Jesus would be upset. He's supposed to be 207 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:11.080 a personal god. He personalizes himself. I'm good with that. Now. 208 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:13.399 I'm going to back up for just a second. 209 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:19.159 The Gospels themselves never describe Jesus on the Damascus Road. 210 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.559 The Bible says he appeared to Saul as a blinding 211 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.039 white light. If you read about him in the Book 212 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:28.440 of Revelation, he's more of an apocalyptic figure. He's got 213 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:31.759 white hair and eyes of fire. But there are no 214 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:35.279 specific features for Christ ever given in the Bible. If 215 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:38.279 you go back to the Old Testament, supposedly prophesying the 216 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:42.600 arrival of the Messiah in Isaiah, Isaiah fifty three says 217 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:46.759 he wasn't beautiful, he wasn't majestic, wasn't really desirable or 218 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.039 even remarkable in appearance. 219 00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:50.240 He was gonna ordinary. 220 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:56.039 Contrast that to Psalm forty five to two, which says, 221 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:57.519 thou art fairer. 222 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.360 Than the children of men. 223 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:02.039 Now when they the Hebrew word for farer is there 224 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.639 doesn't mean fairer as in whiter of skin, and that 225 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:10.399 context the words yaffa, which translates to become beautiful. 226 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:13.360 So Psalm forty five was not saying Jesus was white. 227 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.159 It was saying that he was a handsome like the 228 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:19.279 handsome bridegroom, and of course his church would be the 229 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:20.200 bride of Christ. 230 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:23.279 Here is one of the first. 231 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:27.559 Ever discovered depictions of Jesus Christ. It is in statue form. 232 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.600 It's dated to about three thirty CE. It was found 233 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.200 in one of the Roman catacombs. And he is the 234 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:38.799 young boy Christ upper teens, maybe twenty, and he's caring 235 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.000 for one of his flock. That's right out of the 236 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.120 New Testament John chapter ten. I am the good shepherd. 237 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:49.120 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 238 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.240 But check out Jesus's face. Does that look like. 239 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:57.039 A brown skinned Middle Eastern Jewish guy or does it 240 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:04.360 look more Caesar like? Now, Roman emperors were treated as gods, 241 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:09.200 especially in its more pagan centric eras before Christianity was 242 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:14.240 more incorporated. But we saw emperor worship and then the 243 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:18.120 melding of emperor worship and the worship of the Christian god. 244 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:22.600 Jesus Constantine considered to be the first Christian emperor. He 245 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:26.320 legalized Christianity in Roman three thirteen. How many people said 246 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.440 that he may have mandated it was the law of 247 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.919 the land, you must be Christian. That is not correct, 248 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:33.759 but it had been stigmatized in the past, and so 249 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:38.720 Constantine he made it acceptable and even promoted it right 250 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:39.960 his own personal faith. 251 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.360 And so we begin to see more of a melding. 252 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:46.519 Of supreme ruler imagery, the supreme ruler on earth in 253 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:48.639 conjunction with the supreme. 254 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:49.919 Ruler from on high. 255 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:53.600 And we see this in other deity figures, other leaders, other. 256 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:54.799 Great and noble men. 257 00:16:54.960 --> 00:17:00.360 Right now, this is a depiction of Constantine's unshaven face 258 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:02.279 next to that good shepherd carving. 259 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:04.839 Do you see any similarities? Because I do. 260 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:07.000 I mean, I might be wrong. I know, it's all 261 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:13.559 subjective Christine kingly power. Neither one of these guys looking 262 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:17.119 like that brown skinned guy from Galilee. 263 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:19.960 Jesus is more Eurocentric. 264 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:24.279 In this depiction, Constantine moved the capital of Rome to 265 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:28.359 Byzantium and he renamed it. He named it after himself, 266 00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:33.200 of course, Constantinople. The Byzantines were a Christian Greek speaking 267 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:37.559 part of the Eastern Roman Empire, which lasted another thousand 268 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:42.200 years after the fall of the Western Empire. A lot 269 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:44.960 of people say that Rome fell when it fell in 270 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:49.359 four seventy sixty e that's the fall of Rome. But actually, no, 271 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:52.079 Rome was more than the Western Empire. It's more than 272 00:17:52.119 --> 00:17:55.279 the city of Rome. The Empire was divided into West 273 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:58.519 and East, and the Eastern Empire survived well into the 274 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:03.559 fifteenth century, and that millennium saw a tremendous amount of 275 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:09.160 marvels and advances in science and engineering, infrastructure, and in 276 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:13.480 art history. So here's where we really start to see 277 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:15.759 depictions of Jesus. 278 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:17.319 Christ made by the Romans. 279 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:23.480 Mosaics of Christ were plastered all over Byzantine churches. More 280 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:27.079 and more Christ was depicted as the slightly older Jesus 281 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:30.039 around the age of thirty, complete with beard, and of 282 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:32.559 course that image would become embedded. 283 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:33.079 Into the culture. 284 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:39.880 It's believed that the beard communicated greatness, great wisdom, great power. 285 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:43.240 It was a credibility enhandser. Of course, we've seen this 286 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:46.799 and other great figures. Marcus Aurelius had the beard. The 287 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:51.200 philosopher Diogenesia traveled to Athens. You know, he'd been given 288 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:55.599 audience by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. This was 289 00:18:56.039 --> 00:19:00.599 considered the look of extraordinary men, and it makes sense 290 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:05.519 that extraordinary gods might have the same look even beyond Christianity. 291 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:07.880 Zeus is the obvious. 292 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.119 One, but I mean, check out some of the other deities. 293 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:13.880 Poseidon had the beard, Odin had the beard, Brahma, the 294 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:17.640 creator god of Hinduism, had the beard. And of course 295 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.160 then with Christianity, we do have to come back to 296 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:29.440 it's god. Yahweh, okay, okay, fine, yahweh. All right, I'll 297 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:33.759 play it straight. Let's pinball back to Jesus. This is 298 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:37.480 a similar Byzantine depiction of Christ. It adds purple to 299 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:40.480 the mixes purple and his hair and purple in his clothing. 300 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:43.960 At that time, emperors were the only ones allowed to 301 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:44.799 wear purple. 302 00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:47.200 It was the color of royalty. 303 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:49.480 The commoners could paint with it, they could use it, 304 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:52.079 but they could not wear it. So it makes sense 305 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:57.599 that Christ, the King of Kings, would incorporate purple. This 306 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:02.279 is a specific type of Jesus depiction in the style 307 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:09.039 called Christ pentacritor, which means almighty. This is the oldest 308 00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:12.759 depiction known of the pentocrator Christ. It's it's Saint Catherine's 309 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.359 monastery at the foot of Mount Sinaid stated back to 310 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:16.519 the sixth century. 311 00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:18.519 And you'll see commonalities. 312 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.000 And now once I point them out, you won't be 313 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:21.920 able to not see them, because they'll be everywhere. But 314 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:24.400 you will see he's got his right hand kind of 315 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:26.319 up with a gesture, and then in the left. 316 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.839 Hand he's holding the Holy Book. Right. This is a 317 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:29.880 common element. 318 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:35.160 Check out the face the right side, his right, our left. 319 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:40.480 His right side is gentler, The countenance is gentler, it's softer. 320 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:47.480 This represents the merciful Jesus. The left side, our right. 321 00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:51.880 His left side represents the sterner Jesus. More of Jesus 322 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:56.039 the judge. The whole vibe was about Jesus the pardoner 323 00:20:56.839 --> 00:20:59.559 or the judge, the forgiver or the condemner. 324 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.880 Both an open hand and a closed fist. 325 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:09.400 Right, and these literal two faces were of course mostly white. 326 00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:14.160 Here's the Christ Pentocrator depicted in the High Sophia Grand 327 00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:17.920 Mosque in Istanbul. It started out as a church in 328 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:22.519 the three hundreds in Byzantine that it became a museum, 329 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:23.880 and now it's a mosque. 330 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:26.000 And you can see, I'll show, I'll zoom out. 331 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:29.559 You can see on his right hour left, he's flanked 332 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:31.359 by the Virgin Mary, and on the other. 333 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:33.079 Side is John the Baptist. 334 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:37.240 Jesus is sitting on a jeweled throne like an emperor. Again, 335 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:39.920 He's got the gesture with one hand, the Holy Book 336 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.920 in the other mercy and or judgment. A few other 337 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:48.359 examples of Christ Pentocrator. This is on the dome of 338 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:52.319 the Church of the Holy Sepuchuur in Jerusalem, still fourth century. 339 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:58.839 This is from the Chapel Palatina in Palermo. This is 340 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:02.440 twelfth century. A bearded Christ with the big halo. He's 341 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:04.160 got the book, he's got the gesture. 342 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:06.400 And I found this interesting. 343 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:10.079 During the Renaissance, it was not uncommon for artists to 344 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:14.599 depict Jesus Christ but insert their own faces sort of 345 00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:18.920 into the mix. They would make a Jesus that resemble them. 346 00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:23.440 This guy is a German Renaissance artist. His name is 347 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:27.759 Albrech Durer. This one dates to about fifteen hundred CE. 348 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:32.119 Now that he have a god complex, that he have 349 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:35.039 a good sense of humor, and he thought this will 350 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:37.079 be awesome, and he makes himself Jesus. 351 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:37.519 I don't know. 352 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:40.039 I don't know, but I mean, you and I are 353 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.519 asking the same question. Do we really think that the 354 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:46.680 New Testament Jesus Christ looked like a twenty eight year 355 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:48.240 old dude out of Nuremberg. 356 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:51.400 I kind of doubt it, right, I kind of doubt it. 357 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:56.359 The Koran has its own Jesus. 358 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:00.640 Muslims say Jesus was a great prophet, not the Son 359 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:03.799 of God, not the Messiah, but he was an important 360 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:09.079 part of the story in the myth of Islam that 361 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:12.920 Jesus was born not in a manger or in a stable, 362 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:16.119 or in a house, but in the desert under a 363 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:20.079 palm tree. You'll notice that Mary in the Muslim depiction 364 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:25.119 has Persian features and clothing. As she offers her breast 365 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:27.480 for food, Jesus offers. 366 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:29.000 Back a pomegranate. 367 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:33.200 Now, in Islam, the pomegranate is one of the fruits 368 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:37.680 of heaven. By the way, the Islamic halo is commonly 369 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:40.519 depicted not as the glowing ring that we're used to, 370 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.200 but the Islamic halo is often depicted as fire, and 371 00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:48.960 you can see that in this depiction. Islam has altered 372 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:53.440 the Jesus story to serve its Islamic story. 373 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:57.720 That's interesting. Here's a Hindu Jesus. 374 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:03.720 This depiction is back to about sixteen hundred from India. 375 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:05.359 You'll see Jesus and Mary. 376 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:08.079 We don't know who the other characters are supposed to be, 377 00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:09.480 but Jesus. 378 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:10.960 And Mary are identifiable. 379 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:14.799 Mary's got the Tillic mark on her forehead, and that 380 00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:18.079 mark is commonly used by Hindus, of course, to represent 381 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:25.240 spiritual enlightenments, meditation, focus, the mind's eye right. Hindus molded 382 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:33.240 the Jesus story into Hinduism. Here is an Asian nativity scene. 383 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:38.039 This was painted in nineteen fifty eight. Asian mother Mary, 384 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:46.839 Asian Joseph, Asian baby Jesus in a bamboo manger. Many 385 00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:51.359 Native Americans have their own version of Jesus Christ. This 386 00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:54.680 was painted by a Francescan Friar a guy named Robert 387 00:24:54.759 --> 00:25:00.240 Lentz in nineteen eighty nine. This is Apache Christ is 388 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:04.880 on display at the Apache Mission in Mescalero, New Mexico, 389 00:25:05.079 --> 00:25:08.440 and there's some beautiful art from the Native American culture 390 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:13.039 representing Jesus. This one's called Lakota Trinity. It was painted 391 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:17.039 by a guy named John Juliana who is a Jesuit priest, 392 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:21.720 and he painted the Trinity. So if you look at 393 00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:23.519 the top and I'll do you give you a close up. 394 00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:26.680 Here that's Yahweh or God the Father. He's got the 395 00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:31.039 big head dress in the middle, the Holy Spirit as 396 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:36.119 represented by a great eagle, and Jesus is on the bottom. 397 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:38.960 But he doesn't look like any Jesus we are used to. 398 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:45.599 He in this depiction is a victorious Sue warrior. And 399 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:48.839 of course throughout the United States and around the world, 400 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:50.720 we have plenty of depictions of an. 401 00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:52.960