What’s the Danger of Remaking Jesus in Our Image?

A recent Christianity Today article stirred controversy in the Christian community by describing Jesus as Asian and highlighting artwork that depicted Him as Indian, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese and other Far East Asian ethnicities. 

The irony of this criticism is palpable. For millennia, Jesus has been depicted as an effeminate European man with long hair, fair skin and blue eyes. In most of these pieces, Jesus has been drawn to stand out in appearance from those around him. 

But is this an accurate representation of Jesus? 

What was Jesus’ appearance like? 

Neither the Bible nor history provides us with a detailed description of what Jesus looked like. However, Scripture does give us hints about His general appearance and how He did not look.   

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  Nothing about His appearance made Him stand out from those around Him, nor was there a beauty in His appearance that drew people to Him (Isaiah 53:2). 
• He had a beard (Isaiah 50:6).
• Judas had to identify Jesus with a kiss, which shows that He looked like an average Jewish man of the time (Matthew 26:48). 
• Paul wrote that it was shameful for a man to have long hair (1 Corinthians 11:14). He would have never written these words if His Savior wore long hair. (For more insight on this issue, read “Is It Wrong for a Man to Have Long Hair?”)
• Jesus is often portrayed as thin and frail, but in reality He would have been robust and physically strong, having worked as a carpenter in His early years (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Additionally, He spent much time outside, so His skin would have been tanned, not pasty white. 

So, why would artists have adopted such a wildly inaccurate image of Jesus?

Interestingly, many images of Jesus in Catholic art have features similar to those of the gods of the Greco-Roman pantheon, such as Apollo and Jupiter. Jesus is often portrayed as having long hair, with the sun’s rays and the moon’s halo radiating from Him, supposedly as symbols of His divinity. 

Like many other customs it developed, the Roman Church syncretized many of the images of pagan gods into its artistic conceptions of Jesus, God the Father, Mary and the saints. 

To learn more, read “Where Did the Popular Image of Jesus Come From?”

But, one may ask, what do these inaccurate portrayals of Jesus say about much of Christianity today? 

Do you know the real Jesus?

The erroneous depictions of Christ in art are actually a symptom of a far greater issue. Many can’t identify who Jesus was, much less what He looked like. This problem developed in part because many began to distort Christ’s words and teachings in the latter half of the first century. 

Jesus’ teachings have undergone so much distortion that the modern perception of Jesus held by many is vastly different from the authentic Jesus depicted in the Bible.Indeed, His teachings have undergone so much distortion that the modern perception of Jesus held by many is vastly different from the authentic Jesus depicted in the Bible.

Did Jesus and the apostles predict a time when an illegitimate version of the Messiah would be peddled? Consider the following New Testament warnings:

• “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5).
• “After my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29).
• “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel . . . but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7).
• “Even now many antichrists have come” (1 John 2:18).
• “Certain men have crept in unnoticed . . . who turn the grace of our God into lewdness” (Jude 1:4).

“Destructive heresies” in modern Christianity? 

The work of false teachers over the centuries has resulted in many “destructive heresies” (2 Peter 2:1).  

Consider some of the following “destructive heresies,” which are still widely believed today: 

• Sunday. Most of the Christian world worships on Sunday. However, the Bible nowhere sanctions Sunday as a day of weekly worship or rest. The only day of the week God sanctified is the seventh-day Sabbath (Exodus 20:10). The early Christians worshipped on the Sabbath day (Acts 13:44; 17:2; 18:4). (To learn more, read “Was the Sabbath Changed to Sunday?”)
• Easter. Today, many celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. However, the early Christians kept the Passover to commemorate Jesus’ death (Matthew 26:2) because He instructed that they observe the Passover in “remembrance” of Him (Luke 22:15-20). Paul reminded the Corinthians, a primarily gentile congregation, to keep the Passover “on the same night in which He was betrayed” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25). The Catholic Church persecuted early Christians who kept the Passover, calling them Quartodecimans (Latin for “14thers”) and Judaizers. (To learn more, read “5 Major Differences Between Passover and Easter.”)
• Immortality of the soul. Most believe that we have an immortal soul that goes to heaven or hell at death. However, the Bible teaches just the opposite! It teaches that the soul can and does die (Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Hebrews 9:27). It also teaches that the soul can be destroyed; it is not tormented forever (Matthew 10:28; Revelation 20:14-15). (To learn more, read “Do Humans Have an Immortal Soul?”)
• The Trinity. Today, the concept of God as a Trinity, a word foreign to the Bible, is considered the litmus test of Christian orthodoxy. However, the Bible describes God in family, not trinitarian, terms. God is a family composed of the Father and Son. The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as God’s power and substance, not a third person of the Godhead. (To learn more, read “The Trinity: Could the Mysterious Tradition Be Unbiblical?”)

The above list could include many other false teachings. You can find more examples explored in our series “Christ vs. Christianity.”

Compromise and heresy continue today

Widely accepted teachings are not based on the Bible, but are confusion built upon confusion. 

Just as self-proclaimed Christians remade Jesus in their own image through art, they remade many of the Bible’s doctrines in a different image through their teachings. 

We encourage our readers to base their beliefs on the Bible. Instead of remaking the Bible’s teachings to agree with our beliefs, we should be remaking our beliefs to agree with the Bible!

Date Posted: January 31, 2024