Truth and painting

In one of my seminary classes we were shown a number of paintings of Jesus. They were paintings that Paul Tillich enjoyed. I don't recall why, but midway through, one of the students began a tirade on how Euro-centric the paintings were, how "white" Jesus was in them, and how inaccurate the whole mess of them were. I have to admit that my thoughts were along similar lines, "Why can't we see true presentations of the historical Jesus? Do we continue to do injustice to people of color by the insistence of our images that Jesus is white?" The professor calmly said, "We all experience Jesus as our own race and we all make distortions of what God is doing in our lives. These paintings are as truthful as anything we can experience." I could get my arms around that.

In another class the professor asked if we would prefer a photograph or painting to represent us. My first thought was a painting because it could offer insights into me that a photo never could. Then I got nervous - what if others see something so hideous that I don't in myself? Or perhaps they would represent me as less flawed, flattening some of the curves? He was using this analogy to interpreting scripture. In many respects we have other's paintings to point the way to the important things of God. In a sense part of our responsibility as lovers of God is to paint a picture within culture and context; within a cosmic relationship. And isn't there something more real about this than just a static document?