The magazine Christianity Today needed just eight words to roil social media.
“Jesus was born in Asia. He was Asian,” Victoria Emily Jones wrote in the opening of a piece published as the Christian world gathered to mark the birth of Jesus.
The crux of the piece was to examine how Asian art portrayed Jesus.
Jesus was born in Asia. He was Asian.
The artists in this photo essay bring him back to Asia—but not to ancient Israel.
These nine artworks “proclaim the expansiveness of Christ’s kingdom.” https://t.co/qGmeOo79Ak
— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) December 24, 2023
Trending:
“Some may object to depicting Jesus as anything other than a brown male born into a Jewish family in Bethlehem of Judea in the first century, believing that doing so undermines his historicity. But Christian artists who tackle the subject of the Incarnation are often aiming not at historical realism but at theological meaning,” Jones wrote.
But to social media critics, all the context in the world did not atone for the opening words of the piece.
How could an item depicting Jesus as Asian be even published in a “Christian” magazine? Well, it’s all consistent with what has been happening over the years with the rampant compromise in the church on Genesis which leads to disrespect for the written Word of God.
That’s why… pic.twitter.com/ephjQAh4gv
— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) December 26, 2023
Do you agree the article was blasphemous?
“Blasphemy. Jesus is a Jew,” Christian blogger Samuel Sey posted in a reply on X.
“It’s necessary for our salvation that he is a son of David, from the tribe of Judah, and born in Bethlehem. Stop this nonsense. He isn’t European, Asian, Palestinian or black. He’s a Jew—the king of the Jews and therefore the saviour of the world,” he wrote.
Blasphemy.
Jesus is a Jew. It’s necessary for our salvation that he is a son of David, from the tribe of Judah, and born in Bethlehem.
Stop this nonsense.
He isn’t European, Asian, Palestinian or black.
He’s a Jew—the king of the Jews and therefore the saviour of the world.
— Samuel Sey (@SlowToWrite) December 25, 2023
Red State columnist Buzz Paterson posted a question on X: “Did you guys read the Bible?”
Did you guys read the Bible?
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) December 25, 2023
Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, who founded the magazine, shook his head sadly at the article in a post on X.
“@CTmagazine is being criticized for their article about artists depicting Jesus as Asian—and I also have to ask why they would publish something so far off base. We don’t have to wonder or speculate about this—the Bible gives us very specific details about Jesus’ earthly lineage and where He was born and grew up. We know that Jesus was Jewish. However, if you don’t believe the Bible or accept it as the Word of God, then everything is in question,” he wrote.
.@CTmagazine is being criticized for their article about artists depicting Jesus as Asian—and I also have to ask why they would publish something so far off base. We don’t have to wonder or speculate about this—the Bible gives us very specific details about Jesus’ earthly lineage…
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) December 27, 2023
“Guess what—we don’t get to make God in our own image. He is Who He is! We must be on guard against anything or anyone who attempts to undermine the authority of the Word of God,” he wrote.
