Images of Jesus — From Pagan Precursors to Postmodern Projections

Lecture given on March 19, 2024 at the Corinthian Lodge in East Nashville

Mar 24, 2024

History has seen the appearance of many images of Jesus. These are sometimes used as evidence that Jesus himself is a mere social construct. In this lecture, I argue that these many images of Jesus do not discredit or diminish the spiritual depth of Christ, but rather, that raising awareness of these many faces only add to that depth.

Many scholars have pointed to the ancient "dying and rising gods" — Adonis, Osiris, Dionysus — as precursors to the crucifixion and resurrection. Hercules and Plato were believed to have come into the world through miraculous births. Roman emperors were called "saviors." In the far east, Krishna, Buddha, and even Lao Tzu were said to be incarnations of divine beings.

The four canonical gospels, for all their coherence, each present a subtly different image of Jesus. The Gnostic gospels reveal a dramatically different face.

For the next two millennia, wherever the Gospel was carried, each culture saw Jesus through its own lens — Christ as the king, Christ on the cross, Christ as tribal chieftain, as medieval lord, as physician, as revolutionary, as political liberator, and on down to the bizarre images of a technological Christ.

I trace these many images, not to discredit or disparage the reality of Christ, but rather to stimulate a conversation about who Jesus really is, and who he is not.