During the President's Q & A during student leader training, an Asian American student leader asked about the white Jesus in the Voskuyl Prayer Chapel. The following is an unabridged transcription of the exchange: Student: As you know last semester, there was a lot of discussion between students, faculty, and administration regarding the chapel stained glass window of a White Jesus and the implications it has on campus that it has on the Westmont community. I was wondering if you could offer your thoughts on the window dialogue that took place, the deeper dialogue surrounding racial diversity at Westmont and the colleges decision to ultimately keep the window. Dr. Beebe: Yeah. Well it's a memorial chapel and so I wanted it kept whole, and uh I certainly believe that it should be kept whole. Theres a variety of opinions on it, but my discipline, my Phd is in Philosphy, Religion and Historical Theology, and one of my favorite books is Jaroslav Pelikan's Jesus Through the Centuries. What the book teaches you is that throughout the 2,000 year history of the church there have been multiple ways in which Christ has been depicted depending on which culture [one is from]. And what you see in that book, and Edee (The Vice President of Student Life) ended up locating and giving me [this book] on my birthday a pictoral rendering of it. You see that wherever Christianity takes root, Christ is actually represented in the form of the race in that area. So you go through the book and you look at Jesus in Africa, Jesus is depicted as an African, an Asian, a European, South American, North American. And this is something that I think is lost in the conversation is, what is the righter way in which Jesus has been depicted in theology. He hasn't been depicted as a, uh, White North American in Africa, the culture takes on certain embodiments. I think that helps understand that there is a timeless component to the message, and there is a time bound component. There is a theological piece, and a cultural piece. What I really hope we can push into this year, is, not taking one away, but adding multiple embodiment's, thats part of our global engagement. We actually show how Jesus has been depicted around the world. And I don't know if you have entered at our home, or were in chapel when they presented us with this gift of the Saint Agustin Painting. Have you seen this hanging in our home now? Student: No. Dr. Beebe: You haven't seen it? Well the, uh, the artist's, who is a tremendous artist, his first rendering of it, was of a, of an image of a Northern European, White, Balding Male, as Saint Augustine. and I sat down, I said "you know, Saint Augustine was from North Africa, I have always imagined he looked as if he was from Algeria, or from Ethiopia. So would you be willing to use the 40 year old face of one of my friends from seminary(?)" who eventually became the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. And the artist who is wonderful in that he'll take input, so if you see the rendering of Saint Augustine in the picture that was painted as a gift from the board to us, and it was to thank me for the start of the Augustinian scholars program, but it is a picture of my friend, where the face of Saint Augustine is an Ethiopian, and it's a beautiful rendering, and I think it's very accurate to how we should imagine Saint Augustine. And I want to see us do more to contextualize these images, rather than just expropriate them. And in that I'm glad that we fixed the window, I'm glad we put it back in, and in this coming year I really hope that we can add images of Christ on Campus that are reflective of the university in our community and in our world. Student: Can I ask a follow up? Dr. Beebe: Yeah, please. Student: I guess, like, in the depictions of the Christ in Asia where the majority of the population is Asian, versus depictions in America, where it's almost, you know, 50% People of Color and 50% White, and also given the historical context of White institutions that are in the pathology of America: Do you think that this specific history of America and the depiction of Christ being White, has, I don't know, Do you think those two are connected? and what that portrays to People of Color [on campus]... Dr. Beebe: I am not sure, if I, come at your question from a different angle ok? (undicernable from recording) (Pause) Student: I guess.. Dr. Beebe: Do I think Jesus can be depicted White? and without it offending others? or non-whites? or... Student: Well l guess like, I heard you talk a lot about how, um, I guess, how Jesus is depicted depending on the culture or... Dr. Beebe: Yeah. Student: ...or the context, so in America we often depict Jesus as being White, um... Dr. Beebe: Well we depict him in a variety of ways. Student: Right, but like the majority of the way I think he is seen... Dr. Beebe: Well the chapel was built in honor of Nancy Voskuyl who died in the 60's. During that time the college was easily over 90% White. And so I think it would probably fit the college at that time. Part of what I think we have to do moving forward, is how do we add to the images of Christ from around the world, that are actually more accurate to where the college is going and where the world community is going. And I'd like to see us to that. But I think it can include, uh, it can include a depiction of Christ as White, but I think it should do more than just have a, a stained glass window where Jesus is White. We were in South Africa at the Micheal House where we have one of our programs, and we went to this area down in Capetown. Or on the way to Capetown, and it actually was a depiction of Arabian missionaries coming to Capetown and it was almost the same exact rendering as you see in the Chapel. Only it was a French, Arabian Christian standing on France, looking towards South Africa. And I didn't look to see the period of the piece, but often these types of renderings are from similar periods. And I haven't researched, uh where the original architect got the painting, but it would have come of age during a time where the college was predominantly White, and we just need to move beyond that. (silence) Facilitator: Do we have one more question?
0 Comments
|