By Uche Nworah, Ph.D
I grew up seeing the image of God and Jesus Christ being portrayed as white people while Satan is usually depicted as a black person.
As I sat in the beautifully designed St. Joseph Catholic Church, Aguleri for the requiem mass in honour of Late Eze Christopher Nwabunwanne Idigo, (Ogalagidi 11), I looked up to the roof and was confronted yet again by the painting of Jesus Christ and his disciples, as white people.
Similar images adorn the church windows and altar at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Mabushi, Abuja where I once worshipped. On enquiry, I was told that the specialist artists are imported from Lebanon. Imagine?
This got me thinking, why can’t we as Africans begin to change this narrative? Can a Church not commission African artists to paint its murals and represent God and Jesus Christ as Africans? What will happen if this is done?
The African needs to begin to interrogate this age-long false representation and stop this psychological onslaught, at least for the future generation. If God created us in his own image, then God and His Son Jesus Christ are also Africans.
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