Easter Monday

The whole fracas with Imus has focused us once again on perceptions of race in America. Race in the Bible is a simple topic. There are two: the human race in the first Adam (Acts 17:26) and the sons of God in the last Adam, Jesus Christ. Prejudice (pride of "race," face and place) is also a simple topic, but I digress.

Remember the Mercator map? Didn't it shock you when someone pointed out that the map of the world you were used to seeing (a Mercator projection) inaccurately inflated the northern hemisphere (North America and Europe), making them look like Aladdin's Genie, and then gave the southern hemisphere "itsy-bitty living space"? I mean, even National Geographic got it so wrong for so long.

Many times, so do we.

We’ve all seen the apostle John in Leonardo Da Vinci’s painted portrayal of the Last Supper. Some say it looks like a woman (meaning Mary); I agree with Erwin McManus: he looks like Peter Frampton.
"Show Me the Way" (Frampton Comes Alive, 1976)

But here’s what gets me. Dan Brown did the whole V-thing for Mary, and found all the hidden symbols related to female deities, but he did not notice the real conspiracy. The real conspiracy is that John/Mary/Peter Frampton is a white European!

You do understand, that is cultural but it’s not correct. It’s art, but it’s not accurate. To begin with, they didn’t sit on chairs with their legs under a table. They sat on pillows, reclining and leaning on one side.

Second, Leonardo used all his cousins as models, so he got the color scheme incorrect. All Da Vinci’s disciples are white. That doesn't bother white people, but he's not just their Jesus—and yet even he is white. What's wrong with this picture? It's that Christianity was not "the white man's religion." This is the real controversy because the color scheme is incorrect and the layout is wrong.

"Do You Feel Like We Do?" (Frampton Comes Alive, 1976)

Twelve Jewish men, sitting there looking like twelve relatives of Jan Stenerud. "Aren’t you from Galilee?" "Ya." So this isn’t Jesus at all, it’s Tony Soprano and his gang.

Never allow what has been accepted and acculturated to blind you to what is Biblical and accurate. Don’t allow unscriptural images to blind you to what is real and what is right.

"Baby, I Love Your Way." (Frampton Comes Alive, 1976)