The White Jesus and the Hard ‘J’: Demystifying Interpretations

Tracing Cultural Influences on Religious Iconography and Linguistic Evolution.

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The depiction of Jesus Christ in Western art and the pronunciation of His name as we know it have been influenced more by societal and linguistic factors than historical accuracy. Both phenomena represent cultural adaptations that have transcended centuries, and today we’ll explore why.

Let’s begin with the pronunciation of ‘Jesus.’ In the original Greek texts of the New Testament, His name was written as ‘Ιησούς’ (Iēsous), pronounced more like ‘Yay-soos.’ When the Bible was translated into Latin, the name became ‘Iesus.’ However, as English evolved and borrowed from Latin, the pronunciation underwent a significant change.

In Old English, the letter ‘j’ was originally pronounced as ‘y.’ But during the Great Vowel Shift, a major linguistic movement in England between the 14th and 18th centuries, the pronunciation of many vowels and consonants changed, including the ‘j’ sound. As a result, the pronunciation of ‘Jesus’ as we know it today, with a hard ‘J,’ became widely accepted in English-speaking societies.

Now, let’s address the depiction of Jesus as a white man in Western art. Historical and biblical accounts suggest that Jesus, born…