When God Became White: Dismantling Whiteness for a More Just Christianity

by Grace Ji-Sun Kim

In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world,” which means he is pure and good. Jesus came into the world to bring light into darkness. Jesus is the light, and light is goodness and stands in contrast to the darkness, which is evil and bad. The writer of John lived in a dualistic world, and he incorporates that dualism into the imagery of Jesus as the light in a dark and evil world. Darkness and light are separate and cannot be brought together. Dualism is very problematic as it divides the world into two categories in which there can be no harmony. In this dualistic world, Jesus can only be viewed as white and male as both categories are lauded as good and desirable. The feminine is on the opposite end of the spectrum from the male. Within dualism, we also see the contrast of knowledge, or the masculine logos, as better than wisdom, or the feminine Sophia. The preference for logos over Sophia also leads to a male Jesus. Jesus is understood as the word of God; as Scripture states, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Thus, Christianity has a long patriarchal history, and the maleness of Jesus further reinforces patriarchy, dominance, and white supremacy. If the church today emphasizes a white Jesus, the congregation will believe in a white Jesus. A white Jesus reinforces whiteness in the congregation and Christianity as a whole.