Bernard Starr
ARTICLES BY: Bernard Starr
Should the Swastika be Rehabilitated or Forever Damned? A Surprising Debate
When I was growing up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, I had a friend named Billy Tracy. I admired his name since I was a fan...
Five Stages of Antisemitism in Art — From Medieval to Modern Times
Renaissance art stripped Jesus, his family and close followers of their Jewish identity. That fact can be easily verified by a tour of any Renaissance art...
Are You Defying God’s Will By Rejecting Measles Vaccination?
Many religious fundamentalists rationalize their rejection of measles (and other) vaccinations by claiming "We have faith in God, not man." In his February 10,...
Why We Know So Little About Moses and Jesus
The dearth of information about the formative influences on towering biblical figures such as Moses and Jesus has invited some skeptics to question whether they actually...
Was Jesus Crucified for Being a Militaristic Rebel?
The question of who killed Jesus has been debated since his crucifixion more than two thousand years ago. Judas Iscariot and Jews collectively have been...
Christian or Jewish Gospel Figures? The Answer Will Surprise You
Here (left) is the book cover of Gospel Figures in Art by Stefano Zuffi. It contains more than 300 photos of Renaissance paintings, which were inspired...
Ebola and Public Health Versus the ‘Bottom Line’
In 1347 CE the Black Death -- known as the Black Plague -- struck Europe. It swept across the continent, eventually killing more than 20...
Correcting Jesus’ Image in Christian Artwork
Painter and architect Rod Borghese and I conceived a triptych consisting of three images of Jesus based on the painting Christ in a Landscape by 16th-century...
Images of Jesus as Christian, Jew, Criminal, and Divine: Conception Drives Perception
A few years ago I gave a talk on art, perception, and anti-Semitism to a mostly Jewish audience at an adult education program in New...
Removing Jesus’ Jewish Identity From Artwork
In a strong statement that challenges the historic divide between Christianity and Judaism, Pope Francis recently proclaimed, "Inside every Christian is a Jew." But if...
Responding to Bill O’Reilly: Jesus Didn’t Start a New Religion
Bill O'Reilly disputed the two main points of my recent HuffPost blog on his July 16 The O'Reilly Factor broadcast: My affirmation of Jesus' lifelong dedication to Judaism...
Does Conspiracy Account for the Absence of Jesus’ Jewish Identity in Renaissance Art?
It is unarguable that Renaissance art erased Jesus' Jewish identity. Just walk through any museum gallery of Renaissance artworks or look at images of Renaissance...
Jewish Jesus in Renaissance Art and the Roots of Anti-Semitism
The public was surprised if not shocked by the recent revelation that the mother of the late Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor, Archbishop of New York...
Bill O’Reilly’s Killing Jesus and the Problem With the Gospels
If the irresistible temptation to fashion Jesus in one's own image persists today, nearly 2,000 years after the crucifixion, it must have been even more...
