Over 500 years ago, in 1512, Michelangelo completed four years of work creating the masterpiece that is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo’s centrepiece is The Creation of Man. God is shown as an old, white man floating above the earth and reaching out toward Adam, shown as a young, white man.

Their index fingers reach towards each other but do not touch—an iconic gesture recognised around the globe.

But this is certainly not an inclusive image: a white, male God creating a white, male human?

Reimagining creation

I challenged the Irish artist Nora Kelly to paint a more inclusive “Creation,” and in 2004 she presented the painting shown above:

• Female and male
• Brown and yellow and black and white
• Four hands reaching out toward each other
• The Holy Spirit as a dove in the red folds

Nora Kelly’s painting challenges the myth of a white, male God for a white human race—a dominant white God granting dominion of His earth to white humans.

A God without favourites

But God has no favourites. Jesus showed this in his engagements with Jews and Gentiles, free and slaves, female and male.

He asked us to love one another as he has loved us.

Jesus sought unity in diversity, not unity in uniformity.

Nora Kelly’s Creation calls us to see God in Todos! Todos! Todos! (Everyone! Everyone! Everyone!)

• Colm Holmes is Chair of “We are Church International”.