
It all goes back to what Xenophanes said:
But mortals suppose gods are born,
Wear their own clothes and have a voice and body.
The Ethiopians say that their gods are flat-nosed and black,
While Thracians say that theirs have blue eyes and red hair.
Yet if cattle or horses or lions had hands and could draw,
And could sculpt like men, then the horses would draw their gods
Like horses, and cattle like cattle; and each would shape
Bodies of gods in the likeness, each of their own kind.
Since there is only one god in Christianity, it is the bodily form, Jesus to his mates, that is depicted according to local preferences. This is so that people can still believe that the god they worship is their god. Polytheism grants everyone who wishes a personal god who has a special interest in their concerns; in Christianity, that function is delegated to saints.
