A Biblical View on Race (Short Version)

Genesis Apologetics

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Let's look at the biblical view on race. While the Bible's take on race has remained constant since it was written, many have run astray with false interpretations, and some of these were driven by impure motives.

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But a plain reading through scripture reveals there were two humans created at the beginning in the image of God and not in the image of apes.

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Indeed, Adam was not one of the animals, rather, God had him name the animals and then take dominion over them.

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Adam and Eve's DNA was perfect. Their genome included all the necessary programming for the variability that we see today in various people groups.

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Some of the differences we observe with people today are also due to mutations that began compounding after the fall.

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The genealogies in Genesis provide a clear map to Adam about 6 ,000 years ago.

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Interestingly, secular research on mitochondrial DNA mutation rates actually confirms this biblical timeline, demonstrating that we all come from a single woman who lived only about 6 ,000 years ago.

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This mutation rate is even used by the FBI in forensic investigations. Then, just 10 generations after Adam and Eve, the entire human genome was bottlenecked to just 8 people who survived a year -long flood.

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This genetic bottleneck is at least partially responsible for the shortened lifespans of those who lived after the flood.

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The post -flood population increased quickly and was later dispersed as over 70 language groups spread around the globe after God confused their languages at Babel.

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Genesis 10 .32 records, These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations, and from these nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

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Recent scientific studies even confirm there was explosive human population growth and DNA variability that occurred about this same time period.

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The New Testament also confirms God's plan to spread the nations over the earth, and He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all face of the earth and has determined their pre -appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.

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Are there differences between people groups today? Of course. The variety we see in people today, which exists both within and between people groups, is because of the pre -engineered adaptability that God established within the language of our

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DNA. Some of the differences we see are also due to mutations, or DNA copying mistakes, but the traits we typically use to categorize race groups are superficial, such as differences in skin, hair, and eye color.

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These traits account for less than 0 .012 % of human genetic differences, or 1 gene out of 12 ,000.

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Let's take a look at skin color. What would cause some people to have very dark skin while other's skin is lighter?

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Skin color depends on the level and type of pigment called melanin that special cells in the skin called melanocytes produce.

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Melanin protects the skin by absorbing and scattering the ultraviolet radiation that otherwise would have been absorbed by the

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DNA, causing mutations. People with darker skin fare better in places with intense sunlight for most of the year, like around the equator.

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Having darker skin helps in these places by protecting against skin cancer, folate deficiency, a cause of spina bifidia, tropical ulcers, and other skin diseases.

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Light -skinned people from the frozen north who visit lower -latitude sunny locations have less melanin to block the sun's

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UVB rays. This is the main reason that whites in the US have 25 times the rate of melanoma skin cancer compared to blacks.

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People with lighter skin thrive better up north where there is less sunlight because their lighter pigment allows greater absorption of vitamin

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D from the sun. Vitamin D is needed for healthy bones, protection against rickets, and certain cancers.

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This skin -shade climate interaction drove people groups to live in areas where they would thrive. Isn't it amazing how

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God's command for us to be fruitful and multiply and later spread around the earth was made possible by the pre -engineered adaptability that He designed into our genetic code?

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When the Lord spoke to Samuel to choose the next leader for Israel, He said, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature.

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For the Lord does not see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

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To wrap this up, let's hear some wise words from Pastor Ephraim Smith. Human beings, you and I were created in the very image of God.

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The very image of God. Let that really sink into your heart today. We were not created like the animals.

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Animals are created after their kinds. So let's just think of animals on the ground.

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A giraffe and a hippopotamus. I was just recently at the Sacramento Zoo and so I saw giraffes and I saw that again

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I was reminded that animals are created after their own kind. You're never going to see a giraffe and a hippopotamus start dating to develop a covenant relationship and have a hipporaph.

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Like that's never going to happen. There's no hipporaphs. Because God created animals to be in their own kind.

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But he didn't create human beings like that. We weren't meant to be in the black kind, the white kind, the red kind, the yellow kind, the brown kind.

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God created one humanity, one blood in the image of God higher than the angels.

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But we live in a world that has a social man -made construct that says based on the color of your skin, your physical features, where you were born, your accent, whether your parents had money or not, whether you were small town, suburban, or inner city, we decide who's smart, who's dumb, who's fast, who's slow, who can clap on beat, who shouldn't bother to clap, who should be feared, and who should be revered.

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All of this based on those things. That's not the image of God.

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Yes, issues of race and class, they're real. But the church, believers, beloved children of God, we are to rise up and model what it means to be a

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Christ -centered, multi -ethnic, transformative movement. You and I are not limited to the physical.

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We should be driven by the spiritual. Are you a Christian student looking for answers about what the

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Bible teaches about creation, the fossil record, dinosaurs? Download the Genesis Apologetics app from the iTunes or Google Play stores for answers to these questions and more.