One Human Family (The Bible’s Answer for Racism, Part 3)
By Ben Quine
**This article is the beginning of a series helping us navigate this issue of racism in our world from a Biblical perspective. To read all of Ben’s articles on this subject - click on his name above by the date published and it will sort all of this articles in one place.
Racism is one of the most reprehensible sins known to humanity, and it has been one of the single largest causes of hurt, pain, division, and death in the modern world. Racism has destroyed the lives of young and old alike, divided families, brought oppression and misery, and hindered the advancement of the Gospel.
Even though the word “racism” never appears in the Bible, God’s Word takes an incontrovertible stand against this sin. It is not mentioned specifically because it is actually a subset of other sins which are directly and strongly opposed: favoritism, partiality, and injustice.
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory… If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers” (James 2:1, 8-9)
According to the Bible, the sin of Racism is the unequal treatment of people because of their skin color, or the devaluing of someone or some group because of physical characteristics. You’ll probably notice this definition is different from that used today by the media, the popular press, and sometimes even our government, but understanding and maintaining the Biblical definition is very important!
You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. (Leviticus 19:15)
We’ll cover the legal side in more detail in an upcoming article, but for now let’s note that God is very careful to instruct His people not to favor the poor or the rich, the powerful or the powerless. Equal justice must be shown to all without favoritism. Biblical justice requires everyone to be treated equally under the law. Racism is inherently unjust because it insists on giving some people special treatment while intentionally holding back or punishing others, (e.g. Jim Crow Laws, Modern Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, and “Anti-Racism”).
Over the next few weeks, we will cover the three main Biblical reasons why God opposes the sin of racism. Then we’ll move on to cover the correct response when this sin is committed, and how to bring healing and reconciliation.
The first basis for the Bible’s opposition to racism is found at the very beginning of the human story:
Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Adam and Eve were created by God. That alone should be enough to ensure we treat our fellow humans with respect. But there’s more! Genesis teaches that humanity is distinct from the rest of creation: unlike the animals, we are created “in the image of God,” crafted to look like Him, relate to Him, and display His characteristics. God’s image-bearers have an intrinsic value and dignity that led their Creator to exclaim: “very good!” when He saw them.
The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (Genesis 3:20)
We’re told directly, and we don’t have to guess: Eve was our first mother. Mine, yours, and your neighbor’s. All the people who look like us, but also all those who don’t. Everyone who lives near to us and everyone who lives far away. Everyone. We all stem from but one family.
Adam… fathered Seth. Seth… fathered Enosh. Enosh… fathered Kenan. Kenan… fathered Mahalalel. Mahalalel… fathered Jared. Jared… fathered Enoch. Enoch… fathered Methuselah. Methuselah… fathered Lamech. Lamech… fathered… Noah. Noah… fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Genesis 5:4-32)
The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered… And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. (Genesis 7:17-23)
The Bible’s genealogies are not boring, unimportant passages to be skipped over! God put them in Scripture for a critical reason: to show us the importance of family, and to show us that we are all one family. In fact, the earliest chapters of Genesis reveal that the human race is a single family descended from one man and one woman, Adam and Eve. Then after the flood, all of humanity is descended again from one family, Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives. (By the way, the historicity of our early parents is also confirmed by the genealogies in I Chronicles chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3, where Adam and Noah are included as historical people right alongside King David and Jesus himself.)
The first reason God hates racism is that we are all one human family. And that special bond should bring unity. Another way to state this truth is: God did not create multiple races. God created one race: the human race. The idea that there are multiple races is entirely false and unbiblical. The concept of “race” is based on physical appearance, but the Bible never groups people by skin color or physical characteristics. (Scripture does categorize people according to certain criteria, so we will be looking into the appropriate human classifications in our next article!) In God’s Word all people are part of one family, and we are all equal biologically. There are no superior colors, no superior blood lines, no inferior colors, and no inferior blood lines.
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. (Philippians 2:3, NKJV)
So. if the Bible teaches that all humanity is equal biologically, where does the idea of “race” come from?
Like all sin, it reaches back to early human history. But the modern version of this false and evil teaching stems primarily from the writings of Charles Darwin. In fact, Darwin is the father of modern racism. His book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, published in 1859, introduced the false and unbiblical “scientific basis” for the racism that has permeated our culture today. Darwin’s ideas lead to a rejection of God as Creator, a devaluing and dehumanizing of all people, the false philosophy of the superiority of “more highly evolved races”, and the theory that the strongest will survive, while the weaker races will perish. Generations of children in our country have now been taught the lie that we are merely another species of animal. Seeing them treat each other like animals is the tragic but unsurprising result of this massive educational failure!
Christians must once again read and teach the whole of Scripture (including the Old Testament and genealogies). We must stand on the Bible’s foundation for the value of every person created in the image of God, and the unity of the human family. We must stand against favoritism, partiality, and injustice. We must stand against all false ideologies that teach race and racism (Evolution, Natural Selection, Critical Race Theory, etc.).
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ABOUT BEN
Connect with him at Cornerstone Curriculum
Ben Quine, the second son of David and Shirley Quine, was blessed to grow up with a Charlotte Mason/Dr. Schaeffer/Biblical Worldview education -- a tremendous gift! Through the years, Ben has served as a Cornerstone consultant, assistant, and co-author. He has written several Bible studies for the Answers for Difficult Days series, which equips churches to address the issues our culture is wrestling with today, from the foundation of Scripture. Ben is also the editor of The Worldview Library, editions of classical literature with student helps that afford the reader a deeper understanding of the concepts presented in each work.
Trained as a classical pianist and instructor, Ben is committed to inspiring his students with the love of great music and equipping them with the tools to perform at the highest level. This training has resulted in his students' successful performances from local festivals and competitions to Carnegie Hall.
Ben loves Shakespeare, Dickens, photography, listening to recordings of "the great pianists", running, biking, and spending time with his wife Julie and their three sons.