There is currently a huge focus in our country on the subject of racism. Organizations such as Black Lives Matter, many liberal educators, and liberal news commentators decry the issue of “systemic racism” in our culture. It has been publicly stated that if someone is not a person of color, simply by virtue of their “whiteness”, they are inherently racist. The recent trial of Kyle Rittenhouse has brought the issue front and center. Rittenhouse was publicly accused of being a “white supremacist” who “murdered two black men” even though both men killed were white. In a well publicized trial, Rittenhouse was found not guilty of all charges (even that of murder) by a jury of his peers. Even so, many still publicly proclaim he is guilty and the trial judge was biased.

Because of the huge chasm dividing people of different skin color, as Christians, we need to address the issue of racism among those who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ.

What is racism?

The first definition of racism in The Merriam-Webster Dictionary is “a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” also: “behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief : racial discrimination or prejudice“.

This belief will then often result in the behavior described in the second definition which is “the systemicoppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another”.

Most people in the liberal groups proclaiming there is systemic racism believe that people of the white race are oppressing people of color for “social, economic, and political advantage”.

The History and Dictionary Meanings of Racism and Racist: Usage Guide, at www.meriam-webster.com notes that “Racism and racist appear to be words of recent origin, with no citations currently known that would suggest these words were in use prior to the early 20th century. But the fact that the words are fairly new does not prove that the concept of racism did not exist in the distant past.”

Even though the words were not “in use prior to the early 20th century”, many, especially those who accept the teachings of evolution, believe there is an inherent difference in the various “races”. Their position is that the races developed differently in the evolutionary tree.

In an article entitled “Evolution and Modern Racism”, (https://www.icr.org/article/evolution-modern-racism/) the author, Dr. Henry Morris writes, “Some people today, especially those of anti-Christian opinions, have the mistaken notion that the Bible prescribes permanent racial divisions among men and is, therefore, the cause of modern racial hatreds. As a matter of fact, the Bible says nothing whatever about race. Neither the word nor the concept of different “races” is found in the Bible at all. As far as one can learn from a study of Scripture, the writers of the Bible did not even know there were distinct races of men, in the sense of black and yellow and white races, or Caucasian and Mongol and Negroid races, or any other such divisions.

            The Biblical divisions among men are those of “tongues, families, nations, and lands” (Genesis 10:5,20,31) rather than races. The vision of the redeemed saints in heaven (Revelation 7:9) is one of “all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues”, but no mention is made of “races”. The formation of the original divisions, after the Flood, was based on different languages (Genesis 11:6-9), supernaturally imposed by God, but nothing is said about any other physical differences.”

The website Answers in Genesis points out “(W)e tend to group people according to one or more physical features they share in common. These groups are often called “races,” and the features that define them, “racial characteristics.”

            “Many people treat others differently, depending on these supposed racial characteristics. They believe those differences are more than just skin deep and have implications for their value as human beings, and even their place on the “evolutionary ladder.”

            “We can rightly talk about people groups, but only with the understanding that these groups represent what the Bible refers to as “tribes” or “nations.” People do have ethnic and cultural heritages that can be honored and celebrated.”

As pointed out by Dr. Henry Morris, “The man more responsible than any other for the widespread acceptance of evolution in the 19th century was Thomas Huxley. Soon after the American Civil War, in which the negro slaves were freed, he wrote as follows: “No rational man, cognizant of the facts, believes that the average negro is the equal, still less the superior, of the white man.”

Having been raised in the South, I was taught that the black race was inferior to the white race. It was only after joining the U. S. Navy that I came to understand the only difference between myself and people of color was the amount of melanin in our skin. When God changed my heart and adopted me as His son and I became a part of the body of Christ, I learned that as Christians we must not be racist.

If all men are descended from Adam as the Bible teaches, then all men are necessarily of one race. Scripturally, there is only one race. There are only different ethnic groups with different languages, skin colors and even different physical characteristics.

We get our word ethnic from the Greek ethnos which refers to a nation or people group and has nothing to do with race.

Acts 10:34–35 (NASB95): “³⁴ Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation (ethnei) the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”

Acts 17:26 (NASB95): “²⁶ and He made from one man every nation (ethnos) of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

Galatians 3:26–29 (NASB95): “²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

If anyone is a true Christian through the gift of faith given them by God (Romans 12:3), they are adopted “sons of God” and therefore descendants of Abraham. There is no difference between Jew and Greek, no difference between slave or free man, no difference in regard to salvation even between male and female. Therefore, if anyone has received God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, there is no difference between them and any other person who has been saved by Christ alone. Since every Christian has been washed by the all-sufficient blood of Jesus, we must not look upon any other Christian as in any way inferior to ourselves.

In the Spring 2020 edition of Founder’s Journal, in the article “Race and Racism: Biblical and Historic Perspectives”, the author points out that the biblical “distinction between Jew and Gentile is the only differentiation of the human race of any consequence made by the New Testament.”

One final point, since there is only one race, there is no such thing as “inter-racial” marriage. There can only be marriage between different ethnic groups of the same race.