This was written by a dear friend, Victor Morris, from a ministry I am involved in: Advancing Native Missions. It is worth sharing with a wider audience. Like Victor, I live close to Charlottesville. We have been deeply affected by the events in Charlottesville. One of the members of my church was on the mall during the “ugliness” doing work for one of our local TV channels. He told me the anger on both sides was palpable.<\/p>\n
I must admit I am confused by all the anger. Can we not have decent, reasonable dialogue where we can hear each other? Perhaps that train has left the station. I do have a friends that are in a bi-racial marriage and she gives me clues about their reality. It makes me so sad.<\/p>\n
From Victor: I live in small town only about 10 miles from Charlottesville, VA. \u00a0Like everyone else, I was horrified and angered by the events occurring in our community on August 12. \u00a0I also was left with a deep concern because there is a growing focus on racial division in this country. \u00a0Racism is a hot topic. \u00a0And one that needs to be addressed, especially by the Christian community. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n According to the Scriptural account, there is actually only one human race.\u00a0 Biblically all humans are part of one family.\u00a0 We are all descended from Adam and Eve.\u00a0 This is plainly taught in the Scriptures.\u00a0 Indeed, Eve\u2019s very name means \u201cmother of all living\u201d (Genesis 3:20), thus indicating her as the primal ancestor of all men.\u00a0 We are also all descended from Noah.\u00a0 During the Flood, all human beings were destroyed on the earth, leaving only Noah and his family (see Genesis 7:21-23 and 1 Peter 3:20).\u00a0 This is why the New Testament says that God has made all the peoples of the earth from one blood, one human stock (see Acts 17:26).<\/p>\n <\/span>But what about the concept of race?\u00a0 Again, from a biblical perspective there are concerns with the very concept of there being different human \u201craces.\u201d\u00a0 As a biological term, we must reject it.\u00a0 It refers to a subspecies, and implies the possibility of a new, different race being formed.\u00a0 This we categorically reject!\u00a0 Skin color also is not a good definition.\u00a0 For example, if we take the usual three \u201craces\u201d:\u00a0 Mongoloid, Caucasoid, and Negroid; we have wide variation. There are light complexioned brown peoples in sections of Africa, there Caucasians in India with very dark skin, and both light and dark complexions among the Chinese and Japanese.\u00a0 Besides\u2026\u00a0 What is skin color?\u00a0 Nothing more than a little more, or a little less of skin pigment, which we all have.\u00a0 Except for albinos, there are no truly \u201cwhite\u201d people. \u00a0All of us have some \u201cdarkness.\u201d<\/p>\n To discuss the distinctions found among various groups of the human family a better word than race can be used.\u00a0 The Bible speaks of the nations or peoples or ethnoi<\/em>, that is ethnic groups.\u00a0 Terms such a \u201cpeople group\u201d or \u201cethnic group\u201d give a better picture of the biblical understanding of the distinctions within humanity.<\/p>\n Where then did the various people groups of the earth come from.\u00a0 It is understood that everyone is descended from Adam through Noah.\u00a0 The various ethnic divisions may be traced to the spread of Noah\u2019s descendants just after the Flood.\u00a0 This process is ethnic diversification is described in the Table of the Nations in Genesis 10.\u00a0 This remarkable ancient document traces the broad, general distribution of the various nations, and traces their family origins.\u00a0 Of course, through the millennia there has been much intermingling among the various peoples groups of the earth, so there are probably few (or possibly no) groups that are completely are of one ethnic origin.\u00a0 Based on the Table of the Nations, the breakdown of the ethnic groups of the earth is as follows, in very broad terms.<\/p>\n First there are the descendants of Noah\u2019s son Ham.\u00a0 The ancient Hamitic peoples included the Canaanites, Philistines, Phoenicians, ancient Egyptians and Libyans, Hittites, Amorites, Sinites, Jebusites, Cushites and Sabaeans.\u00a0 Modern ethnic groups that are Hamitic in origin include the various peoples of Africa, and possibly the Chinese and other Asiatic groups.<\/p>\n Secondly, there are descendants of Shem.\u00a0 The ancient Semitic peoples included the Elamites, Assyrians, Hebrews, Lydians, Arameans, Yemenites, Ishmaelites.\u00a0 Modern ethnic groups that are Semitic in origin include the Jews, Arabs, and possibly other Middle Eastern peoples.<\/p>\n Then there are the descendants of Noah\u2019s son Japheth.\u00a0 The ancient Japthetic peoples included the Celts, Greeks, Armenians, Medes, Romans, Germanic tribes, Aryans, Scythians, Etruscans, etc.\u00a0 Modern Japthetic peoples are found mainly in the Indo-Europeans, including the various European peoples, Iranians and Indians.<\/p>\n Another question that arises from this topic is where did all the different languages come from?\u00a0This is an important question in regard to the nations of the earth.\u00a0 For the most important cultural distinctive between various peoples is their language.\u00a0 More than anything else, language determines the culture of a people.<\/p>\n The Scriptures are plain that after the Flood mankind had only one language (Genesis 11:1).\u00a0 This unity of language caused the people to have a unity of culture, society and government.\u00a0 The people desired to remain unified (Genesis 11:4).\u00a0 For this purpose, they decided to erect a tower for occult worship and to solidify their union.\u00a0 However, God was not pleased with their arrogant, independent spirit (11:6).\u00a0 So the Lord confused their speech, and caused them to speak a number of different languages (11:7-9).\u00a0 As a result, the people were scattered and dispersed across the earth (Genesis 11:8).<\/p>\n This confusion of languages is the reason for there being a multitude of languages on the earth.\u00a0 It does not mean that the people immediately spoke French, German, Swahili, Chinese, etc.\u00a0 These are modern languages.\u00a0 It does probably mean that God created the various primal language families that we now recognize as being the root languages of the earth.<\/p>\n One final thought must be emphasized.\u00a0 The biblical portrayal of the origins of mankind teaches us that we are all one family, just one human race.\u00a0 The differences between the various people groups of the earth are secondary to our unity as one human family.\u00a0 There is no particular \u201crace\u201d or ethnic group that is superior to another.\u00a0 We are all the creation of God, with one common blood and one common origin. \u00a0God loves all nations, ethnic groups, equally. \u00a0Christ died for all men, no matter the color of their skin or their national origin. \u00a0Any born-again believer in Jesus Christ is a member of the family of God. \u00a0We are one in His spirit, and one through His blood.<\/p>\n It is evident from the above that there is no place for racism or racial discrimination in the Christian faith. \u00a0Anyone who claims to be a Christian and has hatred for any person, much less any group of people, is by that very hatred denying the Christian faith he espouses (see 1 John 2:9-11 and 4:20). \u00a0To manifest racism and racial hatred is to deny Christ and the Gospel\u2026 plain and simple.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This was written by a dear friend, Victor Morris, from a ministry I am involved in: Advancing Native Missions. It is worth sharing with a wider audience. Like Victor, I live close to Charlottesville. We have been deeply affected by the events in Charlottesville. One of the members of my church was on the mall…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[148,161,160],"class_list":["post-1030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-charlottesville","tag-ethnicity","tag-racism"],"yoast_head":"\n