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| Vol. 13 No. 9 September 2011 | Page 2 |
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| Vol. 13 No. 9 September 2011 | Page 2 |
Louis Rushmore, Editor
Evolution does not hold the key for the explanation of the development of the various races of humanity that are evident around the globe. At one time, evolutionists unabashedly touted the supposed varying degrees of inferiority of non-Caucasian races, but contemporary social sensitivities and political correctness, plus facts to the contrary, have quieted all but the most hardcore racists. Even the renowned book at the center of propelling the theory of evolution into the forefront of trendy philosophy contained in its title racist bias – The Origin of Species (1859), subtitled: By Means Of Natural Selection: Or, The Preservation Of Favored Races In The Struggle For Life. Lest someone suppose too much respecting racism is accredited to evolutionary thought, note the following citations quoted in an article by Wayne Jackson.
After 1859, the evolutionary schema raised additional questions, particularly whether or not Afro-Americans could survive competition with their white near-relations. The momentous answer [in the evolutionary community] was a resounding no… The African was inferior — he represented the missing link between the ape and the Teuton. (Burnham 506)
The Negroid stock is even more ancient than the Caucasian and Mongolians, as may be proved by an examination not only of the brain, of the hair, of the bodily characteristics …but of the instinct, the intelligence. The standard of intelligence of the average adult Negro is similar to that of the eleven-year old youth of the species Homo sapiens. (“The Evolution of Human Races” 129)
Furthermore, evolution presumes aloud that the male of the human species is superior to the female (Lyons and Butt). Neither the racist nor the chauvinist point of view meshes well with either popular sentiment today or with the biblical narrative.
Contrariwise to evolutionary theory, the Bible presents a completely different view of racial origins and of racial equality, as well as respecting equality, howbeit different roles, between the sexes. That is, Adam and Eve were the parents of us all, irrespective of what skin pigmentation and other physiological variations we may sport or of what cultural distinctions distinguish us from other humans. Furthermore, spiritually equal, nevertheless, God assigned different roles to men and to women in the home and in religion (Genesis 3:16; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 14:34; Ephesians 5:22-32; 1 Timothy 2:11-12). Not evolution, but God is the source of distinction between the races and even between the sexes.
Could it be true that Adam and Eve are the parents of each of us? Is it even possible that the DNA characteristic of the several races trace their origin to a single set of parents? Have we all sprung forth from the very first family? “Yes!” “Yes!” and “Yes!”
By inspiration, the apostle Paul affirmed that all nations or ethnicities were made from one man (ASV) or male (Acts 17:26) – a reference to Adam. With no less divine inspiration, Moses thousands of years earlier declared that all humans have descended from mother Eve (Genesis 3:20). The Universal Flood of Noah’s day filtered the DNA diversity prior to it through the survivors of Noah’s family, but Noah’s sons and their wives bore enough genetic assortments to account for the racial differences observable today – and without arbitrarily interjecting millions of years into consideration. Later, the incident respecting the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) with God confusing the languages of humanity precipitated the migration of like-languages to geographical areas; this speaks to the geographical or environmental impact on the development of culture among ethnicities segregated from one another by different languages. However, with that geographical separateness and subsequent procreating from within those respective groups, the primary races we see today were firmly established.
Dominant and recessive genes of males and females react in predictable possibilities through procreation, from which varying degrees of skin pigmentation, color of eyes, blood types and other physiological features occur in offspring. “From a biological standpoint, it is obvious that from the commencement of the human family, mankind was designed with the potential for ethnic expansion. The mechanism for variation was packaged within the human genetic reservoir” (Jackson). See charts and accompanying explanations for such details in articles published by Apologetics Press in the Works Cited and Works Consulted at the conclusion of this article. Mutation, too, can be held accountable for some differences from one person to another, though, mutations or genetic malfunctions are not usually if ever beneficial.
We humans are a single species, irrespective of the vagary of race, by the way for which there is no satisfactory and definitive meaning; a closer look at skin color, for instance, is inadequate for definition of the word “race” since skin color crosses other classifications attempted to press into the meaning of race. As a single species, we can procreate across racial groups and produce fertile offspring. All of the races are of one blood, sharing the blood types unique to humans but incompatible with the blood of animals. We humans are enough alike to be different from animal species, though we differ from each other racially.
God is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11). Every human is subject to the requirements of the Gospel of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20) and is a potential beneficiary of the blessings of the Gospel, too. Race is meaningful to mankind as far as language and culture are concerned, but race is inconsequential respecting spiritual matters. God is a Spirit, and we are spirit beings – housed in fleshly vehicles. Spiritually, God is colorless, and each of us irrespective of our racial backgrounds, spiritually speaking, is colorless, too. For all any of us know, as spiritual beings we could have been born into a different race than we were in a different part of the world from where we were born. Race is temporary; our souls are immortal.
Dominant and recessive genes of our parents have made us what we are racially. Likewise, the same was true for their parents, and their parents before them, and so on – all the way back to the first parents, Adam and Eve. Environmental and geographical segregation promoted distinct races (and cultures); so, non-intermarriage to outside groups separated by language, geography and culture led to distinct races. Intermarriage between various racial groups produced additional pigmentations and physiological distinctions. Pigmentation (adaptability to sunlight) affected migration to geographical locations across the planet and played a significant role in the development of races. Lastly and importantly, one generation alone is sufficient to produce distinct races or to contribute to variations associated with the races.
My, my, what racial diversity must have been present in the children, in the grandchildren and in the great-grandchildren of father Adam and mother Eve. Note this, that there was no repulsion between the races before the Tower of Babel, but they preferred to stay together. It was only after the confusion of the languages by God that humanity finally followed the divine directive to disperse and populate the planet (Genesis 1:28; 9:1; 11:1-9), and that contributed to greater distinctions between the races. We conclude with the following quotation from the pen of Henry Morris.
But what about the origin of races? One searches the Bible in vain for this information, for neither the word nor the concept of “race” appears in the Bible at all! There is no such thing as a race – except the human race! Skin color and other supposed racial characteristics are mere recombinations of innate genetic factors, originally created in Adam and Eve to permit development of different family characteristics as the human race was commanded to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28; 9:1). “Race” is strictly an evolutionary concept used by Darwin, Huxley, Haeckel, and the other nineteenth-century evolutionists to rationalize their white racism. But from the beginning it was not so!
Works Cited
Burnham, John C. Science 175, (1972): 506-511.
“Evolution of Human Races, The.” Natural History. January/February (1926); reprinted April (1980): 129.
Jackson, Wayne. “Where Did the Different ‘Races’ Come From?” ChristianCourier.com. 1 Sep 2011 <www.christiancourier.com/articles/679-where-did-the-different-races-come-from>
Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt. “Darwin, Evolution, and Racism.” Apologetics Press. 1 Sep 2011 <www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=2724>
Morris, Henry. “Origin of the Races.” Institute for Creation Research. 2 Sep 2011 <www.icr.org/article/5743/>
Thompson, Bert. “The Origin of the Races.” Apologetics Press. 1 Sep 2011 <www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=990>
Works Consulted
“Lesson Six: Advanced Christian Evidences Correspondence Course.” The Origin of Human “Races” and Blood Groups. Apologetics Press. 1 Sep 2011 <www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/courses_pdf/hsc0306.pdf>