Introduction

The 18th century Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, is credited with the first "scientific" classification of humans into large, distinctive groups, which are now usually called races. This classification was absolute and part of a larger scheme of organizing all life forms. For example, he noted that some animals nursed their young, and he denoted this class of animals as Mammalia.

Similarly, Linnaeus classified the varieties of humans. With each category came a description of the essential characteristics that define these people. The following are quotes from Linnaeus’ work regarding the essential characteristics that define all humans. First of all he describes what he referred to as:

Homo Sapiens Americanus (otherwise known as the red Indians). He describes them as being "Red, ill-tempered, subjugated. Black hair, straight, thick; nostrils wide; face harsh; beard scanty. Obstinate, contented, free. Paints himself with red lines. Ruled by custom."

Homo Sapiens Europarus are “White, serious, strong.! Hair, blond, flowing. Eyes blue. Active, very smart, inventive. Covered by tight clothing. Ruled by laws."

Homo Sapiens Asiaticus "Yellow, melancholy, greedy. Hair black. Eyes dark. Severe, haughty, desirous. Governed by loose agreements. Ruled by opinion."

Homo Sapiens Africanus "Black, impassive, lazy. Hair kinked. Skin silky. Nose flat. Lips thick. Women with genital flap; breasts large. Crafty, slow, foolish. Anoints himself with grease. Ruled by caprice." And

Homo Sapiens Monsterosus who were scattered from China to Canada and beyond. A sort of a catchall category for others that were remote or very strange.

Any unbiased reader will come the conclusion that the above categorisations are biased, superficial, and unbiblical. And yet it is just such categorisations that have coloured human outlook and relations in the world and in the church over the last hundreds of years. Indeed it is this kind of thinking that has funned the flames of the sin of racism.

In many parts of the world racism has done untold damage to many people and nations. It has engendered hatred, it has destroyed many people’s self-confidence and self-image, it has bred violence, it has led to Genocide and ethnic cleansing and it has torn whole nations apart.

Whether it takes the form of white supremacy, Black consciousness, the Indian caste system, or tribalism, the effect is the same – man who is made in the image of God is demeaned, hurt and destroyed, and God who created him is insulted.

“One of the most urgent needs of today throughout the world is the need for the healing of strife between races. It is undeniable that tension exists between races. If ever there was a problem, which showed the sinfulness of man’s nature, this is such a problem. If ever there was a problem to which the church of Jesus Christ needed to bring the sin conquering message of salvation, this is it.” –A Christian perspective in racial understanding

Such is the reality of the sin of racism, and it my task in this article and the next to offer some solutions to this problem. My subject is “biblical antidotes to racism” and I wish to begin by making some comments on the three words that constitute the substance of my topic: The first is the word,

Racism

Racism is the belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others

Webster’s New World Dictionary distinguishes between at least three forms of racism. First of all racism can be viewed from:

a) The perspective of racial dogma: That is to say “… doctrine or teaching … that asserts the superiority of one race over another or others, and that seeks to maintain the supposed purity of a race or the races.”

b) The perspective of racial prejudice: “Prejudice implies a preconceived and unreasonable judgment or opinion … marked by suspicion, fear, or hatred.” Racial prejudice is judging people by the colour of their skin, rather than by their character. Furthermore, racism can be viewed from

c) The perspective of racial dominance: “Any activity by individuals or institutions that treats human beings in an inequitable manner because of color.”[i] Any activity by individuals or institutions of one race that seeks to maintain it’s dominance over other races by oppressing and suppressing them and generally treating them unfairly may be classified as racial dominance.

The above definition should not imply that in any expression of racism, all of the above forms would be present. Racism in the form of racial prejudice and racial dominance can exist independently of racism in the form of racial dogma. In all three forms of racism however, racial identity is a value that is given priority over other assessments.

Antidote

An Antidote is a remedy or other agent used to neutralize or counteract the effects of a poison (in this case racism).

Biblical

Something relating to, or contained in the Bible or something in keeping with the nature of the Bible.

What I am suggesting in these articles therefore is, that racism is a sin/poison, which needs to be neutralised and eradicated and that the Bible proposes the only means through which this can be done.

And in this article I wish to propose five biblical antidotes to racism. The first antidote is that:

(1) We must see the whole of humanity as originating from God.

Gen 1:27 says “God made man.” Man did not evolve from simple substances as evolutionists claim, nor did different people groups evolve from different sources.[ii] God created man and he created him male and female (Gen 1:26) and the two together constitute the human species. All humanity therefore proceeds from the hand of God.

(2) We must view humanity through the eyes of God’s image. In Gen 1:26,27 we observe that:

a) God made man in his own image. In a day when racism is lowering some humans to the level of animals, we must remind ourselves of the nature of man as the image of God. In a time when some men sing the praises of their own racial superiority we must re-emphasise that they together with those that they look down upon are a reflection of the image of God. But what are we to understand by the fact that God made man in his own image?

The statement that man is made “in the image of God” is best understood as implying identity – that is to say the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known. In this sense, Man in all that he is, is created ‘as’ God’s image or to be God’s image”. “God’s image is not just located somewhere in man; “Man in totus is God’s image.” He is the finite mirror of God’s infinite being. This also seems to be Paul’s understanding in 1 Corinthians 11:7.

Consequently, man will reflect in his own structured relationships, the eternal fellowship that exists between the persons of the Trinity. Furthermore, man, regardless of his skin colour or culture, will also reflect personality, spirituality, morality, authority, creativity and the capacity for dominion.

It follows that man in all his varied expressions, is a dignified person simply because he is made in God’s image, which is a dignified image. Even the most ugly and unattractive of humans are dignified because they are expressions of God’s image. Ultimately, true humanness is not about how white or how black or how brown we are, but how much we display the image of God. Is it also not true to say that the extent to which a person falls short of the image of God, to that extent he is subhuman regardless of his skin colour? I think it is.

Furthermore, man’s standing in God’s image is the basis in Scripture for some wide appeals and applications. Gen 9:6, says God will demand an accounting from man if he takes the life of another man because he was made in the image of God. In James 3:9, James condemns the tongue that curses men who have been made in the image of God. It is fair to conclude isn’t it, that God will demand an accounting and will condemn each one of us if we look down on men who are made in his image just because God gave them a different skin colour from ours.

Ian Hamilton , of his writings, movingly summarises the implications arising out of being made in the image of God in these words:

No biblical truth more confronts and challenges the naturalistic presuppositions and a-moral values of our modern (or post-modern) world. It challenges the perceived autonomous character of man; it establishes an infallible bulwark against the trampling on and despising of the poor, the dispossessed, the infirm and the unborn; it speaks hope to the lonely; it challenges the rampant individualism that scars our world (and the Church); it condemns racism and anti-Semitism; and it clarifies the essential equality and dignity of men and women.

We also observe that

b) God saw that what he made was very good (Gen1: 31). It is interesting to note that when God created the various aspects of the world, he saw that it was good. But after he created man, the superlative “very” precedes the adjective “good” “He saw that it was very good”. God looks at his work of creating man in particular as a very good work. Like God, we must learn to acknowledge the work of God as a good work. And like David, we must acknowledge that God has made all men and us fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14). If we learn this, we will have fewer problems related to self-esteem and to racism.

(3) We must view the whole of humanity as proceeding from one primary human progenitor.

In Acts 17:26 we read that God, “… made from one blood all the nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth”. That means

a) All men come from one set of parents, namely, Adam and Eve. This is also made clear in Genesis 1:28 where, after creating Adam and Eve, God blessed them and said to them “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” In Gen 3:20, Eve is referred to as the mother of all the living and Adam is identified everywhere in the Bible (i.e. Rom 5:12) as the head of all humanity. Furthermore, all men are spoken of as the son’s of Adam or man (Deut 32:8; Psalm 11:4; 1Sam 26:19; 1Kings 8:39; 145:12)

It follows, doesn’t it that because all the peoples of the earth emanate from one blood, all the peoples of the earth are related? They are one family. It is therefore correct to speak in some sense about the brotherhood of all men because ultimately, there is really only one race – the human race. Scripture distinguishes people by tribal or national groupings, not by skin colour or physical appearance. The bottom line is that they are all members of the human race.

Readers will also be interested to note that the fact of the fall of the human race is the basis of the whole Pauline system (Rom 5:12ff; 1Cor 15:21ff), and beneath the fact of this fall lies the fact of its unity in Adam. Because all men were in Adam as their first head, all men share in Adam’s sin and with his sin in his punishment.

That we are from one blood is also the basis for the entire plan of redemption designed by God in Christ for the salvation of the fallen human race. B.B Warfield commenting on this matter wrote, “The unity of the old man in Adam is the postulate of the unity of the new man in Christ”.

It is also helpful to note from Acts 17:26 that:

b) All nations and their diverse cultures are ordained by God. God made every nation… and also ‘determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live’ (See also Gen 10 and Deuteronomy 32:8).

Paul in this passage refuses to acquiesce in the religious pluralism of Athens or applaud it as a living museum of religious faiths. Instead, the city’s idolatry provoked him (verse 16) to jealousy for the honour of the living and true God. So he called on the city’s people to turn in repentance from their idols to God. But Paul seems to have had a respectful acceptance of the diversity of cultures. Paul seems to be teaching us that the richness of each particular culture should be appreciated, but not the idolatry, which may lie at its heart.

The fact that God ordained cultural and ethnic differences must warn us not to exalt the value of one group over another, nor to demean one group under another. We are from one blood and that should be more important and more decisive for our relationships than o! ur cultural differences. Our common origin in Adam and in the image of God must warn us against using diversity as a means of boasting or belittling. Our differences are good and important, but secondary to our basic relationship as members of the same family, and sharers of the same image- the image of God.

(4) We must learn from the example of one our prominent forebears who demonstrated the relative unimportance of race in the contraction of human relations such as marriage. Here I have in mind:

The example of Moses when he married an Ethiopian woman apparently with God’s approval. In Numbers 12:1 we read “ Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.” Here, we see that Moses, a light skinned Jew, apparently married a Cushite and was approved by God. Cushite woman means a woman from Cush, a region south of Ethiopia, and whose people where known for their black skin. We know this because of Jeremiah 13:23, which says, “Can the Ethiopian (the very same Hebrew word translated “Cushite” in Numbers 12:1) change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Attention is here drawn to the difference of the skin of the Cushite people. But Moses didn’t seem bothered about the difference because he no doubt had a better understanding of the value of a man (regardless of their colour) than Miriam and Aaron had. Furthermore, God clearly appended his signature to Moses’ action by reprimanding Miriam and Aaron and visiting Miriam with judgment. When we have a high view of man, it will not matter in what colour skin they are coated; rather, in as far as marriage relationships go, we will be more concerned about whether our prospective spouses belong to the Christian race.

(5) We must also note that Christ exemplified in his life what our attitude should be toward others regardless of their racial makeup. To begin with,

a) Christ shared in our humanity (John 1:14; Heb 2:14). In so doing, God (and Christ is God) underlined the dignity of humanity. It’s important to note that for Christ, what was important was not so much sharing in the racial details of his people (which of course he did), as in their humanity. He did not speak so much about being a son of David as he did a son of man (Heb 2:14). In this way he was elevating humanity regardless of its particular expression. Another point is that

b) Christ related to all men (whether Jew and Gentile) in a manner that was dignified.

i) He obviously related to the Jews. It was to them he came (John 1:12), and in their nature and culture that he was brought up (Luke 2:21-24) And it was to them that he chiefly ministered while he was he on earth. Although many of them did not receive him, he nonetheless related to them graciously and lovingly. He healed them; he fed them and ministered to them in ever so many ways.

ii) He also related to non-Jews. Christ gracefully accepted the Samaritan woman. He asked for water and talked to her eve though she was from a different race group (John 4). Furthermore, Christ valued the Syro-phonician woman’s faith notwithstanding her ethnic identity. (Mark 7:26). Furthermore,

c) Christ took the sin of the world (John 1:29). The world in question consists of all that the Father has given to him, drawn from all the people groups (Rev 5:9). He valued their souls equally, whether they be Jew or Gentile. He shed one and the same blood for all of them and similar benefits will accrue to all of them as a consequence (John 3:16).

d) Christ sent his disciples to make disciples of “all nations” (Matt 28:19, 20). On the eve of his departure to Heaven, Christ sent his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. Christ’s vision and passion was to swell his Kingdom with men drawn from every nation, language and clan. He himself declared in John 12:32, that when he is lifted up (crucified), he will draw all men to himself. This reveals a complete indifference to race on the part of Christ in the matter of accomplishing his purpose in redemption. Finally,

e) Christ will entertain and will be served and worshipped by all peoples in his heavenly and eternal kingdom. In Rev 5:9, we don’t get the impression that he will different compartments for the various race groups in his Kingdom. Rather, all the peoples, regardless of their racial extraction, will be in the same place and the same choir, and their business it would seem will be to worship him who delivered them from sin (no doubt the sin of racism included).

The attitude that was and is in our master must be our attitude in the matter of racial attitudes and relations.

Conclusion

If biblical principles are clear on the dignity of the human race, how has the human race found herself in a position where she is indulging in and encouraging racism? The answer is not hard to imagine:

a) First of all, behind all racist thinking and action lies the devil. The devil is intent upon destroying the beauty that God created in humanity. God meant humanity to be united in diversity; Satan wishes to see humanity divided and destroy itself. He wants to undo God’s very good and turn it into very bad. We all must watch against his influence.

b) The other reason why racism rears its ugly head is the presence of sin in our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitful.” Who can understand it? Sin in our hearts daily fights against the purposes of God, and where man should have been loving his neighbour as God demands in his law, sin within pulls him in the direction of hating and ranting. Sin is what keeps us from welcoming mixed churches. Sin is what holds us from entertaining inter-racial marriages. Sin is what makes us have a bad feeling when a member of a different race is moving into your neighbourhood. Sin is what makes us to camouflage racist attitudes with smiles and shows of outward friendship towards members of a different race, when inwardly there is hatred and resentment for them.

c) If you are guilty of racism, whatever form it takes, remember that there is an answer. Christ came to take away sin, including the sin of racism. He came to set it at naught so that it would not master us, and accumulated for us an eternal weight of punishment. He can free you from it now, if you will repent and call upon his name.

d) Remember also to cleanse your mind of all the prejudice and error that you may have grown up with and clothe yourself with the truth of the Bible. Only a true biblical theology can deliver you from racial pride and prejudice. And when study your Bible correctly, you will find that because God is a God of Creation you can’t but affirm the unity of the human race. Because God is a God of History you can’t but affirm the diversity of ethnic cultures. Because he is the God of Revelation, you can’t but affirm the finality of Jesus Christ. And because He is the God of Redemption, you can’t but affirm the glory of the Christian church in which all men regardless of their language, clan, nation or race are indwelled by one Spirit and are under one head – the Lord Jesus Christ.