One God. One Race.

Dear Friends,

Charles Darwin is lauded as one of the greatest investigative scientists of his day and is considered to be one of the most influential men of all time. His 1859 book ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES presented his theories on evolution that were quickly accepted as “science.” Darwin then wrote THE DESCENT OF MAN; AND SELECTION IN RELATIONSHIP TO SEX in which he examined how humans evolved from apes.  Darwin was a celebrity in the field of science and that book also was considered to be scientific fact. Charles Darwin is known as the “Father of Evolution.” I think of him as the “Father of Racism.”

Darwin begins THE DESCENT OF MAN.. by theorizing that the laws governing the evolution of man must coincide with the “laws” governing the evolution of the “lower animals.” He writes that “at some future period..the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate the savage races throughout the world.” Darwin was convinced that the white “civilized races” would exterminate the less evolved and more “ape-like” Negroes. He believed that the Negro and (native) Australian were closer in appearance to the gorilla, (p.521) and the Negro was a “sub-species” somewhere in the evolutionary lineage between the Caucasian and the ape. In addition to these “scientific” race theories, Darwin also wrote that “The average of mental power in man must be above that of woman and man has ultimately become superior to woman.”

Darwin’s closest student, biologist Thomas Huxley, helped to expand Darwin’s theories by writing, “It may be quite true that some Negroes are better than some white men; but no rational man, cognizant of the facts, believes that the average Negro is the equal, still less the superior, of the white man.” Huxley advanced Darwin’s theory that the Negro had mental faculties closer to the ape than to the more evolved superior Caucasian. He wrote, “..the highest places in the hierarchy of civilization will assuredly not be within the reach of our dusky cousins.” As Darwin’s student and a fellow scientist, Huxley’s expansion of Darwin’s ideas were also recognized as “scientific facts.”

According to these “brilliant” scientists, Darwin’s theory of evolution “proved” that some groups of humans are superior to other groups. (That’s what happens when God’s Creation is explained by atheist scientists instead of by theologians.)

There is one human race that God created. He created male and female in His image. Genesis 1:27 All of humanity was created from Adam and Eve and as we bear their image, we bear the image of our Heavenly Father. 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 In God’s Kingdom there is no distinction between people groups. Romans 10:12-13 In Christ, even the minor distinctions between us as individuals fade away. Galatians 3:27-29 

The Bible does refer to people groups who have different shades of skin and hair color but it was not until the 1700's that society assigned race labels to people according to their skin color. The Bible refers to different families, tribes, nations and the languages they speak, but God sees all people as one people that the Bible calls “man.”

Our DNA shows that God created all humans to be 99.9% alike and the .1% difference is caused by natural genetic variation. Society likes to use skin color as the separator of “races,” but the skin color of European Caucasians range from pale white to a very dark brown. Darwin’s conclusions about skin color being a marker of how far we’ve evolved from apes are unscientific and nonsensical. 

The bottom line is that there is only one race – the human race. God gives life and breath to all and He has made “from one blood” every person who has ever dwelled on this earth. Acts 17:25-26 The sin of racial hatred didn’t start with Darwin but his evil theory of white “superiority” over other “races” needs to end. Our churches need to teach this.

Last week, 21 year old Dylaan Roof murdered nine people during a Bible study at the Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina. We were then stunned to hear that Roof is a committed Christian. His Lutheran pastor described Roof as a good church-going boy who regularly attended youth camps and worship services. The theory of white supremacy is anathema to the ELCA Lutherans and yet, Roof killed these African-American Christians believing that they were of a race inferior to his. Did he not know that the blood he shed that day was the exact same that runs through his own veins? We will never fully understand the circumstances that caused this young man’s horrific actions that day. But protests, political rhetoric and gun laws do not address the sin of racism in America. That has to start in the church. Amen?