What Is The Origin Of The Different Races And Skin Colors In Humanity? Race denoted the attempt to categorize people primarily by their physical differences. In the United States, for example, the term race generally refers to a group of people who have in common some visible physical traits, such as skin color, hair texture, facial features, and eye formation. The idea of “race” began to evolve around the 17th century, after the beginning of European exploration and colonization, as a folk ideology about human differences associated with the different populations – Europeans, Amerindians, and Africans – brought together in the new era. As to how many races exist, the 1997 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards on race and ethnicity require five minimum categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
Brethren, the Bible does not explicitly give us the origin of the different “races” or skin colors in humanity. In actuality, there is only one race – the human race within which we find diversity in skin color and other physical characteristics. In an attempt to answer this question, some Biblical scholars speculate that when the Lord God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), He also created racial diversity. However, it is possible that the Lord God made genetic changes to humanity in order to better enable people to survive in different ecologies. Those who hold to this view suggest that the Lord God confused the languages, causing humanity to segregate linguistically, and then created genetic racial differences based on where each racial group settled. Although possible, there is no explicit Biblical basis for this point of view or explanation.
What Is The Origin Of The Different Races And Skin Colors In Humanity?
It was at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) that the different languages came into existence, groups that spoke one language moved away with others of the same language. In so doing, the gene pool for a specific group shrank dramatically as the group no longer had the entire human population to mix with. Notice that closer inbreeding took place, and eventually favored the development of certain distinguishing features with time in these different groups (all of which were present as a possibility in the genetic code). With time, further inbreeding occurred through the generations thereby narrowing the gene pool as it grew smaller and smaller, to the point that people of one language family found themselves with the same or similar features/characteristics.
A different possible explanation is that Adam and Eve possessed the genes to produce black, brown, and white offspring (alongside everything else in-between). This would be similar to how a mixed-race couple sometimes has children that vary in color. Considering that God obviously desired humanity to be highly diversified – including in appearance – it makes sense that He would have given Adam and Eve the ability to produce children of different skin colors. Only Noah, his wife, three sons, and their wives survived the flood that destroyed the whole world (Genesis 7:13). Perhaps Noah’s daughters-in-law were of different races. Likewise, it’s also possible that Noah’s wife was of a different race. Possibly, all eight of them were of mixed race, which will explain a lot and mean they possessed the genetics to produce children of different races. Whatever, we are all the same race, created by One God, to glorify Him.
Also Read
- Who Was Cain’s Wife?
- Did God Create Other People In Addition To Adam And Eve?
- What Does The Bible Say About Adam And Eve?
- Did Adam And Eve Have Sexual Relations In The Garden Of Eden?
- Why Did God Use Adam’s Rib To Create Eve?
- The Fall Of Man
- Characteristics Of A New Creation
- What Is The Book Of Adam And Eve?
