There’s Only One Human Race

Biblically, there is only one human race. The Bible reveals, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27; cf., Gen 9:18-19). The apostle Paul said that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). The idea of multiple races confuses and divides people in harmful ways, allowing for racist ideologies to flourish. Certainly, there are different tribes, ethnic groups, languages, and cultures, but all humanity constitutes only one race. According to Norman Geisler, “The Scriptures clearly teach that the whole human race is descended from a single pair (Gen 1:27; cf.; 2:7, 22; 3:20; 9:19). All are children of a common parent and have a common nature.”^[1]

Sadly, some people wrongly discriminate against others because of the pigmentation of their skin. According to modern science, skin color is produced by the amount of melanin the body produces, not because people belong to a different race of humans. In an article on melanin, Mary Jo DiLonardo states:

Melanin is a natural skin pigment. Hair, skin, and eye color in people and animals mostly depends on the type and amount of melanin they have. Special skin cells called melanocytes make melanin. Everyone has the same number of melanocytes, but some people make more melanin than others. If those cells make just a little bit of melanin, your hair, skin, and the iris of your eyes can be very light. If your cells make more, then your hair, skin, and eyes will be darker. The amount of melanin your body makes depends on your genes. If your parents have a lot or a little skin pigment, you’ll probably look like them.[2]

Apart from the natural melanin our bodies produce, it’s also true that exposure to the sun causes our bodies to make more melanin, which darkens our skin color even more.[3] But skin color does not indicate different races of humans. The idea of different races based on skin color is an artificial construct that has no basis in biology or genetics. Unfortunately, even the Supreme Court of the United States, according to U.S. Law Code § 1093, defines a racial group as “a set of individuals whose identity as such is distinctive in terms of physical characteristics or biological descent.”[4] This is scientifically incorrect. In an article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, Yasuko Takezawa states, “Genetic studies in the late 20^th century refuted the existence of biogenetically distinct races, and scholars now argue that ‘races’ are cultural interventions.”[5] All people, whatever their skin color, are 99.99+% genetically identical. Takezawa further comments, “There are no genes that can identify distinct groups that accord with the conventional race categories. In fact, DNA analyses have proved that all humans have much more in common, genetically, than they have differences. The genetic difference between any two humans is less than 1 percent.”[6] Race, having no basis in genetics, is more an artificial social construct than a biological fact.[7]

Though racism has ancient roots, Charles Darwin popularized it in our current culture. The original title of Darwin’s book suggests that he viewed some races as superior to others. The title of Darwin’s book is: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. But the subtitle reads: On the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. The idea that there is a struggle between various human races, and that one race is favored over another (because of greater abilities), implies racial superiority. Darwin’s idea is that in the struggle for life, natural selection will filter out the weaker race, leaving the stronger race to continue. This notion has caused great harm to humanity. Henry Morris states, “Although racism is an ancient fallacy, it was Darwinian evolutionism that first seemed to give it scientific plausibility. For many decades after Darwin, the idea of different origins for the different human races seemed to have displaced the biblical doctrine of just one race.”[8] Morris further states:

There is really only one race of human beings, and this is the human race. Our primeval parents did not evolve from one or more populations of ancient primates, but were directly created by God, in His own image. God did establish at Babel distinct nations corresponding to the various languages He also established at that time, with a purpose for each nation and tribe. In that sense there is divine justification for national patriotism in a nation, but only in consistency with God’s purpose for that nation in the context of his overall purpose for all nations. There is no basis whatever — theological or scientific — for notions of “racial” superiority. These ideas have led to great suffering.[9]

Addressing the evils of racism, Norman Geisler states, “The idea that there is a superior race, of whatever color, is contrary to the most fundamental teaching of Scripture…There is only one race—the human race—and we are all part of it. There are many ethnic groups, but, again, only one race—the Adamic race, which includes all of us.”^[10] John Witmer adds, “Adam is significant as the father of all humanity. Because we are all descendants of Adam, differences of skin color, culture, customs, and language are of no ultimate importance. No one race is intrinsically better than any other.”^[11] According to John Piper, “The heart that believes one race is more valuable than another is a sinful heart. And that sin is racism. The behavior that distinguishes one race as more valuable than another is a sinful behavior. And that sin is called racism.”^[12]

As people, we share the same physiology. Whatever a man and woman’s skin color, national origin, language, or culture, when they copulate, they produce human offspring. According to Thiessen and Doerksen, “blood can be transfused from one [person] to another, organs can be transplanted, the body temperature, pulse rate, and blood pressure are within the same limits, and there is liability to the same diseases.”^[13] Furthermore, people share the same basic mental and emotional qualities. According to Louis Berkhof:

The soul is the most important part of the constitutional nature of man, and psychology clearly reveals the fact that the souls of all men, to whatever tribes or nations they may belong, are essentially the same. They have in common the same [creaturely] appetites, instincts, and passions, the same tendencies and capacities, and above all the same higher qualities, the mental and moral characteristics that belong exclusively to man.^[14]

Salvation is Available for Everyone

Biblically, there is only one human race, as “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27; cf., Gen 9:18-19; Acts 17:26). All people are special, being made in the image of God (imago Dei) and should be treated with respect. Though all people are made in God’s image, the Bible also reveals everyone is marked by sin and guilty before a holy God; as “there are none righteous, not even one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:10, 23). By God’s declaration, all are condemned in Adam, for “just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom 5:12; cf. Rom 5:19; 1 Cor 15:21-22). That is, we all sinned when Adam sinned. His guilt is our guilt. Furthermore, we are powerless to save ourselves (Rom 5:6-10; Eph 2:1-2), and no amount of good works can open heaven’s door to us. Though we cannot save ourselves (Rom 5:6-10; Eph 2:1-3), there’s good news that God offers salvation by means of faith alone in Christ alone (John 3:16; Acts 4:12). Because of God’s goodness, all are savable through the work of Christ who died a substitutionary death on the cross for everyone (Heb 2:9; 1 John 2:2). Jesus said, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). And this He did, “For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom 5:10), as “Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18). The gospel message is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4).  At the moment of faith in Christ, God forgives us all our sins (Eph 1:7), gives us eternal life (John 10:28), and rescues us from Satan’s domain of darkness and transfers us to “the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1:13). This is offered to us by grace (which means we don’t deserve it) and received by faith in Christ (and not by any good works which we might offer). Salvation is never what we do for God; rather, it is what God has done for us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ who paid our sin debt in full (Heb 10:10-14). Paul states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). Salvation is imparted when we see ourselves from the divine perspective as sinfully separated from God (Isa 59:2), dead in our “trespasses and sin” (Eph 2:1), and then turn from all human effort to save ourselves by means of good works and trust solely in Jesus as our Savior. The issue for everyone is very simple: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Act 16:31).

In closing, there is no biblical or biological basis for multiple human races, and the idea of race as a social construct is divisive. To judge people based on their skin color is wrong. However, to judge people based on their character and conduct is valid. We should praise those who adhere to biblical morality and reject those who live by selfish and sinful values. The teaching of one human race is both theologically and practically significant.

Dr. Steven R. Cook

Related Articles:

• The Gospel Explained
• Treating Others with Dignity 
• A Biblical Worldview 
• My Christian Identity and Calling  
• The Despair of Atheism and the Hope of Christianity 
• Life, Death, and Eternity 
• Satan’s Evil World-System 
• Guard Your Heart  

^[1] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Two: God, Creation (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2003), 158.

[2] Mary Jo DiLonardo, “What is Melanin?”, medically Reviewed by Melinda Ratini, DO, MS, (WebMD, August 21, 2021). https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-melanin

[3] See The Sun’s Effect on Skin by David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/anatomyvideos/000125.htm#

[4] U.S. Code § 1093 – Definitions, as found at the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1093

[5] Takezawa, Y. I., Wade, Peter and Smedley, Audrey. “race.” Encyclopedia Britannica, November 23, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human.

[6] Ibid.

[7] How Many Races Are There in the World? https://blog.world-mysteries.com/science/how-many-major-races-are-there-in-the-world/

[8] Henry Morris, The Long War Against God: The Henry Morris Signature Collection (Green Forest, AZ., Master Books Publishers, 2000), 78.

[9] Ibid., 83-84.

^[10] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Two: God, Creation, 454.

^[11] John A. Witmer, “Adam,” ed. Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck, The Theological Wordbook, Swindoll Leadership Library (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, Inc., 2000), 4.

^[12] John Piper, Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian (Wheaton, Il., Crossway Publications, 2011), 18-19.

^[13] Henry Clarence Thiessen and Vernon D. Doerksen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 159.

^[14] L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co., 1938), 189.